This review contains no spoilers.
Rambling and Raving:
You know that feeling when you've had a book on your shelf for an entire year, but you always manage to look past it and prioritize other books? And then when you finally get around to reading said book, it turns out to be one of your best reads all year? I swear that is the worst form of self-torture in the world.
I am just so infuriated with myself. Why did I take so long to read this? I don't understand how a book can be so perfect, so stunning, so beautiful, so gorgeous. I decided to wait to write my review for a few hours, because I wanted to see if my rating would lower if I thought more about the book. But waiting to write my review has only convinced me that if I was given the opportunity to rate this book ten stars, I would. Four stars is out of the question for me, so I guess that means Caraval is now one of my favorite series.
Now, let us get into the details that made me love Caraval.
Plot:
There was so much shit that happened in this book, and usually that's enough to turn me off and pick up another book. It's not that I like simple, predictable plots, but I like knowing which direction the story is headed so I can prepare myself. However, this book has taught me that this is the only kind of plot/storyline I love. The constant guessing of who was playing the hero and who was the villain, who was really out to get who, what the real history of Caraval was and what was false, who was really playing a game and who was being swept away is just so, so beautiful to me that I can no longer see myself enjoying a normal, predictable plot. Caraval was surprising with small twists and turns that turned into an even bigger plot twist at the end. If a book is good enough to make you question your very existence, to make you question even the main character, then yes, saying that it's done a superb job at being a book is a bit of an understatement.
Character Development:
Even though this book spans over the course of five days, I have absolutely no complaints about Scarlett's character arc. I agree, it probably should have taken more time for Scarlett to develop as a person, but when you have such beautiful writing like this in a book, it hardly fucking matters. It's hard to take much notice of a small thing like that when the book is distracting you with its sheer, seductive writing. When you first meet Scarlett, she's terrified of going against her father, terrified of living a future that's not set in stone. Her goal is to marry Count d'Arcy, to marry the man her father has arranged for her. She wants him to take her far, far away from her father so that he won't hurt her or Tella anymore. However, that all changes when Scarlett meets Julian.
Romance:
When Scarlett and Julian meet, it's not hard to see which direction their relationship is going. It was one of those, "I know this man is bad for me and that he doesn't genuinely care about me, so I can't let him get close because I probably don't mean anything to him. Let me push him away when he flirts with me because he's probably just messing with me." And usually, I hate those kinds of books. They're so overused and annoying, and if this had been any other book, I would've thrown it across the room, stomped on it, and shipped it off to a different country. But Caraval is not your average book. When you have a book like this one that's using this "bad boy trope", the cringe doesn't really fit, if you know what I mean. If a book written extremely well, it wouldn't matter how many bad YA tropes or cliches you add, because there's something unique about the book that the *cringe* just can't touch.
Caraval is the only exception -- I repeat, the only exception of an insta-love romance -- that I will cherish in my heart forever. I just can't hate Garber for making Julian and Scarlett fall in love in five days. I just fucking can't, because it was done so beautifully and flawlessly that I have no complaints whatsoever. I understood Scarlett's mistrust of Julian because of the history she shared with her father, and how their relationship was built on a lot of lies because Julian couldn't help lying to her half the time. And I just fucking love it so much when my favorite characters must suffer from the consequences of their past. I fucking love it because I can watch them learn and branch away from the ugly parts and turn into someone better.
The sexual tension in this book had me quaking and screaming and raging. Oh my god. THESE CHARACTERS have no self control. I was literally dying. I have never read a book with characters trying to restrain themselves so much against each other because they fucking want to do stuff to each other and AHHH. The sexual tension between Scar and Julian had me reeling throughout this whole book. Usually, when the love interest starts flirting and teasing the female, it annoys me, but I'm telling you, there's is something about this book that takes the worst cliches and turns it into something completely unconventional. It was written beautifully.
Characters:
I honestly don't know anything except that these characters are so fucking beautiful. I'm going to be honest. I don't relate to Scarlett Dragna at all. She's not the type of character you can resonate with or someone you can relate to well. But when I think about the sheer beauty of her character, none of that even matters to me. I hadn't realized how much I enjoyed reading about a character with so much selflessness, someone who was willing to do anything to save her sister, Tella. The fact that she's terrified of Caraval and its magic and being away from her father, yet she still puts her sister's desires and needs over her own. The fact that she's willing to jump off a fucking balcony and die for her sister. Oh my god. It's probably too soon to say this, but I would die for Scarlett.
Love interest:
Julian Marreros gets his own paragraph because...he's Julian, for goodness' sake. *sighs* It's only book one, but I would die for this bitch. At first, I just thought he was really hot and only good for his looks, but then he went to go get Scarlett's earrings after that random guy stole them, because he figured they were important to her, and he gave up a day of his life for her, and I just...CRI. These characters are so fucking precious, like I would literally give up my five days of Caraval to them if they asked. Fuck I love everyone so much.
World-building:
Caraval's world-building was everything I hoped it would be. You just get sucked into this world of magic and games where you're forced to set your ordinary life aside and play this game, solving this year's mystery in only five nights. You must use a set of clues to help lead you across Caraval's beautiful buildings and hidden nooks and crannies. You might fail, and you might be forced to sacrifice something valuable, but remember...it's only a game.
Additional Points:
Another aspect I truly loved about this book was the mystery of each of the characters. There's a time you think Julian is the true Legend, and then you think Dante is evil, and then someone goes wild and batshit. I love how almost everyone in this book is posed as a villain at least once. I love that so much, I just wanted to cry reading this.
There are so many assumptions you can make throughout this book, and when you get to the end where all the problems are solved and everything is finally explained, you just get this major feeling of satisfaction when it's over. I'm not impressed often enough, but I'm truly amazed at how Garber fit this entire gem of a book in 432 pages. I wish I could bewitch everyone to read this series.
Caraval is the only book I've read in a long time that has made me truly disoriented after I put it down. I truly felt that I had gotten sucked into an entirely different dimension and only part of me had returned to the ordinary world. When I got up to eat dinner, I felt like my mind wasn't even present, but that it had stayed in the world of Scar and and Julian and Dante, trying to solve this mystery, trying to hide from the Governor, trying to find Tella and win the game. This book fully engrossed me and pulled me in and did not let go until the last page.
If you're wondering if Caraval deserves its hype, it truly does. It deserves more. This book will keep you on your fucking toes. It doesn't let you live your normal life until you're finished, and even then you'll still be thinking about it. Caraval is by far my BEST read of 2021. I'm not sure if another book can top this, but we'll see. Caraval is a wonderful adventure filled with magic, tricks, riddles, romance, family, and more. Read it.