I want to preface this post by saying that I know this book is a debut novel. I have also heard a lot of positive feedback about this author’s more recent work.

This book first came out in 2016, during a massive onslaught of Young Adult dystopian fiction. I’m not entirely sure if I’d call this series “dystopian”, but it does kind of lean that way.

In any case, while this isn’t going to be an entirely positive review, I wanted to mention beforehand that I am re-reading this trilogy because I originally never finished the last book. I first read Caraval in 2018, and I had a lot less experience with fantasy writing at the time.

Okay, so on to the review.

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Caraval, by Stephanie Garber. A young adult fantasy novel set in the wonderful world of Caraval, where nothing is as it appears, everyone is lying, and the mysterious Legend has put out a quest to all players for the chance to win a single wish.

This book feels like it was inspired by The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It certainly has circus influences, and an air or mystery and whimsy to the game. I think I read The Night Circus around the same time that I first read Caraval.

I picked up this book a few months ago with the intention of trying to complete the trilogy. I had positive memories of the series from the last time I read it, but no real memory of the plot.

Obviously it has been quite some time since I last read this book (six years), so my reading tastes have definitely changed. I’m also aware that my memory of this book may have been distorted over time.

Anyway, I’m really not enjoying this book. The writing isn’t great, the characters are boring, and there’s all this stuff about colours and emotions which could have been done better.

I get that this was a debut novel. It came out eight years ago. I’m sure Garber writes much better prose now. But this book is quite tedious. I’ve got less than 100 pages left, and I want to finish it because I want to see if the other two books in the series improve.

I don’t know if I’m wasting my time though. I’ve always been told that I shouldn’t continue with a book if I don’t like it. The thing is, the plot isn’t bad. It’s just that the writing needs some work. I’m going to go into more detail about things, but I don’t want this whole review to be negative.

Conceptually, it’s a great story. We follow Scarlett and her sister Donatella, who live on an island with their abusive father. The girls both dream of escape.

Scarlet, as the older sibling, is determined not to upset their father. She is to marry a Count whom she has never met, and believes this will help her to save herself and her sister from the life in which they are trapped.

Donatella, on the other hand, is much more rebellious. She wants to run away with a stranger who promises to take them to Caraval, where she can live freely.

It’s not the most complex plot, but things do take a strange turn. Scarlet is essentially kidnapped by the stranger that Donatella has persuaded into taking them to Caraval. Once in Caraval, however, Donatella disappears, and Legend’s quest is revealed as being to find Donatella in order to receive a wish.

The magic gets quite dark from here, they constantly say from the beginning that nothing and no-one can be trusted, yet Scarlett continues to believe every single thing that she sees or is told.

This is part of the reason I find the characters so frustrating. I find that they just have one thought in their heads and they can’t consider other possibilities (again, this is just my interpretation, other people might think differently about this).

Overall, I’m not sure how I feel about this story. Again, the plot was fine. The prose frustrated me a bit, but maybe we can put that down to it being a debut novel. I’m going to continue with the series because I want to finish the trilogy. I don’t expect the other books to be a lot better than this one though. I’m going to have a little break from the series for a short while, but I will get back to it soon.

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Have you read this series or other books by Stephanie Garber? I’m curious to know what your thoughts are on them, and if you think it’s worth continuing the series.

Until next time,
Love, Bobbi. Xx.