Caraval Book Review

 

Hi guys!

Fun story. Last summer I started a book that everyone was hyped about. I got one chapter in, decided I hated it, and didn’t finish it. 

Today, I’m giving that same book a five star review. 

The Blurb:

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. 

The Plot:

The plot to this book was so fun. Knowing the tag line—remember, it’s only a game—had me suspicious of literally everything. It was a really interesting ride of twists and turns, where some of the things that seemed perfectly ordinary were some of the biggest tricks, and then other things I was positive were important turned out to be completely ordinary. 

This is one of the first books in a long time that I didn’t guess the outcome long before finishing it, and the ending left so many strings to tie up that it just makes a person want to dive right into the next book.

The Characters: 

Scarlett makes an interesting leading lady. It seems like most of the books I read have girls who’s flaw is to dive into things without thinking. Scarlett has the opposite problem. I spent a good part of the book screaming at her to just do something. Anything. It definitely kept a person in suspense. 

Tella perfectly captures that youngest child attitude and it’s fun to see how the two sisters bounce off each other. 

Julian. Ah, Julian. I started out hating him, then liking him, and it just went back and forth about a thousand times. The perfect book boyfriend. 

I could go on about Legend, how despite not being on the page much (at all?) his character came through so delightfully in all of his schemes with the games. I really liked getting to see some of the letters he wrote too. Dante, with all his tattoos and his vain personality is quite possibly my favorite. Tragic that. 

Really the one point that needs to be drove across is just how aesthetic this book is. From the main cast, all the way down to the background characters who only appear for a scene or two, each and every one of them had such a beautiful, obvious aesthetic. The author did a fantastic job of painting this magic dipped world, where the beauty is on perfect display, with evil undertones coloring the shadows, all without it becoming sensory overload. 

Spot on.