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A review by gray
Beasts of Carnaval by Rosália Rodrigo

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 This book tackles topics such as reclamation, colonialism, and slavery and makes sure that these topics have a space in fantasy as well.
I'm glad that the author is able to portray Sofia having mixed feelings about her friendship with Adelina due to the power imbalance between them, despite Adelina being a good person and doing her best to help her early on in the book because it's definitely valid for her to feel that way. She also feels conflicted in saving the new friends she's made in Vicente and Fatima and seeking for a more peaceful approach clashing with how Kaona perceives war and violence as the only way from all her 300 years of trying to help out her people.
I also loved the way that Sofia was portrayed with a lot of qualities that society mostly associates with masculinity: being logical, having an adventurous spirit, and not being afraid to speak her mind. Whilst her twin brother, Sol, is portrayed as an opposite: a lover of arts, the emotional one, and the more reserved one. However, both of them are still self-sacrificing and have big hearts capable of love despite the things they went through.
The author also was able to portray the beauty of Coaybay and the Taike'ri culture (Based on Taino culture) and how it contrasts to Hisperian Culture (based on Spanish culture) so well that it felt vivid while I was reading through the descriptions.
I think there were some scenes that kind of dragged on with the exposition but overall, I still loved it and think that the ending felt like it was able to sufficiently explore and reach a great conclusion for everyone's journeys.
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