First review from 2017

I loved this book. I kept seeing it around and I wanted it so badly because it sounded magical and it had the prettiest cover in the world. The idea behind it, of there being a magical circus filled with mystery and slightly darker undertones, was just so entirely up my alley so I had to have it. I bought it a month ago, despite being very broke, because I wanted it so badly that even though I knew I probably wouldn't get a chance to read it straight away I just had to buy it.

I finally picked it up today and I just breezed through it. I read the whole thing in around five hours, barely putting it down. It was phenomenal. It was dark and twisted and magical and mysterious and crazy and wonderful and I loved it so much.

The characters were interesting and the plot twists were shocking, but it was the world that blew me away. There was such a sense of magic to the novel, when being introduced to the world of Caraval there was this crazy feeling of surrealism. I could picture the streets of Caraval so clearly and I honestly wish I could experience such an interesting world – despite the darker parts.

The characters within this book were interesting and three dimensional. The relationships were mostly genuine and realistic, but with the amount of secrecy and plot twists in the book it was a bit hard for anything to seem natural – which I don't see as a negative thing. The story wasn't one about natural, realistic relationships and as such it worked best with a layer of surrealism.

The book was so twisted and interesting and I honestly had no clue how it was going to end. Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure about the ending. In a way it seemed almost anti-climatic, but at the same time it really wasn't. I definitely feel like this could have worked as a standalone, because it did a great job of explaining all of the magical elements of the story without turning the novel into something forced. That being said, I really am looking forward to the sequel, I'd love to know more about the magic within Caraval and see the characters develop and grow throughout the second novel.

I cannot describe this book as anything other than magical. I recommend it for everyone. It was wonderful and I really think that it has enough elements that most people would find some part of this story to enjoy.

Second review from 2024

While I retained a sense of the magic that makes up the core of this book, I'll admit that the intricacies of the plot and characters had been lost to time before this reread. I expected it to have lost some of that magic in the seven years since my first read but I found that it was still a genuinely enjoyable book.

Coming in from a 27 year old perspective rather than a 20 year old one I did find that the characters felt too young for the plotline and would have benefited from being aged up to their early 20s or later teens at the least but I understand why the author decided on the YA route for this story.

To me, the draw of this world is the parts that we don't see and that makes this a great first book in the series. We get just enough glimpses of more to want to keep reading, which makes the short time frame of Caraval work with rather than against the larger story. 

Especially having just read Legendary, it is obvious that Scarlett is a somewhat flatter character in comparison to her sister, but that rather enhances the story. She exists only within the context of her sister because she was raised as such, parenting her younger sibling from a young age and losing out on the chance to live her own life.

I do still recommend this for lovers of magic and mystery.