Review: Caraval - Stephanie Garber

Genre: YA Fantasy

Published: 31st January 2017

Length: 407 pages

My rating: 7/10

Overview: Scarlett has always dreamed of seeing Caraval, a mysterious game of magic run by the infamous Master Legend. Just as she gives up hope, three tickets arrive - one for her, her sister, and her fiancée. However, Caraval is more dangerous than Scralett knows- will she be able to survive and save the thing most important to her?

I've heard a lot of great things about this book, and I think I may have built up my expectations a little too high. It was enjoyable and fun but for me it didn't stand out particularly. Having said this, there were some really nice elements to the book.

There's a lot here to try and keep the reader happy - plenty of plot twists, a standard 'oh I don't like him but he is pretty hot' romance, and exciting action scenes. However what I like most about the book had nothing to do with any of these. I thought it was very cleverly written, in that various characters keep reminding Scarlett that everything she sees is not really magic (and thus by extenson, reminding the reader also) but, like Scarlett, I found it almost impossible to stop believing that it was magic and had to keep reminding myself too! It was very clever in that regard. I also loved Scarlett's synaesthesia - it was just cool and added another beautiful layer to the descriptions. Talking of descriptions, part of my favourite scenes was when Scarlett was just experiencing Caravel - the first boat ride, for example, or when they saw the woman being thrown out of the shop.

Character wise, everybody is likeable but I didn't love anyone. This is probably what would have lifted the book for me, but there was no one that I was crushing on or wanted to be best friends with. I liked the relationship between the two sisters but I feel like Tella is a bit manipulative and probably more scheming than we know yet, so I'm curious to see how she will develop in the next book as I know she will be taking centre stage in that one. To be honest Julian got on my nerves a bit, his backstory changed at least three or four times through the book and his sneaking off irritated me. Scarlett was the best character but she was a bit stressful to read from as she is quite high maintenance and a constant worrier.

An original story, only let down slightly by the characters, but still quite a fun read. Embrace the magic!

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