A review by booksare42
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

 I find books like Caraval to be the most difficult to review. I enjoyed the book, there were moments that had me intrigued, but I wasn’t super invested. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with Caraval but there also wasn’t anything that made it stand out. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t love the characters in Caraval. I found the main character, Scarlett, to be annoying. While I could sympathize with her concerns about her sister, after a while I found it repetitive. It was difficult to get a feel for a lot of the other characters because in the world of Caraval things and people aren’t always what they seem. 

I liked the ideas of “remember it’s only a game” and not getting too swept up in the game. These ideas kept me on my toes and they provided a lot twists and turns that kept me invested enough to keep reading. 

I found the world-building in Caraval to be lacking. While I’m not a fan of heavy world-building, I thought Caraval could have used a bit more. I liked learning about the history of the game but I would have liked to know more about the magic and the world it’s set in. 

Caraval has a romantic storyline in it, I liked watching it unfold and I’m curious to see where it goes as the series continues. 

There were a few moments in Caraval that were unexpectedly violent, including some parental violence. 

Overall, I enjoyed Caraval enough to want to continue on with the rest of the series, but I also found it underwhelming.