Caraval (Caraval Book 1) - Stephanie Garber

Publisher summary:

"Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved 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 far-away, 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 attend. 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. But whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, and her sister disappears forever."

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My Review:

Rating: 6/10

When I first heard of Caraval, I was really interested in the plot line. A girl running away from home on a mystery island to join a magic show? It sounded pretty great to me. Despite this, I really don't feel that, in this book at least, that this plotline was done justice.

First of all, Scarlett's character was not the right fit for me, but that's just my take on this. In all honesty, the set-up and the magical aspect of Caraval really did catch my attention, enough for me to finish the book despite my problems with Scarlett. I loved how many different magical aspects of it there were, and how they were described. I thought that it was an amazing idea.

The writing of Caraval was a bit choppy for me, and too many things happened for me to remember them all. I felt that pacing of the books was very inconsistent, but it did maintain the general outline that was created. I also thought that the transitions between the romance and action scenes were a little bit awkward. On the other hand, I really liked the imagery going on, and Garber did create a magical world for Caraval to take place in, and I felt that I really could picture everything going on. The world set-up was on par with what I was expecting from Caraval, and I think that the whole set-up in general was enough for me to get past my problems with Scarlett.

The plot was really interesting to me, and there was enough at stake for me to not question Scarlett's decision to partake on this journey, but I can't say that I was reluctant to take breaks while reading. Scarlett made decisions concerning her own life that would be I felt were somewhat irrational despite her situation. I thought her love interest was a somewhat cliché character, and I think the book could have been better if he was rewritten to have a unique defining feature.

Overall, I felt like Caraval had so much potential to be a great book, but the main character fell a little bit short of what I wanted to see. But, this is just my take on the book and the character, so this is one you really have to read yourself. I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how the story progresses!