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//caraval// by stephanie garber
a r e v i e w
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W A R N I N G S P O I L E R
★★☆☆☆ (Tbh I would put this at 2.5 stars)
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this, aside from the fact that the setting is kind of like a carnival and the main character's name is a colour, and she has a sister. I know that it's an annual game that you can join and it blurs the line of reality and fantasy.
But here's the thing: the entire damn book blurs the line of reality and fantasy, so much so that I'm at a loss of what to believe in. And that's a problem because, as magical as everything may have seemed, I didn't understand it. The incentive. Why was Scarlett's father cruel? Just because his wife ran off to god knows where and didn't come back so he feels the need to play mind games with his daughters? Then he randomly kills a person then slaps a girl? After that he lets his daughter be raped? For some reason?? But then the book describes him as "looking afraid" for Scarlett? That he was trying to save her? I don't get it. So is he supposed to be unreasonably cruel or what?
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1 W O R L D - B U I L D I N G
To quote Emily May on Goodreads: "Caraval is a fantasy without world-building or significant character development." The book itself is very descriptive, it always talks about the many wonderous things Scarlett sees at Caraval. But they're pointless, because it does not add to the reader's idea of the world she actually lives in. Scarlett and her sister Donatella comes from some conquered isle that I forgot the name of, then travels to Caraval which takes place on some other island. I don't understand how their world is that much different than ours when it was in the Victorian era.
When your story is supposed to take place in another universe, you have to establish it. Some say "but oh wait there's a second and third book". But I say, things like that are not supposed to "wait until the next book". Sequels or prequels are supposed to add on to the world that you've already built.
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2 T H E L A N G U A G E
I've seen some other reviews and they complain about how flowery it is or there are too many metaphors and similes. Strangely, I'm okay with the writing—just barely. At times it feels very chunky and overwrought. I don't hate it, but I sometimes frown when I see something like this:
