Retrying Books That I Didn’t Give A Fair Chance To In My Youth (Because I Was Influenced By The Bandwagons Of Their Time, Or Simply Because I Was A Stupid Teen), Vol. 2: Caraval

 This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Hello and welcome to the second installment of my reread review series called “Retrying Books That I Didn’t Give A Fair Chance To In My Youth (Because I Was Influenced By The Bandwagons Of Their Time, Or Simply Because I Was A Stupid Teen).” Today’s review is on Stephanie Garber’s debut novel Caraval, which I had previously read back in 2017 and had given 2.5 stars. I decided to give the series a second chance due to my growing interest in it's spin-off Once Upon A Broken Heart.


(If you haven't read it yet, read it here and come back when you do!)



Caraval is advertised as a lush and romantic fantasy set in a loosely magical world, and its premise is a huge carnival of fun and danger with a grand prize at the end for one lucky winner.


Our main characters are sisters Scarlett and Donatella "Tella" Dragna, who I found to be the most insufferable and horrible main characters I've ever had the displeasure of reading about. Their father is a vile yet badly written villain, and Scarlett's love interest Julian was probably the only likeable character in this story- most of the time.


Despite my dislike for the characters, the plot and magic system are what disappointed me the most. I found the plot to be very confusing and nonsensical, and the plot twists were hard to follow and believe. The magic system was poorly described, and it only grew worse with each book.


...Yes. I said with each book. Though I disliked and found myself disappointed- again- with the first book, I still continued on with the second and third books instead of saving my sanity.


The plots only grew worse and more confusing, the twists utterly nonsensical, and the magic system absolutely baffling. Not only that, but the main point-of-view changed from Scarlett to Tella- and let me tell you, if you were like me and disliked Scarlett, you're really going to hate Tella. The only thing slightly likeable about this series was Garber's writing style- though it was nothing special, she made the stories entertaining enough.


In all honesty, I don't know why I put myself through this. I could've read Once Upon A Broken Heart without reading the Caraval series, but I felt determined. Caraval, in the story, is a game specifically created to confuse, riddle, and even drive the players insane. However, Caraval the series was able to do that to its readers as well. I give all novels in the series 3 out of 5 stars.


As for whether I will read the Once Upon A Broken Heart series, I plan on it. I have a copy of the first book on my Kindle and will update you with my thoughts as soon as I have read it.


Other Installments In This Review Series:

• The Raven Boys

• Red Queen (Coming Soon)

• Falling Kingdoms (Coming Soon)

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