A review by bibliophine
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

“Welcome to Caraval. Trust no one. Everything and nothing is real at the same time.”

I really enjoyed reading this once I got settled into the plot, but it did take me a while to get to that point. 
The heart wrenching story of Donatella and Scarlet Dragna, two sisters who can’t catch a break. From the very beginning it was clear that these two sisters were quite opposite to each other. Tella a free spirited, thrill seeking adventurer Scar a reserved, careful over-thinker. 
The invitation to the Caraval changes everything, especially the future Scarlet carefully forged and prepared for both of them to escape their tyrannical father. 
Diving into a world of illusion, mystery and danger Scarlet has no other option but to win.
When getting send on a wild goose-chase to find her sister, I especially appreciated Scarlets character building. Faced with seemingly impossible situations, and unable to trust anyone this book was eating away at me. She was confused, scared in an environment that was build to be confusing and scary, which that made her incredibly relatable. 

I liked Scarlet a fair bit in retrospect, yet the plot let me to disliked Donatella. Which is why I probably will not be reading the second novel. 
As far as romance goes, while it certainly makes the story more interesting to have Scarlet travel with a companion, I am rather disappointed. 
JULIAN YOU LYING LIAR WHO LIES🤬
It felt as though Julians Character was just used for people coming to read about some hot guy. And after reading over 400 pages the reader still doesn’t know anything substantial about the male lead. 

The type of ending this book had was unexpected. I anticipated a big reveal of some sort, and was not disappointed. But i was certainly shocked. 

Will I ever reread it? Probably not. Will i read the second or third part? Also no. 
Was this something entirely different to what i am used to? YES
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