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Caraval (Caraval, #1)

Stephanie Garber

Start date: October 1, 2022

Finish date: October 31, 2022

Discussion: ❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

Why we're reading this: October 2022 Book of the Month
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❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

* January 2023 - One of Us is Lying
By Alexandria , The Third Book Nerd · 1 post · 18 views

last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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December 2022 - Red, White & Royal Blue
By Alexandria , The Third Book Nerd · 3 posts · 20 views

last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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What Members Thought

Dec 07, 2022 stuti rated it it was amazing

Shelves: amazing, favorite-books, omg-i-loved-this, 2022

absolutely shattered my feelings and my heart and then put it back together piece by piece

julian and scarlett's relationship is so sweet and so slow-burn that i was practically going insane waiting for them to kiss lmao

anyway i would 100% recommend and i hope everyone on earth reads this, i can't wait for the next one ...more

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Jul 29, 2021 Sophie rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book felt so familiar because I’ve read so many trashy YA fantasy books with a very similar plot and characters. I thought the whole Caraval game plot line had so much potential, but it didn’t follow through. The end got so confusing with what was real and what wasn’t. I guess that was probably what the author was going for since in Caraval you loose track of what’s reality but it got to be too much. Especially with the people ACTUALLY dying thing. And Tella planning everything? And no one This book felt so familiar because I’ve read so many trashy YA fantasy books with a very similar plot and characters. I thought the whole Caraval game plot line had so much potential, but it didn’t follow through. The end got so confusing with what was real and what wasn’t. I guess that was probably what the author was going for since in Caraval you loose track of what’s reality but it got to be too much. Especially with the people ACTUALLY dying thing. And Tella planning everything? And no one actually knowing who Legend is? And then the giant bomb at the end with who Julian actually is. It literally could have been tied into the story so many better ways but the fact that she just left it until the end made it really anticlimactic and it didn’t really make sense. Scarlett was your typical annoying, whiny, stupid, self righteous, one track mind main character. I swear if she stopped worrying about her feelings for Julian and where her sister was she would have actually found her sister a lot quicker. She reminded me a lot of Catherine from Heartless. Also the fact that she gave up her nice hotel room just because she was terrified of “ruining her virtue” by sleeping in the same bed as a man? Like her over yourself girl he already abducted you to a magical island and surprise surprise! You’re going to miss your wedding! Who could have seen that coming? But turns out your fiancé is a giant asshole so it doesn’t really matter. But is he? No one knows because he had less than 4 scenes in the whole book and switched from defending her to helping her dad hurt her to being nice to her to trying to rape her. Confusing. Also, I just think Julians introduction into the story with the whole him hooking up with Tella but then actually not thing was so weird and unnecessary. And call me pretentious, but the whole “I knew I should have left but I couldn’t stay away from you; you have such a pure heart and I believe you make me a better person” thing was very cliche. Yet I still have to give it 2 stars because I read it in only a few days. Plus the ending set up for what is hopefully a better sequel. ...more

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Aug 10, 2025 Amrita rated it really liked it

Exact rating: 3.9

Caraval was more whimsical than magical and definitely unlike anything I’ve read before... a good different. Not even like Once Upon A Broken Heart (To be clear: I love OUABH and liked it much better than caraval). I never really knew what to expect from the plot. Some twists were a little predictable, but not the last one. I was never bored, and I actually enjoyed navigating the strange, enchanting world.

It’s not a book I’d revisit or lie awake thinking about, but it was defini ...more

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Oct 03, 2022 imtheotherbookelf rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

FIVE FUCKING STARS BABY

because holy shit this book was not what I expected. What I expected was supreme mediocrity or worse, similar to what I got from the other hyped books I've read for the past while and rated 3 stars. What I got, on the other hand, was a book so immersive I finished it within a day. With writing so juicy and delicious it felt like a fresh apple I couldn't get enough of. Then there was the perfect mixture of romance and plot, and OH THE PLOT *sigh*, and boy I did not see thos ...more

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