*2.75


At this point, this book is must-read/gateway ticket for the YA Fantasy genre. What I mean by that is, if you like YA Fantasy, this book should be on of the starting books you read. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard from other people. I’ve been avidly reading YA, especially Fantasy, for 2 and a half years now, and I still haven’t got around to this book, until this month.


I wouldn’t say this book is bad, based on my rating, but I was also a bit disappointed. I’ve had this book recommended to me on numerous occasions. From some of my irl friends, booktubers, and even my Goodreads friends. Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed. To be fair, my expectations were on a god tier level so I guess I don’t really have anyone to blame but myself, but it still doesn’t wash away the pitiful despair of something similar to fraud. Ok I’ll shut up now because I sound like a soap opera script


This book follows a girl called Scarlett and her sister Tella. Scarlett has always wanted to go to this magical carnival game called Caraval, and so she writes letters to the wring master/leader/head, Legend, from ages 9 to 17 for a ticket for Tella and herself to go to this carnival. She doesn’t receive a reply, until a week before her wedding. Scarlett decides that she will not disobey her duty, and her abusive father but her sister, Tella, has other plans. Scarlett, Tella, and a guy named Julian, embark on the adventure to Caraval. But when they arrive, Scarlett’s sister is gone, until she realizes, Tella is all part of the game.


This book had so much potential than what it was given. I’m not saying this book is bad, but there were so many things that could have been better.


For example, Scarlett is really really stupid. And her stupidity is actually a plot device because with her idiocy, she does some really dumb things that enhance the plot. The plot wouldn’t move forward if Scarlett wasn’t an idiot, which definitely could have been done...a different way. I’m not lying when I say Scarlett is a really really stupid character. She’s naive, and you can argue that’s she’s been on an island her whole life, but Tella isn’t anywhere near niave? Scarlett, even though she claims has been protecting her sister for years, and not trusting her father for years, suddenly trusts the first pretty boy she sees? Umm anyways.


Scarlett also has about as much common sense as a fish. The whole, gold fish have a short memory, I know has been a debunked theory for awhile, but let’s talk about a bass for example. So let’s say a bass is swimming with their friends, and the friends see four fish hooks in the water. Bass A sees the bait on one of the said fish hooks, and says to his friends (In bubble language of course) “I’m going in for dessert suckers.” Bass A goes in for dessert, and gets jerked to the surface. The other bass are terrified, but then bass B decides that even though Bass A (his best mate) gets jerked to the surface, it’s a good idea for him too. Now this analogy describes Scarlett’s brain function. At one point Scarlett is told by, not one, not two, but three (her gut is three), people that she shouldn’t do something. It’s dangerous. Yet, the idiot still does it. And then she’s so surprised it ended badly.


Scarlett also describes herself as, plain, ugly, and not as pretty as Tella because even though she has, “flowing brown hair, pouty lips, and high cheekbones” she couldn’t possibly be pretty. Give me a break.


The writing in here was also...weird. It’s very pretty, I’ll give the author that, but some metaphors make absolutely no sense. Similar to the book Shatter Me, which has a stomach roiling amount of eye descriptions, and loss of brain cells from the metaphors, this book has similar metaphors and weird descriptions. To be fair, I shouldn’t really be comparing the two, because Shatter Me is a garbage induced dumpster fire, but the descriptions have the same flowery prose and writing.


The world building in here is also, nonexistent. I remember reading The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Choski earlier in the year (June or July I think), and I hated that book. One of the reasons is because the world building is absolutely desolate. The world building in here is similar, and where this doesn’t have a knock off twist from Daughter of Smoke and Bone (yes I’m condescendingly looking at you for being entirely unoriginal, The Star Touched Queen) in here the world building is the same. We have an island, that’s conquered, by someone that was mentioned once I think. We don’t know who it belonged to before, or how they were conquered. We have another island, which Caraval resides on. We don’t know where this island is either, only that it takes a day or two to get back to the conquered one. We also don’t know anything about the oceans, or rulers, or rules that said islands and places enforce. Yeah, that’s about as much world building as this has.


Tella is also the worst character in this book. I ripped Scarlett a new one for her stupidity, and her I’m so ugly and plain, I’m not like other girls bullshit, but I’m going to rip Tella a new one for being a terrible person, sister, and a bitch. Tella is a terrible sister. Scarlett loves Tella with everything she is, (even though she doesn’t have any brains, she has a heart), and you can tell Tella gives zero shits about her in return. I know we’re supposed to feel that way about Tella’s character, because “she’s hard on the surface, but caring on the inside”. I know that’s what you were going for author. It didn’t work. I’m sorry, but it didn’t work. Tella is a bitch, and a terrible person, and I don’t think book 2 will justify her terrible personality.


Julian was my favorite character in this whole book, because 1 he’s described as really hot, so how can I not like that? That may make me shallow, but I don’t care. And 2, he has a cute personality.


While I make all of these criticisms I actually think I’ll continue on with the series. This book is described as something I’ll definitely hate. And yeah, while I was annoyed with the points I made above, I was still swept into Caraval as a world. Even though their is no world building, and many of the plot points lean heavily on Scarlett to be an absolute idiot, this was still very fun and cool. I guessed some plot twists, but others I was absolutely shocked by others, which definitely made me continue. This book is definitely one you can binge, because yeah even though their is no world building, the world is really easy to delve yourself in because of the writing. I don’t know when I will continue on with this, but at some point I’ll pick up Legend.