Tag: Fantasy

Caraval (Plus a life update from me)

Author: Stephanie Garber

Published: September 29th, 2016

Rating: 5/5

Wow has it already been almost 3 weeks since my last post? Life on my end has been crazy. Starting off my intention was to post a new review every week but as youve noticed I’ve been absent for a while. Between starting the spring semester at school and loosing a loved one its been hard to find time for myself lately. Anyway enough with my personal life lets get too teh juicy stuff.

So I first came across this book when my step sister gave it to me. I’ll admit I wasn’t one bit interested in picking it up. Then one afternoon I wanted something new to read but wasn’t able to get to Barnes and Noble and I hate the idea of getting a e-book. So to dive right on in our main characters of this mysteriously amazing adventure we follow Scarlett (AKA Scar) and her sister Donetella (AKA Tella) as they attempt to escape the island they’ve been imprisoned on their entire lives. Having an abusive father makes their lives complete HELL and only further lights a fire under Donatella that she wants off the island. Cue their opportunity for escape. Scarlett receives a letter from Legend who runs Caraval, whom she’d been writing too for years with no reply, inside this letter awaits 3 tickets to enter Caraval. Scarlett being the timid and play it safe girl she is refuses to leave the isle and risk breaking the arranged marriage her father has set up for her. With the help of a sailor, Julian, who Donatella became aquianted with they kidnap Scarlett and take her off the island and whisk her away to Caraval. 2 days later Scarlett wakes up after being drugged, and finds herself on a small raft being oared to shore by Julian. Once they arrive on shore the see that Donatella is no where to be found. They hurry on to try to find somewhere to warm up. Venturing through a small town theyve found they start to see the magic of Caraval come to life. I wont spoil the good parts so I will leave my summare there. I will say however that once they reach the shore the book takes you on one crazy ride.

Review

Once I started this book I could not put it down! I will forewarn you this book contains lots of details and twists so you have to pay attention. However if you’re a visual person who plays a little movie in their head while they read like I am then you will LOVE this book. The descriptions are amazing. The plot is an adventure/fantasy/mystery all mixed together so you get a little taste of each. I will most definitley be reading the second book in the series. The character development is good and characters that you see in the beginning come back around which I always love.

Red Queen

  • Author: Victoria Aveyard
  • Published: February 2015
  • Rating: 4/5 

 

Earlier today I finished reading Red Queen by Victoria Averyard. To begin lets talk about the cover. I mean wow. The way the cover plays with light undertones and uses the red to draw you in. It really helps emphasize the crucial role that red blood will play in the story.

Now on to the good stuff. The story itself is pretty amazing. It brings in supporting characters that end up playing important roles within the story and are mentioned continously throughout the plot. We follow the main character Mare as she ascendes from a lowly red living in The Stilts to a silver blooded princess living in the Capital. Mares journey takes a dramatic twist when she falls onto an electrified shield and doesn’t get shocked instead  that collision awakens an ablilty she never knew she had. From that point on she is thrown into the royal family so they can try to cover up the possiblity that a red could have the powers that only silvers are suppose to have. She becomes betrothed to prince Maven but quickly learns she has feelings for his older brother Cal. Soon into her life at the palace she becomes involved in a rebellion group called the Scarlet Guard. Things quickly become more complicated for Mare as the stakes become higher and more people become involved in her life. Also something to be aware of is the MAJOR plot twist at the end.

 

This book drew me in as soon as I started reading it. As you continue to read the story more and more information gets given to you. I really enjoyed how the author brought in lots of supporting characters and didnt leave us hanging on what happend to them. The relationships she creates for Mare shows the complexity of the world she lives in. The author gives you so many male charactrers that become a possible love interest for Mare that it becomes hard to decide who you want to root for. Honestly I think I enjoyed this book so much because of its complexity and how it never got boring there was always something happening.

Red Queen is the first book in the 4 part series by Victoria Aveyard. Overall I would 100% reccommend this book.