Scan barcode
A review by stjehanne
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
2.0
Heads-up: I couldn't quite decide if I should Caraval rate one or two stars. I went with two in the end because it doesn't quite deserve to be among the ranks of my one-star-books.
When I picked this up, I was actually pretty excited about it. The premise sounded wonderful, the setting enchanting - I love carnivals and illusions, so I thought this would be right up my alley. What a devastating disappointment.
Let's start with the setting: The novel comes with a cute little map on the first pages which made me believe that I would see some nice world-building, something that would allow me to truly escape into that magical world. And in the beginning, everything seemed promising as well. I truly loved the first glances into Caraval: Such a stark contrast to the word that Scarlett used to call her home.
And then I realised that nothing even mattered. Everything that happened could be undone in the blink of an eye. This festival that promised dangerous secrets and unforeseen twists had no lasting consequences at all. There was no meaning to be found behind any action, something that really frustrated me. The magic system in this book is not bound to any rules or any reason which frankly, makes for a boring read once you figure out that nothing bad will ever last.
The characters in this one are... unique, to put it politely. The romance parts in particular could only be described as questionable. Proper, modest Scarlett only hesitates a second to make out with the guy who had his hand up her sister's skirt when they first met. The guy who knocked her out and basically kidnapped her. And they say romance is dead.
Even if Julian was surrounded by slightly less dodgy circumstances, my man has the charisma of one of those singing fish props. His personality could be summarised as hot and secretive and lacks any sort of depths.
Same goes for Scarlett, if I'm being honest. I don't think she makes a good protagonist since others have to do all the thinking for her. She's naïve to a fault and I still don't quite know how old she's supposed to be - she felt like a child at times. Especially during the last pages of the story, her actions made me constantly roll my eyes and I think I might have irreversibly damaged something.
Conclusion: Wasn't really worth my time. Glad I read it though because the author included her hot music takes at the end of book and it made me laugh a lot.
When I picked this up, I was actually pretty excited about it. The premise sounded wonderful, the setting enchanting - I love carnivals and illusions, so I thought this would be right up my alley. What a devastating disappointment.
Let's start with the setting: The novel comes with a cute little map on the first pages which made me believe that I would see some nice world-building, something that would allow me to truly escape into that magical world. And in the beginning, everything seemed promising as well. I truly loved the first glances into Caraval: Such a stark contrast to the word that Scarlett used to call her home.
And then I realised that nothing even mattered. Everything that happened could be undone in the blink of an eye. This festival that promised dangerous secrets and unforeseen twists had no lasting consequences at all. There was no meaning to be found behind any action, something that really frustrated me. The magic system in this book is not bound to any rules or any reason which frankly, makes for a boring read once you figure out that nothing bad will ever last.
The characters in this one are... unique, to put it politely. The romance parts in particular could only be described as questionable. Proper, modest Scarlett only hesitates a second to make out with the guy who had his hand up her sister's skirt when they first met. The guy who knocked her out and basically kidnapped her. And they say romance is dead.
Spoiler
And of course, Scarlett learns that there was nothing going on between said man and her sister after all but this is something we learn much, much later.Same goes for Scarlett, if I'm being honest. I don't think she makes a good protagonist since others have to do all the thinking for her. She's naïve to a fault and I still don't quite know how old she's supposed to be - she felt like a child at times. Especially during the last pages of the story, her actions made me constantly roll my eyes and I think I might have irreversibly damaged something.
Conclusion: Wasn't really worth my time. Glad I read it though because the author included her hot music takes at the end of book and it made me laugh a lot.