Progress Report - April 2017

You may remember that in February I posted a progress report (check it out here), in which I mentioned that I wanted to make a habit of posting similar posts every month. But with my vacation the end of March, March and April have kind of blurred together into one long month and things just got neglected.

Whoops.

Anywho!! So, in March I read five books, as well as an audio book. They were as follows:

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill - ***** A story about a girl trying to avenge her father's death, and decide whether the man she loves is a good guy or a bad guy. It's full of adventure and innocent romance, and I adored it.

Caraval  by Stephanie Garber - ***** This is a story about the love between sisters (Scarlett & Tella). It's a magical tale of an elaborate game set on a private island. It was dark and weird and had a twist or two, and I just loved it. It definitely lived up to all the hype and anticipation for me.

Seven Deadlies: A Cautionary Tale by Gigi Levangie - *** Kind of cute. This young girl is writing a series of letters to a college admissions officer, explaining the weird things she has encountered as a "babysitter" for her peers, etc. It's all fun and games until the last couple of letters which ruined everything for me.

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley - ***** The third book in the Flavia de Luce series. This time Flavia gets involved with gypsies, and helps solves an attempted murder, as well as an old kidnapping/murder case.

Grounded by Katie Klise - **** This one was kinda weird. Similar to Flavia, Dolly is a 12 year old girl who likes a bit of a mystery. Through a kind of creepy and semi-dangerous series of events, she uncovers a cheating swindler in their midst.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (audio - technically a "re-read") - ***** One of my fave books of all time! If you haven't read it, you must. All I will say is it's magical and takes place in a circus.

In April I also read five books and an audio book. I feel like I probably could have read another, but the last one was really long! So, April's reads were:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - **** I wasn't sure how to feel about this one. The main character, Sam, dies and relives her last day about 10 times, changing things every time. She becomes a completely different person and ends up making very different choices, but in the end she still dies, and I couldn't quite figure out how I was supposed to feel about that.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - ***** Full of weirdness, magic, psychics, ghosts, talking trees. This story follows Blue and her Raven boys (Gansey, Adam, Ronan & Noah) on their quest to find the resting place of Owen Glendower.

Servant's Hall by Margaret Powell - *** A first-hand account of life "below stairs" from a former kitchen servant. She tells the true story of how a servant girl from downstairs married the family's son from upstairs, which helped inspire Downton Abbey (new episode of Downton of Netflix were what inspired me to pick this one up!).

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon - ***** Crazy cute love story. I can't wait for the movie!

Wildwood by Colin Meloy - ***** An adventure-packed story, very reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. Prue's baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassable Wilderness. Prue and her friend Curtis head into the forest to rescue him, and find all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (audio) - ***** I love that this is written in the form of letters and telegrams, which was kind of fun with the audio version, because different actors read the different voices of the characters. I really enjoyed all the little war-time stories that are shared, and the romance we see develop.

Mid-April, seeing that I was already over two-thirds toward my goal of 35 books, I decided to increase my Goodreads goal to 45. So, to date, I have now read 25 out of 45 books and have completed 56% of my new goal. I will increase again in a few months, if I feel it is necessary. I'm really impressed with how much I've been reading this year. Part of me wishes I could read faster (so many books, so little time!), but as it is I'm reading too fast to keep up with writing reviews, so I guess I'll just stick with this pace.

Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Source: I had pre-ordered a copy, and then received one in the February OwlCrate box.

Synopsis:

Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .

Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.  

Review:

I fully expected to love this book from the moment I first heard of it, and I was not disappointed! I have read a few reviews of people saying they found the first half of the book really slow and uninteresting... I can maybe admit that the first 1/3 of the book is a bit slow. Mostly, though, I feel like the slow beginning was necessary to show us where Scarlett and Donatella were coming from, what brought them to Caraval. And I guess I could just appreciate the slow burn, because I knew this book was going to be amazing. It made sense for things to start out slow and gradually pick up pace as the game progressed. (But it's true that things really start to pick up and get interesting once Scarlett goes to the dress shop...). A book doesn't get that much hype, and get featured in several sub boxes, and pique my interest enough for me to pre-order, and not be worth every penny!

 

I loved how strange and quirky the world of Caraval was. The descriptions of the little shops and hidden passages and people, etc. reminded me very much of Alice in Wonderland/ Wizard of Oz, for some reason. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is about it that reminds me of The Night Circus, but there are definitely elements of that here as well. I was also strongly reminded of the old TV show Fantasy Island, because of the magical island owned/run by the mysterious Legend (Hello, Mr. Roarke!).

 

The characters were interesting. A lot of people complained about how annoying Scarlett was because she's always talking and complaining about the same things, but I really didn't see it that way. I liked Scarlett for her sense of loyalty and honour, and responsibility. I also enjoyed seeing her loosen up over the course of the story, fall in love, be more daring, and become her own person.

 

I enjoyed the evolution of the romance, and while the ending confused me, it certainly made me want to read the second book (next year!!). I think this would be an amazing movie or TV show someday, by the way. Just saying. Somebody should make that happen. As soon as possible.

 

Goodreads rating: