Caraval: Book Discussion

I got an Alice and Wondeland feel when I read this book. I liked how it was magical with its own unque twist to it. Out of the young adults books I’ve read I don’t think I’ve found something quite like this. I liked how a medieval setting was blended in with the magic tricks we’d see in a circus or theater. The map in itself is also different and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. However, there are some things in this book that remains consistent in a lot of young adult books I’ve read before. So I asked myself some of these questions:

1. Throughout the book, the father is abusive to the daughters. Do you think his personalty is part of why the mom left?

I think part of it could be, Scarlett said that things were better when the mom was there. However, they were younger then so they might not have caught onto the things that were going on. I think that maybe she might have left with someone willingly, but the letter at the end of the book could suggest that something much darker happened.

2. Why does every love interest the main character has have to be tall, dark and handsome? As a reader, is this something you’d want in every book?

This is more of a question I have for young adult authors. The main love interest seems to always be a flawless man that’s tall. There’s rarely any other kind. I’ve yet to see one that’s stocky, but muscular. Scrawny, but has the personality of a gentleman. Permanently scarred all over, but has a kind heart. The more I read YA romance novels the more I want to roll my eyes. Does anyone else feel the same way or it that just me?

On the first night, Scarlet finds that her sister has a room in the inn. Then she discovers a man is with her behind closed doors. How would you feel if you were worried about your sister and something like this happened?

I don’t have a sister in real life, but honestly I would probably be a little annoyed. I’d want to get the wish to keep us both safe, and I can’t focus on that when my sister is messing around with someone she probably barely knows. I probably wouldn’t have left as passively as Scarlet did. I would’ve told how mad I was that I’d been looking for her all this time and she wasn’t even looking for me.

3. When they get to the caraval and the other competitors ripped Tella’s room apart, how did you feel? If you were a part of this would you have done the same to win? Would you steal valuables from someone else instead of playing the game?

Again, I probably would’ve been mad. I don’t like rude people and I also don’t like people who steal. I might have been sad too, my sister could have possibly been kidnapped by a strange man and all anyone else can do is take stuff that belonged to her. I might have done the same to win, if I didn’t think she had a sister that was looking for her. If I realized Scarletts situation I probably would’ve helped. But if I didn’t know she was there I probably would’ve at least looked through stuff to try and get a clue as to where she might be. As for stealing, I don’t think I would’ve done it, since it was real people that played the game and therefore real stuff that belonged to them.

Towards the end of the book, Scarlet is willing to jump off a balcony to save her sister. Would you do the same?

I probably would if I was in her situation. With all the crap they went through I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t do anything to save her. Although I probably would’ve just grabbed her and made her leave with me if I could. If it was the only possible option I would probably do it, but I’d try really hard to stay with her, because once I die there’s no telling what might happen to her.

4. In the epilogue, Donatella gets a letter. What do you think she owes and who do you think wrote the letter to her?

I think she might owe her life to someone or she might owe Scatletts since the letter states that she can see her mom soon. I think its possible that it could be Legend since I don’t believe they really saw him a whole lot in the book. However, its also possible it could be someone pretending to be. I’m not sure if their Grandfather died (but if someone knows please let me know) but he could be another possibility. Legend said the Grandma married someone else, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she wanted to. And Legend’s wish was for the magic to make him famous —but not to be the most powerful magician. Its also possible someone else could be better than him and just hiding it. Its also possible that it could be another lover the mom never talked about. There’s still a chance that it could be Legend, but it could also be someone else entirely.