May 18, 2018

Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caraval (Caraval #1)
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Pages: 407
Format: Hardcover/Own

Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

Review: Ok everyone, don't hate me. But I didn't love Caraval. I liked it. It was ok. But I didn't just fall in love with it like most of you did. It wasn't the story overall that I disliked, just a few smaller things within the story. 

So I definitely did love the magic of Caraval. It was amazing. Dresses that change based on emotions, rooms that change size also based on emotions. Landmarks that move depending on the time of day (like the bridge). How the glamour makes everything appear during the game. I thought the whole magic behind all of Caraval was incredibly interesting and very fun to read about. I also thought the clues for the game were creative. I have to say, I didn't think the answers to some of these clues were what they actually were. Caraval definitely made everything more intriguing than a regular life game. I also thought the performers were amazing. As we find out in the end, there was actually a huge plan in place thanks to Tella, and these performers executed it so freaking well without letting anything on. I was thoroughly impressed by them!

I also enjoyed the characters of Julian, Aiko and Tella. I thought Julian was really interesting and I was also intrigued by the fact I couldn't figure out his angle for most of the book. I wasn't sure exactly whose side he was on, why he was doing what he was, and how he really fit in. After learning it at the end, a fair amount of his actions made sense, though he obviously showed throughout the book, he had a mind of his own as well. Aiko, I just thought her book and warning were cool. She was giving us these interesting glimpses into Caraval and actual serious warnings that should have been heeded. Definitely made her character grow on me. And Tella. Despite the fact we don't actually get to have a lot of dialogue including her, I found her incredibly interesting. And I found myself really liking her after finding out the whole thing had been her plan at the end. She was a lot smarter than she was made out to be. 

Now for what I didn't like. One big thing was the abusive father. I have issues with abusive, controlling people and this hit a nerve with me. I have my own reasons to have issues with abusive people stemming from an ex in my past. But in most cases I can get past controlling, abusive sections here and there. But this wouldn't go away. The father just follows them everywhere. And no matter what happens he's there trying to assert his control over Scarlett and using abuse and violence to get what he wants when she tries to be free of him. You should not be making your children fear you and abuse them just because their mother decided not to be with you anymore. How awful do you have to be to think that's ok? If we only dealt with the father in the beginning, I feel like this wouldn't have bugged me as much. Its the fact he's in the story to the end that put a huge damper on it. I mean, I understand at the end why he's there, but it doesn't make it any better. And what bugged me more was that he had the Count that Scarlett was supposed to marry in on all this stuff. 

Moving on to Scarlett. I think this is a big reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted. I didn't feel like I connected to Scarlett. I tried. I did. But I just didn't feel connected to her or really invested in her character as much as I should for a main character. I did get the sense that her fear of her father was real and genuine. I also could see her love and instinct to protect her sister was real. But I just couldn't connect with Scarlett. Only parts of what she was feelings on and off. I was also incredibly annoyed that all she cared about was her marriage to the count. She honestly thought no one could be as bad as her father and put all her eggs in one basket thinking her marriage would save her and Tella from him. She didn't even think for a second that all the letters the count sent her sounding nice could have been a delusion to lull her into a false sense of safety. It's like at the end of the book it finally hit her that she was wrong. This was a huge issue for me. 

The last thing that bugged me was the fact certain phrases reminded me of a book published in 2014. So while reading Caraval, Julian kept referring to Scarlett as "love". Not my love, which I only read once, but just as "love". Which is what I read repeatedly. Julian constantly using the phrase "love" when referring to Scarlett seriously made me think of Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. Warner always called Juliette "love" and the use of it in Caraval really reminded me of its use in Ignite Me. I get that it's just a word but I feel like it was used VERY similarly to Ignite Me and that bothered me some. 

Now, despite the things I didn't like about this book, I am going to read Legendary. You know why? Because it's from Tella's POV. I honestly felt more interested and connected with Tella in the brief parts we get to read about her. Her character pulled me in more than Scarlett's did and I think I will enjoy Tella's POV more and thus enjoy Legendary a bit more.