Caraval is a romantasy book by Stephanie Garber. I rarely give ratings under 3/5 because books I don’t like I also DNF and rarely mention. However, there’s an exception – trick me that a book is good by writing an awesome beginning and then a roasting on the blog becomes possible. So rather than a photo with the book cover, here’s an augmented photo of soap, which I find appropriate to the following text.
Donatella and Scarlett are two teenage sisters, daughters of the cruel Governor Dragna. They endure an eternity of their father’s beatings and psychological torture while waiting for arranged marriages to either secure their futures or end them. This grim situation fuels their desire to escape but so far, they haven’t managed to.
Their hope for an exit is the Caraval – a five-day fantasy festival run by the mysterious host known as Legend. The Caraval is a magical Disneyland for adults, where reality blurs with illusion and the ultimate magical currency is time. The sisters’ hope is that by reaching this show, some kind of miracle will help them break free from their father’s iron fist.
The premise is actually quite promising. The story begins strongly, with Scarlett’s annual letters to Legend – honest, intriguing, and filled with hope. But the promise quickly fades. Scarlett and Donatella are, IMO, absurdly written characters, and the way adults treat them is just as implausible. Neither their father, nor Legend and his actors, feel remotely believable. Add to that the fact that three insanely handsome grown men keep trying to seduce Scarlett, and the whole thing becomes uncomfortable. The only visible “virtue” of the two sisters seems to be their youth.
The Caraval lasts five days, during which Scarlett is expected to fall in love and jump into a new life with one of the three men mentioned above. The issue? At least two of them (if not all three) appear to be part of the Caraval itself. The central mystery of the novel is which one of them is good, if any. This changed a number of times. Unfortunately, I guessed most of it early on and was mostly annoyed by the abusive nature of all relationships in the book.
Scarlett’s motivation to join the Caraval is also inconsistent. For most of the book, she resists the idea entirely. She just wants to marry her fiancé and obey her father’s will, while Donatella is the one actually trying to escape and the role of a sitting duck doesn’t suit her well. The beatings from the father also feel oddly pointless, especially since Scarlett is already compliant and Donatella is too young.
Despite the weak characterization and messy plot, there were some enjoyable ideas. I liked the concept of paying for things time or secrets. The enchanted opinionated dresses with feelings of their own were fun, and the fantasy theme-park aesthetic had its charm reminding the Phantom of the Opera. The scavenger-hunt structure of the game itself worked reasonably well. But ultimately, this book seems more suited to fans of vampire romance stories. The kind where 200-year-old immortals fall for clumsy teenage girl.
The book is centered around feelings. It’s a powerful visual performance with little logic or consistency.
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