chandasolara 's review for:

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

2.0

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I think I'm giving this one a 2.5 star rating, which disappoints me. I really, really, really wanted to like this book because so many of my friends enjoyed it, but, having finished it in a couple days because I was hoping I'd find a point eventually? I just... don't get the hype.

Things I enjoyed:

The premise of the event. This Caraval is supposed to be an event that draws hundreds (at least I assumed so; we never really get a solid number) of contestants each round, driven by their goal to win that year's prize. It's supposed to be magic and mystery, and I'm always up for those things! Particularly because on the surface it doesn't feel like a plot I've seen recycled a hundred times over.

Julian's sass. He's a sass-master 3,000 and I wish I could think on my feet as well as he does.

The pacing. Even with my reservations regarding the plot (as detailed below), the book moves quickly enough that it was a relatively easy read. The length of chapters, too, made it seem to fly by, which is always a plus.

Things I thought could use work (blocking out spoilery bits):

The setting. So much of Caraval's setting was nebulous, shifting with each night of the event. Though it's part of the challenge, it read like drama for the sake of drama. There weren't purposeful shifts in setting. We don't really get a clear resolution for why things happen the way they do in the world building. It just felt... flat, which leads me to...

The magic. It had incredible potential; I think that's what I was most excited about! But, like the setting, I couldn't make out a framework on which the magic was built. It's incredibly important when using magic to define the parameters of magic: what makes it work; what can it do/not do; etc. It was particularly apparent towards the end when Tella

Spoiler

"explained" the deaths that weren't deaths without actually explaining deaths

. I just wish the author had done the work of defining the mechanics of the world a little more clearly.

The relationships. Honestly, I don't understand why Tella and Scarlett's father

Spoiler

beats them so savagely

, particularly when it's not explained by past events. The plot point with their grandmother's role is explained, then changed, then re-explained in light of the truth of the world (which only serves to complicate the mechanics of it further). Scarlett and Julian's romance felt forced for the sake of having a romance. Honestly, and this is the part I KNOW is gonna get me flack from my friends, I think the romance could have been cut. We get nearly no explanation for the intense attraction between Scarlett and Julian beyond physical appearance, and though she's supposed to be saving her sister, Scarlett's thoughts are often and inexplicably distracted by this sailor about whom she knows next to nothing. If the book had focused on Scarlett's quest to find her sister, following an arc where she starts as this mousy girl following her father's wishes and then blooming as she overcomes obstacles with cunning and fortitude instead of quite literally stumbling over the answers, I think I would have enjoyed this book so much more.

I'll likely go on to read the next installment in the series, if for no other reason than that I hate to leave a series unfinished. I hope the next book fleshes out the world a bit more and we see some more character development!