frogsarelovely's reviews
299 reviews

Some of the most beautiful illustrations I've ever seen in a book. Definitely in the mood for Autumn now!

Some wonderful stories in this anthology. Particularly enjoyed Chivalry, Shoggoth's Old Peculiar, We Can Get Them For You Wholesale, Mouse, Babycakes, We Went to See the End of the World, and Murder Mysteries.

So good. I may have exclaimed a curse word after reading the last page.

The writing style is incredibly good. The story is so interesting and well thought out. The only thing stopping me from giving this book 5 stars was that I didn't love the characters. I thought they were great, but I have no strong feelings for them. Overall it's bloody fantastic.

I almost didn't finish this book, but I'm glad I did. I'm also unsure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. The story, once it got really into the plot, I thought was highly entertaining and eventful. However, I often got confused by the writing style. Throughout the book I was having to back track and re-read sentences as I was unsure what exactly had just happened. I felt many parts didn't flow so well and were a little too blunt, almost as if the author was simply listing off events.

Nonetheless, I definitely found this to be a page turner. It was exciting and I often found my self exclaiming 'no way!' at certain reveals during the story. The world is definitely one I would love to visit personally and is reminiscent of Wonderland, with all the magic and uncertainty of who or what you can trust. For a debut novel, I think Stephanie Garber did a wonderful job, and I will be reading the second book to Caraval.

I was not moved by any of the characters, but I did find a few of them enjoyable to follow. I found comfort around certain characters and irritation from others. The villains I found to be very exciting and kept me on edge through many of the scenes.

I particularly enjoyed the authors descriptions. I loved the reoccurring themes and the magical feel of rose petals, gem stones, and potion bottles. Although I did not enjoy her writing style, I was still able to become fully immersed in the world of Caraval. I was able to easily imagine walking through the streets, imagine the smells, the feel of the changes in time, and the chaos that is Caraval.

The book is both predictable and unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded, and whilst I guessed in many instances where the plot was going, I did not expect the ending and many secrets were revealed throughout which pieced the story together nicely.

This book was a slow read for me. I almost thought I wouldn't enjoy it /that/ much until I got half way through the story. Needless to say I ended up liking this book as much as I hoped I would.

Characters are very important for me, and this book was littered with awesome people. Kell is one of the very few main characters in a book that I don't want to punch in the face, rather, I supported him throughout the whole journey and wanted him to succeed. Furthermore, how awesome is Holland?! As soon as he entered the scene, I knew he would be a villain that I loved.

The magic system and the world of the story were both wonderful. White and Black London are so exciting and intriguing, whilst also being super creepy. Red London is a world I would happily visit, and that is one of the main measures for me of what constitutes a brilliant story.

I cannot wait to read the second book of this series, with hopes that a certain someone will show their face again.

This is a great story, though shorter than I had imagined and lacked the adventure we see in adaptions of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters (Mr. Utterson and Dr Jekyll are absolutely adorable in their friendship), however I would have liked to have known more about who Dr Jekyll was, and to see more of the actions of Mr Hyde. It is a interesting story however, to want to separate the sinful side of yourself from the innocent restrained side, and to see Dr Jekyll's pleasure in being able to pursue crime and sin happily in the knowledge that he can hide in his former body afterwards. Nonetheless, for me there was too much explaining of what had happened as opposed to showing us directly, which is what I was hoping for. For a short story however it is very intriguing and fun, and I would definitely like to re-read it and study the text further.

Being a bit blasphemous with my rating sorry! It didn't create enough spark for me, but it was so so so similar to the film (props to the creators!). Looking forward to reading the rest of the series, with hope that the universe is expanded more than in the films.