Normal review service has temporally resumed. I’ve got two reviews this time around. One is a book that I have been meaning to review for quite some time while the other is a recent completion. One starts a new series that has potential while the other is a worthy sequel in a series that I really enjoying. Been a while since I’ve posted this but it’s on to the reviews.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber is a book that has been out for a while. While I had seen it plenty of times at my bookstore, I never really felt the urge to read. However, the book came out in hardcover in our bargain section so I figured it’s only 4$, there is no harm in reading it”. And while I am not disappointed that I read it, this book is one of the harder ones to review. There are things I liked about the book and things I didn’t. Plus the ending left me confused and trying to comprehend what had happened.
I’ll start with the characters because, like most of this book, there are good and bad points. Our main heroine is Scarlett. She is a character that seems like a decent enough character but also has major flaws that I wasn’t really happy with. She has been dreaming of seeing Caraval for years. And when her chance finally comes, she basically refuses to go. Now she has a simple enough of a reason for refusing to go. She is set to be married in a short period of time. When circumstances beyond her control finally force her to go to Caraval, she basically hates it. Now again, the plot sorta drives this point but at the same time, she is so singularly focused on the two main things in her life, her sister and her impending marriage, that she becomes an almost unlikable character. That’s not to say I totally hate her because I don’t But out of all the characters, Scarlett is one I like the least and really wish her story would have been written better.
Her two companion characters on the other hand, her sister Tella, and the love interest Julian are another matter entirely. Tella is full of energy and has a love of wanting to see the world. Now this I can definitely relate to which made me interested in Tella as a character. Tella however, is full of secrets which makes her such a fascinating character. You see her in the first few and the last few chapters of the book and this allows you to form all kinds different ideas about her as character. Her love for her sister is strong and evident, as evidenced by the end of the book. The same goes for Scarlett as well which is a saving grace of her character. But to me the most interesting of the three main characters is Julian. Throughout the whole book, just when you think you have a bead on who Julian is, a new “truth” emerges”. This really keeps you on your toes and you are never quite sure if you should trust Julian on not. He is charismatic, secretive, willing to help Scarlett and overall is just a good solid character with a great story.
The hardest thing for me to review about this book is the story itself. There isn’t much world building in here so you are mostly left to create the world yourself. The world feels shallow which to me is a big downside. Initially, the story is a slow starter but starts to pick up in the second half. The story is full of twists and turns that definitely keeps you on your toes in terms of the plot twists. Although at times, the plot twists just became expected which is a downer. The second half of the book, almost every chapter has some sort of twist so it becomes slightly overbearing in terms of the twists. But my biggest issue with this book without question has to be the ending. I will not spoil the ending for those who want to read the book. But the ending is downright confusing, is filled to the brim with plot twists and almost doesn’t make sense when you first read it. I had to read the last few chapters multiple times to actually understand what had happened and how the book actually ended. On top of that, the book ends a bit open-ended. Now to its credit, it does set up the sequel very well so props to that.
Overall, this is a very hard book to judge for me. On one hand, the prose in this book is excellent at times as well as some of the main characters. But on the other hand, the story line, the lack of world building and my almost dislike of the main character Scarlett almost make me not want to read the sequel Legendary. Almost. The wonderful prose and imagery have convinced me to read the second one. And I really hope that the story and world building have improved in that book. As for this one, I will say go read it but don’t expect to much from it.
Verdict- 3.5 stars. Not a terrible read by any stretch of the imagination.
Unlike Caraval, which was a bit of hard review to write, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is quite an easy review. The second entry in the excellent Lunar Chronicles series, Scarlet is truly a worthy successor. The book continues the quasi-fairy tale/Science Fiction mixture which once again works to its advantage.
The story basically picks up right where Cinder left off. However, instead of starting the story with Cinder, we are introduced to two new and very important characters. The story transitions between Scarlet and Wolf who are at the heart of this entry, Cinder and a fellow prison escapee named Carswell Thorne and Emperor Kai who is still struggling with ramifications from the previous book. The story transitions smoothly, all the new characters are integrated so well and once again, the excellent world building continues in this book as new elements are constantly added.
Our three newcomers are Scarlet Benoit, Wolf and Captain Carswell Thorne. Scarlet is probably the main focus of this entry in the series. She is your typical 18-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother. However, when her grandmother disappears and the police refuse to investigate, Scarlet takes matters into her own hands. He is confident, a firebrand of a character and is very willing to get her hands dirty to succeed in her goal. She is an excellent addition to this book. Along the way to finding her grandmother, Scarlet meets by far the most interesting new character and that is Wolf. Shown as a street fighter, Wolf seems to have an odd pull towards Scarlet which really keeps their story flowing nicely. Accused of kidnapping her grandmother, Wolf decides to help Scarlet. His story has so many twists and reveals, (none of which I will reveal for my readers) that I honestly just want to know even more about his character. Our third new addition is Captain Carswell Throne. While initially I thought I might dislike this character, I grew to like him as a character. He is very brash, upfront, cocky and a definite womanizer. Imprisoned along with Cinder, he eventually helps Cinder and agrees to help her take down Queen Levana. He adds a good mixture of humor into a group that is sorely needing some humor.
Speaking of Queen Levana, I had written in my Cinder review that I was wanting more of her character. And while I didn’t get as much as I would have liked, I got just enough to want more. She really is a great villain. She manipulates, feigns that manipulation and then uses it to her advantage. Truly a great villain worthy of this series.
Overall, Scarlet, truly is a worthy successor in this series. It takes everything about the first book and either continues the trend of makes it better. The stakes are higher, the story is great and the new characters fit seamlessly into the story. This series truly is a great series and I can not wait to finish the next two books.
Verdict- 5 stars, If you loved the first book, you won’t be disappointed.
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