"I had really high hopes for Caraval. The blurb, the cover, and the excellent reviews promised a magical whirlwind of a story. And this novel delivered that, but its relatively achieved grandeur was overshadowed bit by bit till the end. The last 50 pages or so of the book took its soul out, leaving me with a bittersweet aftertaste, a headache and lots of confusion.

Since I cannot even reflect upon the messy thoughts inside my brain, I'll analyze punctually.

1. The world-building. Sadly, in its true meaning and ramifications, we have no such thing as world-building. I do not even know how to categorize this novel. High-fantasy? Just fantasy? Regardless, in the beginning we had mentions of empires and conquered isles which had me utterly excited, but they were left to rot in the backseat so that the world of Caraval could unravel. Moving to this microcosm, it was indeed complex and fascinating. However, only through its captivating appearance and bold imagery and creative ideas. If you dive deeper, into the background, mechanisms and history, you come up empty. It's all really a facade.



2. The plot. God, the lies. There were so many lies and so many secrets and so many games and manipulation that it honestly ended up being exhausting. Revelations upon revelations, ones that often contradict each other, keep you guessing from start to finish, but after a while this initially mesmerizing stance metamorphoses into the feel of being tricked. Personally, that's how I felt. Deceived. After all the puzzle pieces finally straightforwardly fell into place (some that I've anticipated, some that I did not) you are offered an explanation. And like all good magic tricks, this kills the spirit -- and, implicitly, the so called "plot" -- of Caraval. Gone is the magic and wonder; instead, the triviality and over-the-top drama take residence. It's a scam. A ploy. And, much like Scarlett felt in last key-scenes, I also felt I haven't really made progress in the story.

3. The characters. We have Scarlett, our heroine; Julian, the love-interest; Donatella, the sister. Governor Dragna, the father and also the villain. Legend, the pseudo villain and the mastermind behind Caraval. Plus a few secondary, yet admirable characters (them I liked in their entirety). Scarlett could have been awesome, I'm telling you, if it weren't for her constant fretting and worrying and flowery thinking. Her personality was nuanced only in the kind, moral and brave spectrum, but at least a fraction of character development existed. Julian is a completely other story. The hottie and protective type, he was so intricately woven into the scam I've mentioned that he missed becoming a swoony book boyfriend. Tella was, on the other hand, funky and with a mind of her own, but her supposed cleverness the author tries to sell us falls flat. Despite their flaws, the sisters had a nice relationship. Their father represents a villain-wannabe that should only be called as he truly is -- an abuser, a bully. Legend... now Legend was a mystery and I'd love to find out more. The epilogue seems to hint we'll see him again in a sharper focus.



4. The romance. A bit too syrupy and insta-love reminiscing. I realize now it's the same feeling I've had when reading Falling Kingdoms: it's too much, too early in too little pages. About a quarter into the book, the feelings developed by Scarlett for Julian were already getting in the way of the plot. And I am quite the romantic fan girl, so when I'm saying something felt off, I'm not doing it lightly. Taking into account the amount of untruths that they based their relationship on, it's yet again a case of a shaky foundation to a central aspect of the book.



5. The writing style. Expect prose the likes of Laini Taylor. It sounds beautiful and I'll admit I get swept away pretty easily with this type of writing. It felt like the story flowed, despite its numerous hiccups. The third-person narrative also helped induce a darker atmosphere to keep us on the edge. On a structural level, there was redundancy, but I managed to overlook it gradually. Overall, I'll keep an eye out for Stephanie Garber, because this debut certifies she has storytelling skills.

Even though Caraval has been pitched as The Night Circus in different and refreshing clothing, it is far from the lovely and slow-burning tale of Celia and Marco. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly believe it deserves at least a skimming. It's an enigmatic story from start to finish and the epilogue assured I'll read the sequel. Color me intrigued.

ENJOY! <3"

"2.75 stars

�� My little liar, Julian mouthed.��

The writing held a contradictory connotation, to my opinion. It rocked from a polished, opulent vocabulary and exquisite metaphors to an atrociously neglected characters�� depth and world building. Some scenes were vividly and graphically descriptive from the costumes to the atmosphere surrounding our protagonists but they lacked explanation when it came to Scarlett’s feelings and thoughts, she partially felt shallow except from some verbal jousts with Julian. Plus, the magic orbiting around The Caraval, Legend and the actors was nonchalantly mentioned. Perhaps it was intentional and some of the questions will be answered and clarified in the next books in the series but, for me, the way the folklore wasn’t sufficiently distilled through the chapters to offer a perfect understanding of the magical world made it difficult to go through the story, therefore I didn’t feel completely connected to either the storyline nor the characters.

"Legend’s special guest had made Scarlett feel privileged. For the first time in her life, she’d felt special. Chosen. But once again, rather than feeling as if she were playing the game, it seemed as if the game were playing with her."

Everything was a subterfuge. A game, from the side characters�� intentions and motives to why the story started in the first place. When you feel like a guest you are in reality just a piece of chess in the grand scheme of The Caraval. And I got played all along with Scarlett. I was angry at first but, I completely understand the author’s vision, it’s honestly brilliant from the start to near, near the end . However, it was poorly, barely sorted. The ending felt rushed and Scarlett made some compromises and decisions that I don’t understand, at all.


P.S.:Julian carried the book until he didn’t.🫶🏼

��•~•~•~•~
tella WTH girl?????? the last chapters? im speechless. rtc

~*~*~*~*~*~
monique is joining the julian fan club, hope yall r happy now! idk who the hell he is

buddy read with lila and Aliki🫶🏼&��ܴdz�;

amelie &#x1d717;&#x1d71a;⋆₊˚ is on page 52 of 335 of Practice Makes Perfect: this book is so cringey but in the cutest way ever 😭💗