There were several times while reading Caraval that I found myself screaming I KNEW IT, and then a page or two later found myself screaming WHAT as everything I thought I knew was proven to be not true. This story was absolutely enchanting, I found the writing to be both descriptive and mysterious.

This was a magical ride. The story starts a bit slow, but the writing is so incredibly lovely – the author paints really beautiful pictures with her words – so honestly, the slow start was fine. This is a story about two sisters who care very much about one another. Ultimately, they each want to protect each other from their abusive father, the only issue is that they both have very different opinions on what is the best way to do that. Scarlett believes that the best form of protection is obedience, and Tella believes the best way to protect them is to get the hell out of their current situation and away from their dad. A large majority of Scarlett’s character arc is her dealing with her fear of her father, even when Tella succeeds in taking them away from her father and to Caraval, Scarlett is very preoccupied with what will happen when her father finds out what they’ve done (by that I mean running away).
In terms of the sisters I think that the most important thing to remember about them is their different opinions on what is best for each other, an understanding of that will help make this story more enjoyable, at least it did for me! (I only mention that because I’ve read several reviews that complain about the characters, specifically Scar & Tella, but this helped me appreciate them!)
Most of this story takes place inside of a magical place/game called Caraval. And the entire premise of this game is to follow clues in order to win a prize, but you have to be extremely careful because everyone and everything in the game is trying to deceive you. And this is where my already vague review is about the become even more vague because I honestly don’t think I can mention a single thing about this without ruining some part of the story. Because literally at this point in the plot I thought I was so clever and that I was figuring out so many twists and turns with this plot only to continuously be surprised!!! It really kept me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t read it fast enough.

So yeah basically this book was great. I loved the setting, I loved the plot, I loved the characters even when I didn’t love them and wanted to scream because they were being dumb I still LOVED them , and I loved the romance which I really cannot even begin to express my feelings about without ruining major plot points so *screams internally*.

OK here's one kinda (not really) spoiler

Spoiler

WHERE CAN I GET A DRESS LIKE SCARLETT'S THAT CHANGES WITH MY EMOTIONS, PLS SIGN ME UP FOR THE GAME IF I CAN GET ME ONE OF THOSE OKAY THANKS

It really should have been a five star read, but unfortunately most of the things I loved so much were also slightly problematic.
The fast paced plot and the constant plot twists and turns did make it a little difficult to connect with and to appreciate the character arcs as they were happening. When all is said and done it left me speechless and in shock by how much I could appreciate them, but it was just a bit lost while the events were actually happening. I think the character growth and development of relationships is all done in a really subtle way so that it doesn't distract from the magic of Caraval, which I can appreciate; It just left me feeling like there was something missing from the story that I otherwise adored. Still incredibly enjoyable, and I still am super excited to see what will happen next! I imagine a reread would let me bump it up to the 5th star, because things would make more sense and I’d be able to appreciate certain aspects more without the constant curiosity nagging at me, but for now I'm sticking to 4 and anxiously awaiting news for the continuation of this series.