A review by skeptic_hecate
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This has more twists than the Amazon river, except that, unlike the Amazon river, the twists here are pointless and full of plotholes. I didn't like the protagonist at all, Scarlett Dragma reads like an anime filler episode monologue:
"I should do 'x', but if I do 'x' then I cannot do 'y', but perhaps people will expect me to do 'y' so I shouldn't do 'y', unless when two dimensional and pointless side character hinted that doing 'x' is better..." and so on.
The only character I liked was Donatella, and she was in a few pages of the book. The decisions taken by the characters are very stupid to the point of being random, and the clues are designed to be solved by something that happens to appear out of thin air rather than forshadowed.
The climax is meh, there are no real consequences to the actions of the characters. I had to force myself to finish this book. The outfits and setting are nice.
"I should do 'x', but if I do 'x' then I cannot do 'y', but perhaps people will expect me to do 'y' so I shouldn't do 'y', unless when two dimensional and pointless side character hinted that doing 'x' is better..." and so on.
The only character I liked was Donatella, and she was in a few pages of the book. The decisions taken by the characters are very stupid to the point of being random, and the clues are designed to be solved by something that happens to appear out of thin air rather than forshadowed.
The climax is meh, there are no real consequences to the actions of the characters. I had to force myself to finish this book. The outfits and setting are nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment