➸ four stars

This book really surprised me because it wasn’t what I imagined it would be. Caraval is a greatly constructed and fun magical world that I had so much fun reading about. But, it wasn’t the best YA fantasy book I’ve ever read and I feel like people overhyped this one as well. At least in my case. If I had read this book two years ago it would have been a five star read.

Even though it was interesting to follow Scarlett while she tried to solve Legend’s riddles in order to find her sister Tella and receive a magical wish, the plot felt really flat at some points. I wasn’t really all that invested in the mystery behind the game or Caraval’s master which sucks because I was really excited to read this book.

What I did really like is the relationship between Scarlett and Julian. The tension was immaculate and all the twists and turns they had to go through, now that was peak content! When it comes to other characters they didn’t really amuse me that much sadly and I really hated Tella for a hot second because she was acting like a brat and was so frustrating. Thankfully, the ending of this book is really satisfying and all the present problems were resolved while at the same time we are left with a promise of more mystery in the second book.

Thanks to everyone that recommended this book to me because it was really good, not perfect, but good overall. I see myself loving this series and I can’t wait to read the sequel!