Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

35 reviews

barbarianmissy's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a neat one! It was really well paced and kind of refreshing and cool having a fantasy book in a surrealist setting. 

For the positives, this book had really excellent world building. There was a continuous guessing game throughout it. What may be magic, may also be illusion, but may also be real, so you never truly knew what to believe. And due to the unpredictable nature of the game there were lots of really cool twists and surprises I didn’t see coming! It was fun to try to figure out everyone’s true intentions, as you could truly trust no one. 

As for what I felt was a smidge meh. The character development felt a little undercooked for me. Some of the conversations felt a little out of place and the reasonings for certain actions felt too simplified for the complex emotions that would undoubtedly come from the consequences of them. (If that makes sense). 

Another thing is, I liked the romance plot, but it never felt genuine because, as with every single character in this book, you could never fully trust it. 

Overall, it was a really fun read. BbI’m gonna try book 2 next and see how it goes!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

margaretwaltemath09's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

imlindseybunny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was lied to, I saw things that weren’t even real, and I was forced to believe it was all a happy ending but, no. “It’s just a game” only applies to its actors, but its players suffer true consequences and Tella, the mastermind behind the troubles her sister and her new lover had faced, is no exception. I am literally SHOOK. I NEED to know what Tella bargained for, I need to know where their mother went, I need to know what this game really is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape and Toxic relationship

jessthemess8112's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I found this book to be enjoyable right from the beginning. It makes you excited for the main characters to get away from their own island and experience the excitement that Caraval holds. The writing was a little juvenile, and it felt like the author made it her personal mission to ensure every color was mentioned somewhere in the book. The ending also left something to be desired and kind of felt like a cop out.  I know there are 2 more books that hopefully wrap things up. However, if I hadn't known this,  I would've been extremely let down with the way this book ended.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

mysterious_and_spooky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I feel like I can see what the vision was for this book, but it's pulled off in a very clunky sort of way. It was very much a story that was happening to the main character, not even that she had much say in what was happening. Which made for a frustrating read. Tbh it felt like published fan fiction for Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. But I did see what the vision was, but I don't think it was quite executed effectively. I'm not really interested in continuing. 3.5 stars DNF series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

heathyfox's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

laurenleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Bummed I didn’t get into this more. I was hoping to pick up Once Upon a Broken Heart, but I heard I should read this trilogy first. Now I don’t know if I’ll continue with Garber. I really liked her writing on the sentence level, but I was having a hard time picturing the world as a whole. Part of that is because you’re constantly questioning what is real (alongside the MC), but it just didn’t quite grab my attention. Also the romance storyline did not land for me. I love Rebecca Soler as a narrator, but maybe a story like this wants to be read in print.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

bbmaan's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

shadikb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It was good but Scarlett annoyed me, and her seeing emotions in colour, was very confusing as well as annoying too... but a very enjoyable story overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting and Abandonment