Caraval - Stephanie Garber

Title: Caraval 
Author: Stephanie Garber
Format: Hardcover 
Rating: 3 Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 I picked up Caraval after hearing about it on a booktube channel I frequent.  After looking up the description, I thought: "This is a book I HAVE to read!"  This book fell short of my expectations.  I was expecting a wonderful, magical treasure hunt of a journey.  Instead I got bloated paragraphs that went no where, underdeveloped characters, and a romance that was just there for the sake of being there.

Scarlett, our heroine, had all the appeal of a rotting apple.  She had no personality, and her wishy washy attitude was unappealing.  I didn't care what happened to her or her sister.  

Tella and Julian, the two other main-ish characters, fell as flat as Scarlett.  There was no development to them, they didn't have any emotions or gumption (not sure if that's really the right word, but that's what I'm going with.)  I couldn't really feel their motivation for anything they did - just like Scarlett.  They and the other characters just moved around and did things not because it was intrinsically part of who they were but because that was just what the author thought they should do.

The story moved at a snail's pace, and it didn't feel like anything that happened really should be happening.  It all felt stale and overdone.  There was nothing that stood out to me or made me think Hey, that's cool.  

The whole story felt like an attempt at a Night Circus sort of book that fell drastically short of my expectations.  Save your time and read something else.