The 1/3 Rule

[Luka]

Well, I'm talking to myself at this point but oh well.

I have been pondering why I feel why some books fail, even if they have good characters, a captivating world, or an entrapping plot.
Even though I love the Caraval series myself, I feel like this series is a great example of this anomaly. The world is just full of magic and wonder, I just can't stop myself from imagining this world, and I think that the story itself is just so amazingly interesting. So, where did the series fall short?
I'm not too sure if anyone else has had a similar idea, or if this is even an original though process, but I feel like Caraval fails to adhere to what I like to call my 1/3 rule.
What is the 1/3 rule you ask? Well, it's pretty simple, I feel like every book falls into 1 of 3 categories: Character centric, World centric, or Plot centric. For example, I feel that the Young Elites The Young Elites would be more of a character centric book. That's not to say that it doesn't focus on the world building or the story, it's more of the idea that the characters' and their personalities were what gave the story depth and suspense. The characters were what made the book whole, like the cream in the middle of an Oreo. Those characters added so much to the story, making the adventure an adventure.
Now back to Caraval. I feel like the set up for this specific story started out as a world centric story. The world was what was going to add the depth and wonder to the story, seeing as it was set up with such love and care. As soon as Scarlett walked into Caraval a sense of awe and wonder could wash over the readers, along with the sense of unease of not knowing what was real and what was fake, a feeling that was set up by the tagline"Remember, it's only a game."
Now, what's wrong with a World centric story? The answer to that is nothing. Lord of the Rings, in my own opinion, felt very World centric, and that series is iconic. Where Garber went wrong with her story was how she tried to switch the focus closer to the end of the first book.
Most of the first book of Caraval is mostly world centric, as stated earlier, but turns into a more character centric story closer to the end. Now some stories do accomplish a change in a central focus, Ender's Game Ender’s Game is a great example of this. It fluctuates between being a character centric and a world centric story throughout the whole book.
Ender's Game works because the characters were created specifically for the world, and the world was created specifically for these characters, so going between the two focuses works. Caraval, on the other hand, does not have this connection between the characters and the world.
Although Legend has a connection with the world depicted in his story, the other characters could be easily replaced by a different cast of characters. For example, if you took Inej from Six of Crows Six of Crows and dropped her into this world, then removed Scarlett or Tella, you could still end up with a similar story with nothing changed in the world. But if you replaced Ender with Inej, the world conceived in Ender's Game would change (when I say world I also mean how secondary and tertiary characters act towards/around each main character), but when you switch Inej with Scarlett in Caraval not as much in the world would change. Sure the relationships between her and Tella and Julian would change slightly, but not too dramatically to change the whole world, seeing as both Inej and Scarlett are quiet and rather kind characters who might have different hobbies but similar personalities.
That's where Caraval falls short in my opinion, Garber decided to focus more on characters for a good portion of the series rather than the two stronger aspects (being plot and world) of the story she concocted. In other words, I would love to see what the story would be like if she had decided to focus more on the world rather than the characters.

[Anna]

I dunno, for me the world and writing style was able to keep my interest throughout the whole series. I get what you're saying about how the characters aren't necessarily the strongest point in this book but personally, the shift from a world to character-based story didn't really bug me too much. I think if anything that shift is representative of how the characters, especially Scarlett, have grown and are taking control of the narrative (no pun intended).

[Luka]

Anna wrote: "I dunno, for me the world and writing style was able to keep my interest throughout the whole series. I get what you're saying about how the characters aren't necessarily the strongest point in thi..."

I'm not too sure I can agree with you. I feel like Scarlett did grow slightly, but still seems kind of like a pushover. If anything, I think that she becomes more of a pushover as you go deeper into the story. Honestly the shift wouldn't bug me as much if the author focused on Legend or Jacks more. I feel that they would have fit the second and third book better then focusing on the sisters. I still love the books, I just would have liked to either do what I posted before, like making it about the world, or focusing on the stronger characters like Legend or the Fates.