Review: Caraval Trilogy
Sometimes Blogger do be annoying when I am trying to blog. Also, I did a follow train thingy for my bookstagram and ended up getting a whole lot of followers. And a lot of booksta friends too. And blog has also been doing pretty well so I am kind of happy about it. Also, I switched to this trilogy instead of Renegades because, ya know, mind gets what mind wants. Also look at the character art.
1. BOOK ONE: CARAVAL
Instead of going my usual approach of doing a series blog altogether, I decided that maybe I should treat the books of the series as standalones, blogging as soon as possible after I've finished reading them instead of waiting to finish the whole series because, to be honest, by the time I am done, I swear I can't remember what I liked about the books at the beginning.
Scarlett Dragna knows only two things- to follow her father's rules blindly, and to protect her sister Donatella. Maybe once, she was obsessed with the idea of Caraval, but now it's just a childhood memory, now that she is about to get married. But then, a few days before her marriage, a letter from the Caraval master arrives, inviting the Dragna sisters for a game. But when Scarlett arrives, she finds that Legend has taken Donatella way and that Caraval's game this year revolves around her, where the winner would be granted a wish. And Scarlett must do all she can to get her sister back.
QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 3.8/5, EXCITING, BUT IT LACKS A BIT OF GROUNDING.
WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK'S:
1. Writing Quality: I do love the writing style. It's easy flowing, and it really has that vibe that brings you in. Vibe-check is really important, kids, if a book fails your vibe check, know that the said book has failed you. Maybe I should stop being so hard with books considering I'm writing one myself. Anyways, as I was saying, I do love the way everything's written because it has that sort of feeling, that adrenaline rush. Especially that first line though, banger.
It took seven years to get the letter right.
2. Worldbuilding: The worldbuilding, while really interesting, really lacks at some places. I do enjoy the carnival like scenario and the aesthetic that revolves around the story but if I am going to be really honest with it, I am not really impressed by it considering it seemed to lack grounding. The worldbuilding did seem a bit off beat to me so, downer.
3. Character Development: Character development is really interesting in this case. Scarlett is not actually developing as a person, but there is something that might shift inside of her by the end of the book. Not a major one, but just a tiny shift. Julian though, he is one of my favourite characters of the book, wish I could write more about him but I don't feel like I know enough about him. Maybe I'll have to give the other two books a read before I can make a decision on Julian. Donatella though, she's badass and she knows what she's doing and that's exactly what makes me like her so much.
4. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 6/10. But that's mainly because my mind wouldn't just concentrate while reading and constantly get distracted. I think I have commitment issues when it comes to series. Like serious issues, my mind is screaming every time I have to pick up a book that is not a standalone.
5. Intellectual Depth: I really love the play on the title "Caraval", like it either immediately reminds you of the word "caravan" or it reminds you of the word "carnival". And I think it is a wonderful play on the word because the latter is more likely to happen and the book itself has those vibes.
6. Plot Twists: Okay, I'm a bit disappointed at this part because as much as I love all plot twists that happen in the story, I am not as such wowed or they weren't as jaw dropping as I thought they could be. Or maybe it was like right place, wrong time. Very ill-timed plot twists so they did lose a bit of their shock factor. Kind of sad considering I was enjoying the book.
7. Plot: Well, to be honest, I really liked the plot. Emily J. Taylor wasn't joking when they said that Hotel Magnifique was a mixture of Caraval and The Night Circus. Because I could definitely see those vibes that were there in Hotel Magnifique.
2. BOOK TWO: LEGENDARY
This book took me like ten days to finish because whenever I decided to pick up this book it put me into such a reading slump that I wanted to cry. Like damn, why is this happening to me. I was always wanting to read something else or wanting to do something else whenever I touched this book and hence had to come up with the system of switching books to keep this blog alive.
Caraval has returned again, this time, in the city of Valenda. The same Valenda to whose count Scarlett was engaged to. Tella has only one motive in Caraval this time, to find out where her mother is, now that she has found out that she is alive. But every wish comes with a price, striking a deal with the Prince of Hearts was probably not a good idea. And this time, Caraval is a bit different, it's not just simply a game like they had played the last time.
QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 3.4/5, THE FIRST HALF WAS A PAIN TO GET THROUGH 😭😭, BUT IT GOT QUITE NICE IN THE END.
WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK'S:
1. Writing Quality: The writing is very very gritty in the beginning, with unnecessary info dumps. And it is kind of boring to get through. Even though it does flow well, which is a good thing otherwise I would have chucked it out of my house. Well, that's an exaggeration, I would never do that to a book, but I would probably chuck it out of my tbr like Hera chucked Hephaestus from mount Olympus.
2. Image/ Illustration Quality: I love the worldbuilding in Caraval, it's wonderful, it's magical. It's a frickin carnival. Though, I did not get much of the Carnival vibes from the book this time, even though they're there. Maybe it's because the location of Caraval was different this time and the game was more real than the last.
3. Character Development: Scarlett and Tella sort of gave me Feyre and Nesta vibes to be honest. And personally, when I read ACOTAR, Feyre came off as a skank instead of badass to be honest. Feyre has the personality of a plastic rectangle. But we're not here to emphasize on how much we hate Feyre now, do we? Thankfully, Scarlett and Tella are nothing like those two. Even though Scarlett does seem a bit naïve in the beginning, she does seem pretty badass in the end. Tella on the other hand, she confuses me a bit. She says she loves Scar, but there is nothing as such that I can produce as evidence that shows that she loves her sister. It may be a younger sibling trait, where they don't love their older sibling as much as their older sibling loves them. Dante though, 👀👀, I don't mind if he doesn't mind. He's such an enigma that it really is wonderful. Plus what he does for Tella in the end, romantic af. I want someone to sacrifice everything for me just to save me. Jacks, man, I couldn't emphasize enough as to how glad I was to see Jacks. I just love his twisted character.
4. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 4/10. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get through the first half of the book, or better yet, a great portion of the book.
5. Plot Twists: The plot twists were infinitely better than the first book. Like so much better my jaw visibly dropped and my mother was like "bitch you okay?" Though my mother would actually kill me if she found out I was reading instead of attending class, but what can I doooooo, I can't focus on class, especially when it takes place at fricking midnight. It's distracting. But my point is, I love the plot twists. At some point, I had figured out that Dante was legend but him being Elantine's heir? I did NOT expect that. Seriously, I did not expect that.
6. Plot: The plot is one of the good things about the book. Caraval had ended on a cliffhanger so I was actually interested to see what Legendary was going to put me through, and needless to say, I am not disappointed. Even though it was hard to get through, the plot point was pretty interesting. And Caraval being more dangerous and even more real than the last is something that awakens the thrill in me so plus points for that.
3. BOOK THREE: FINALE
It legit took me like two days to finish the book. Like seriously, my mind was like just finish this series already so that you can get over your commitment issues. I mean, I didn't ask my brain to expose me like that, whose side you're on motherfucker? But yeah, glad I finished it in two days because brain would otherwise scream my head off for not being able to complete it. Sometimes, I hate my ADHD mind simply for this.
It's the final game, where nothing is a game anymore. Scarlett and Tella's lives have become impossibly tangled once they find out their mother as well as the true identity of Legend. But there has been something else. The Fates from the Deck of Destiny have finally been freed and now they wreak havoc on the city of Valenda along with the Fallen Star. With Jacks looming around the corner, Scarlett and Tella might have to defeat Caraval one more time, only that this isn't a game anymore.
QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 4.2/5, WAY BETTER THAN THE OTHER TWO BOOKS.
WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK'S:
1. Writing Quality: The writing style is good, but it gets downright messy in the middle. Like simply messy. It's tough to go through and it is a bit hard to follow up on the characters because they're EVERYWHERE. Too much activity keeps happening in a small space and it's really difficult to imagine something like that because the mind requires to concentrate on one thing before moving onto the next. And seriously, with so many things happening in one place, the writing was feeling like all over the place. The wrapping up by the end is also done very messily even though it does not seem like there was a storm like there was in the middle.
2 Worldbuilding: The worldbuilding gets a bit messy as much as the writing style does in the middle here and it is in fact quite hard to follow up with because the glossary comes right at the end of the book. While it continues to follow up the same story in Valenda, the places begin to feel unfamiliar and I am not quite happy with the messiness that is not quite dealt with in here. The fates and their lore is quite interesting and beautiful, but without proper context it just seems a very messy attempt at worldbuilding. The other parts of it are fine though, it's just that it hurts to see the excellent worldbuilding that I have seen in the past few books is falling apart because of a single, simple thing. I also do not like how everything's overdescibed, especially emotions, it felt unnecessary.
3. Character Development: While I continue to say that Scarlett and Julian have no such development in the story, it does feel good to see Scarlett develop a spine and actually devise a plan of her own to save everyone that she loves, even if it means sacrificing her own life. And it is good to see to take a stand of her own, though I would particularly love to see how the competition between Nicolas and Julian would go down.
Donatella Dragna is a whole other story, and boy do I have opinions regarding her dynamics with Jacks and Legend. Tella, as a person, I will say has infinitely more personality in comparison with Scarlett, or maybe because it is her POV that is dominant in this book, hence we are actually unable to see Scarlett's side of the story. I do feel like the book would actually become monotonous if it was extended, but I sure as heck would have liked to see more Scarlett than Tella. As for the dynamics, boy oh boy.
Jacks X Tella: They're just fire and gasoline. Spontaneous combustion. Seriously, their dynamic has so much sexual tension, you'll be like "just fuck already". They feel like the perfect enemies to lovers and after seeing how Jacks is actually helping Tella sometimes, it did feel like that Jacks was in love with Tella. And Tella too, at some point might have returned those feelings too. Jacks and Tella would have made an amazing enemies to lovers story, but I think Evangeline is more suited for him. [From Once Upon A Broken heart: review linked below]
Dante X Tella: Dante and Tella have a sexy as fuck dynamic too. Enemies to lovers and then mutual pining and "you deserve better" and "touch her and I'll kill you" trope and all other morally grey MC tropes that I'd die for, Dante does feel like an awesome partner for Tella. When he actually decides to give up his immortality for her, that does feel like a true moment. Though there are times where I did question their dynamic and wanted to ask 'guys, are you even okay right now?' Because their ship did seem questionable to me for a good while.
I do relate with Tella though, if two immortal and irresistibly handsome men were after me, I'd have trouble choosing as well. I mean, you know 👀👀😌🛐🛐
4. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 8/10, I pretty much would have finished it quickly to be honest.
5. Plot Twists: Jaw dropping. I mean, insanely jaw dropping. Like that one time, I'd told a girl about a guy I liked and turned out that girl was actually that guy's girlfriend, yeah that type of jaw dropping. Maybe not the best analogy out there, but you know the feeling. The plot twists kept getting better and better, each one crazier than the last. And with too much action going around, its actually even harder to piece the things together, so they appear more of as a plot twist. But I do like it in this mess.
6. Plot: Where's the plot? No, don't hold me back, where is the effing plot? I do not see a plot? Do you see a plot? Because I really don't. I do not understand a single plot point in this book because it gets hella messy. It's just fricking messy, I do not even like it, not a single bit.
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