Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Hey Guys!

It’s book review time! Today it is all about a book that I have been itching to read ever since I first heard about it in October. Today it is all about Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Let do this!

Well I can definitely see what all the hype is about with this one. This book is brilliant. It really lives up to its hype. It is beautiful and magic, but also confusing and deadly and just so amazing. I loved every second of it. I never knew what was really real and what was just the game. It was brilliant. It really kept you on the edge of your seat.

This story was so imaginative. At times it was dark and twisted, at others it was beautiful and magical. It just had it all. I loved the fact that there was an element of mystery to the story. I found myself trying to figure out what was next alongside Scarlett. I was always trying to figure out what was going to happen. And I was always left stunned. There where so many twists and turns in this story. So many unexpected revelations. It really kept me gripped to the story. I just never knew what was coming.

I was surprised by how dark this book was at times. I mean I shouldn’t have been surprised Any book that is described as being like The Night Circus meets Divergent is going to be a bit dark. Even so, I was surprised. I mean it started kinda dark and pretty twisted and stuck with it throughout the book. Everything had a dark undertone to it. There was abuse, violence, deception, murder and so much more. And every element of the story had something dark about it, the main storyline, the encounters, the twists, it was all very dark, but it worked. I always feel as like magic and darkness walk hand in hand, you cant have one, without the other. And that is certainty the case in this book. It would never have worked as well as it does if it didn’t have this dark element in it. It was the perfect mixture of light and dark.

But I think what I enjoyed most about this book where the characters. I particularly loved Scarlett. You saw her grow so much as a person throughout this book. She went from being this timid girl afraid of making decisions and willing to just accept her ‘fate’ to being this strong young woman who takes control of her life and her love. She just developed so much as this book progressed. It made a nice change to see a YA book where the main character didn’t spend the whole book swooning over people (I know that this idea is generally changing in YA, but it is still a plot line that is used far too often, and unnecessarily). I liked seeing a female lead who is strong and capable of change. That being said, I did also really like Julian. I think that he is a very intriguing character. There is clearly so much to him. He grew on me more and more as the book went on and I ended up really liking him. Some of the other characters I am still unsure about. I don’t know how I feel about Tella. I feel as if I will like her, the better i get to know her. She is fun and reckless and daring, I just didn’t see enough of her to completely connect with her. I did love the fact that her and Scarlet are very different. Ying and Yang and all that. I don’t trust Dante and, I don’t know. I’m not sure how I feel about anyone else. I feel like because the book focused so much on Scarlet and Julian, everyone else took a sideline a bit. I will admit that I am very intrigued by Legend though. I want to know what his deal is. I love how much he manipulated the story, even though he was never there.

I really loved this book. I am so glad that I have finally gotten around to reading it. It is so good. I don’t have as much as a connection to it as I do The Night Circus, but I still love it. I believe this is going to be a duology and I want the second book right now. I want to know what happens to the characters, the story, Caraval. I need to know lol. If you haven’t read this book yet, you need to.

5 out of 5

I honestly loved this book so much. I am so happy that I have read it. It was everything I was hoping it would be. Have you read this stunning book yet? What did you think about it? And for anyone wondering, I have the Clock cover. I hope that you have enjoyed today’s post and I will see you all again very soon.