Book review: Caraval by: Stephanie Garber

Post by: BookGirl

Caraval

By: Stephanie Garber

Story: ★★★ The idea for this story, amazing!! I love love love the concept!! Her execution not so much. I was really disappointed.

Writing: ★★★★ The writing was really good. Though several times it felt like she was trying way too hard. Sometimes her colorful words or cute phrases came off unnecessary and distracted from the story.

Characters:★

Main: This is where she lost me. Well one of the reasons she lost me. Both sisters did nothing but annoy me. The MC was whiny and single minded. She knew what she wanted but spent more time worrying than actually going after it.

Supporting: They weren’t bad but I felt they all came off rather convenient. Instead of having a personality they just seemed to do or say whatever they needed to advance the story. (I know some of that was part of the story but it still all felt way too convenient.)

Feels: ★★ None. The only time I felt anything during this book was at the end when everyone expected the MC to be okay with everything that had happened. I felt very strongly that they needed to just gave her a moment. Believe I yelled “Give her a second” but no we all just moved on.

World: ★★★★ The world was fantastic. I was not wooed by the Alice in wonderland nonsense. I am not a fan of that. But the idea of a game set in a magical town on an island. I was so ready to read about that. But like I said before, I just wasn’t excited by the story that came out.

Overall grade: 2 1/2★

Attachment: I listened to this book on a Playaway. I love these. I got it from the library. It’s like a little mp3 player with just one book on it. But I could listen to it in my car, then take it inside and listen with headphones or a speaker, while I did the dishes or cooked. So because of that I flew through this book. I was very interested in the world and wanted to get back to see what would happen next.  I just had no attachment to the characters.

Recommendation: The book wasn’t bad. I am glad I read it. It was like gasoline on my imagination. Just don’t expect too much from the plot. *sigh* It wasn’t a bad plot but it didn’t hold up for me. At the end it all just seemed really pointless.  The reason behind everything was very flimsy.