A review by juliannereads
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Writing Style: 1/1
Story: 1.25/2
Characters: 0.5/2

Total: 2.75 stars
Extra rating: Enjoyability: 0.75/1

The writing style is what first drew me in. Colorful, vivid and fantastical. The main character had some form of synesthesia which made for interesting and really beautiful narrative in some parts of the book.

The story however, well…

The story had the potential to be something more thrilling if the romance didn’t completely overshadow every single plot progression for 75% of the book.

And ugh, the romance was so…blah. I wanted to love Scarlett so much as a character especially because much of her motivations and fears were being fueled by her trauma, but it was quickly drowned out by all her feelings associated with the  love interests. Even her thoughts outside the love interest felt redundant because it was the same train of thoughts every single god damn time. 

“I must save my sister”
“I am scared, but my sister would want me to be brave.”
“I shouldn’t share my secrets here.”
“Nothing in Caraval is real”

and just so many starry-eyed, gooey descriptions of Julian to the point where I was in literally agony trying to get through one more scene where she talks about being in close proximity to him.

Scarlett and Tella’s relationship was also something I was excited to see, especially since the synopsis literally introduces them as sisters that have a bond like no other. Every time Scarlett describes Tella, it plays with the idea of a complex relationship—Scarlett feels obligated to protect Tella due to domestic violence from her father and her mother leaving, but she also feels hidden resentment that Tella doesn’t treat her own life (or Scarlett’s in that matter) as careful as Scarlett does.  But, for most of the book, the relationship was overshadowed by the romance which made it a little disappointing. But, I will say the ending does make up for some of that disappointment.

Despite a lot of cringy love details that I would rather not deal with, I will still definitely continue with this series. 


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