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a_bibliophiles_notebook 's review for:
Caraval
by Stephanie Garber
2.75 stars rounded up.
What stood out:
From the first chapter of this book, I got the distinct feeling of Alice in Wonderland. The world Stephanie Garber created in Caraval is lurid. Emotions are color coded and objects gleam brighter and seem to pulse with energy. It almost felt like a mad nightmare, tumbling into the pages of this conceptually unique tale.
I liked it...ish.
Characters: They all felt flat to me. There wasn't much growth for Scarlett.
Sensitive themes and trigger warnings: suicide, sexual tension (a lot more than I expected and wanted but no explicit scenes), attempted rape, murder of a friend, verbal and physical abuse from father to daughters. Because of how heavy this novel can be, I would recommend not handing this book to anyone younger than 15 or 16 years old.
Language: surprisingly clean.
The concept of Caraval is cool but the execution could have been so much better. Instead of only rating this book 2 stars, I gave it an extra .75 just because I was interested in what might happen as the plot progressed (even though a couple of things were predictable).
I won't be finishing the Caraval series.
What stood out:
From the first chapter of this book, I got the distinct feeling of Alice in Wonderland. The world Stephanie Garber created in Caraval is lurid. Emotions are color coded and objects gleam brighter and seem to pulse with energy. It almost felt like a mad nightmare, tumbling into the pages of this conceptually unique tale.
I liked it...ish.
Characters: They all felt flat to me. There wasn't much growth for Scarlett.
Spoiler
Julian falling in love with Scarlett was rushed and there was no---what's the word? Development? I don't know but whatever it is, it wasn't there. I didn't feel it.Sensitive themes and trigger warnings: suicide, sexual tension (a lot more than I expected and wanted but no explicit scenes), attempted rape, murder of a friend, verbal and physical abuse from father to daughters. Because of how heavy this novel can be, I would recommend not handing this book to anyone younger than 15 or 16 years old.
Language: surprisingly clean.
The concept of Caraval is cool but the execution could have been so much better. Instead of only rating this book 2 stars, I gave it an extra .75 just because I was interested in what might happen as the plot progressed (even though a couple of things were predictable).
I won't be finishing the Caraval series.