Initial Impressions 11/14/16: 3.5 stars 
 Oh yay, another black sheep moment. This one didn't really work for me and I know a lot of that was a personal preference. It had a Wonderland sort of feel in the sense that everything was so whimsical and Caraval kind of didn't have any rules. When I'm in a fantasy setting, I really do need rules so that was a bit much to really reach and understand how the magic worked. 
 I was actually disappointed with the sister relationship. They did care for each other more than anything and yet it still felt very surface level for me. I felt like it could have gone much deeper with details and history and special moments instead of them immediately being separated and the readers being told they have a special bond instead of really witnessing it. 
 I also had a very hard time with their father's abusive actions. I felt like there could have been so many reasons why they wanted to escape their father and their island and I didn't feel the physical abuse was necessary. It really turned me off. 
 I did love Julian and his interactions with Scarlett (the nickname thing was actually very cute and he was very suave). 
 It was a quick and entertaining read but I'm not really sure if I want continue the series yet. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing - it definitely did feel young - so I may see if other continue who had similar feelings. 
 Full review as originally posted HERE on 1/20/17: Welllllll it's another black sheep moment. CARAVAL didn't really work for me and I know a lot of that was a personal preference. It had a Wonderland sort of feel in the sense that everything was so whimsical and Caraval itself kind of didn't have any rules. Well, I should say that there definitely was a rule set but it was one of those fantasy situations where the characters find them out whenever something happens, so it really seems like there aren't any rules until something happens. Really it's just a matter of personal preference -- when I'm in a fantasy setting, I really do need rules so I feel like I understand the structure of a setting and that was a bit much to really reach and understand how the magic worked. 
 I love books with a strong sibling aspect but I was actually disappointed with the sister relationship. They did care for each other more than anything and yet it still felt very surface level for me and that the reader was told how much the sisters loved each other and aside from the grand gesture, I didn't really feel it. I felt like it could have gone much deeper with things like details, history, and special moments instead of them immediately being separated and the readers being told they have a special bond instead of really witnessing it. 
 This is maybe a mild spoiler but also happens very early on in the book so really not... But I also had a very hard time with their father's abusive actions. I felt like there could have been so many reasons these sisters wanted to escape their father and their island and I didn't feel the physical abuse was necessary. It was mean and nasty and the reasoning for everything really didn't sit right with me. Surprisingly, this was a really big turn off for me, especially since it was the entire motivation of the book. It just felt a little too super-villain for me and I had a hard time seeing the father as a legitimate character. He seemed more like a caricature and not a realistic character. 
 I did love Julian and his interactions with Scarlett (the nickname thing was actually very cute, which sometimes doesn't go well) and he was very suave. The romance was complicated and interesting and I loved the chemistry between Scarlett and Julian. That was something that was really great and consistent throughout the book for me! 
 CARAVAL was a quick and entertaining read but I'm not really sure if I want continue the series as of right now. I really wasn't a huge fan of the writing because it definitely did feel young to me. I may see if others who had similar feelings ended up enjoying the sequel once the time comes. Really when it came down to it, I felt like CARAVAL had several places to really shine and it all kind of fell flat for me. The setting was very vivid, but didn't feel structured. The ending was very lacking and could have happened so differently, felt like an "easy" way out of the conflict, and left me rather disappointed. Most of the characters felt underdeveloped. Most of it just didn't quite click for me and the vivid descriptions just weren't enough to dazzle me to make me overlook the things that I was missing.