Right now I feel so many things that I can't say; I want to burn the world, sob until I'm nothing but an empty dustpan. So right now I feel everything and nothing, death and life, sorrow and happiness at the same time. I just finished reading it a few minutes ago and I can't get the words out of my head, I have so many thoughts about this book. 

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I have never read - and probably never will - another well-crafted book in my life.  This story has a past, present and future.  It tells about gods and mortals at the same time. The world itself was very interesting and I can't wait to go back there again, I'm not exaggerating when I say that although it was brutal (definitely not for those who can't stand blood and death, etc.) it still had its own beauty, something unfathomably beautiful in it.  I really liked that the writer drew a lot from mythology and brought real nightmares to life. 

Rin (Zsin in Hungarian) was a great main character, a real unquenchable flame.  I simply loved that we could trace what fire, power and so much death were able to do to that innocent little girl. Runin was very nice to me at first and still is, but I feel that later on I will lose her, she will be burned by her own flames and I can't do anything to save her. The knowledge that history will (probably) repeat itself fills me with great pain.  But actually I understood, I understood her soul, her whole damned being.  Although she didn't do the right thing many times, in the end most of us would have done exactly what she did in these situations, even the strongest will break during a long fight (just like Altan) and I'm sure that sooner or later Runin will break too. It's fate, you can't avoid fate and finally you can't make a deal with it, but you can indeed delay it. 

Nezha (Nö-Csa in Hungarian) I'm not lying when I say that I fell in love from the beginning, but really, but who's to blame?  I'm begging you, this boy knows something, he chains people to himself, I'm not at all surprised that Runin falls in love with him later on.  I liked his character. He goes through a huge development during the book (I've rarely seen character development like his).  He went from being a spoiled and cruel tyrant to an understanding and relatively forgiving person. Basically, Nezha is an excellent fighter, but he doesn't always think through what exactly he wants.  I want to know what happened to him and I want to let him know that he is not alone, that Runin wanted to go after him, that she was trying to save him even at the cost of her own life.  I hope we get more of him in the next book. 

Kitay and Venka are secondary characters, but they are very important in shaping the main character (Runin) into what she is.  Despite everything, Kitay stuck by her, he was her friend and one of her most devoted allies in the academy and beyond.  The voice of common sense, although he too was broken by the war, he did not forget that he is human, like anyone else, that he lives and breathes like any other living being and nothing is more important than that.  A part of me died because of Venka and I haven't recovered from it since, it's unbelievable that one of the best students of the academy, one of the most dangerous girls, was treated like this. It's disgusting what they did to her, it's disgusting what they did to women, but in war there really is no such thing as a winner or a loser, only broken souls, I feel that she will never recover from what she had to go through, I think she suffered more than anyone else.  I wish she had died, she would have been a real blessing compared to what they did to her. 

Jiang (Csiang in Hungarian) is my guardian, my hero and my support.  When I first read about the disappearance of the Gatekeeper, I didn't even suspect him, I saw him as a simple, a bit sloppy, but kind master (even after what was revealed), but then the gatekeeper who released monsters into the world started to suspect him, but he disappeared in  from picture.  And it made the seal even more suspicious.  My heart bled for him in prison, he never deserved what the empress did to him, it was simply cruel. 

Altan was so broken, so damned broken, it's a wonder he didn't fall to pieces.  He still fought bravely for his people, his country and himself. I'm glad he got the closure he deserved, I'm glad he got the revenge he deserved and I don't regret supporting him at all, because he deserved everything and even more.  They ruined his life, he carried more bleeding wounds than anyone else.  He needed this, he really needed this, he needed to find peace and be reunited with his people and family. 

I don't want to go into the Cike itself, but I loved them very much, each and every one of them with my whole soul.  They are a real family, not just outcasts and not just criminals, they are a real team. 

Betrayal is nothing new, especially not in books like this, but it still hurt, because a ruler's job is to rule her people, to protect them like gods, not to turn against them.  Not only Rin wants to kill the empress but also me. 

Tir 
Although we knew very little about him, I felt sorry for him and I feel that if I had been there, I would have tried to save him and help him. 

Irjah
(Ircsa in Hungarian)
I thought my soul would never stop sobbing. He deserves a thousand times better.

Raban 
my dear Raban, I am so used to his presence as to his air, my heart stopped when he died. 

Basically, the plot was easy to follow, but sometimes the time jumps really bothered me, we literally jumped weeks, months and years in just a few pages, which is fine, but I would have been very happy if the author had prepared me a little for these.It was terribly interesting, even though it took me so long to read it, although it is not exactly an easy afternoon's read with its 580 pages, and it dissects topics that cannot exactly be called easy.  Despite the fact that this was the first book about actual war, torture and death that I read, I took the hurdle quite easily. I'm not a big fan of these acts of violence, but they didn't really bother me either, because they showed me what a bloody war is like, the unvarnished truth. I can't wait to read the next book! 

I read it a long time ago, maybe too long ago on my sister's recommendation. I still don't know if it was her who was weird that she sold me this as a good book, or if I because believed it. I don't really remember anything about it, except that the main character (whose name I don't know) and the love interest (who maybe is her relative on some level?) keep going back in time for some stones? Who knows. 

Again, I will only strengthen the camp of unpopular opinions, I don't know, maybe I should freeze this circus topic, because the night circus didn't work either.

I don't want to take so much time, but I'm simply forced, I have to write how I feel.  I am very disappointed and angry because I have been scammed again.  I feel completely cheated, because it was said that this is a good book, that it is full of magic and wonderful plot... Yeah... maybe in my dreams.
Let's begin our journey again in the deepest pits of hell.

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First of all, I would like to start with the most important: it is an unspoken rule, but it is necessary to be able to place an action in space and time, but this did not happen here.  We just got a date and histrionics about the conquering empires and that's about it.  That's all you have to accept, that's all you have to love.

The main character Scarlett - she has a very unique name - has been living with her younger sister under the tyrannical hand of their father since their mother disappeared without a trace and still believes in miracles, that everything will be better if she gets married. Your helper will not be a man is not the solution to your problems, especially not if he is the cause of them in the first place. Anyway, let's let her live in the pink fog, because if nothing else, at least she understands this. Since she was very young, she has been begging the Caraval grandmaster in a letter to go with Donatella - one of the four turtles - who happens to be her sister - to the far-famed game, the prize of which this year is a wish.  So, after receiving the special invitations, they set off with the help of a sailor, and Scarlett practically skips her wedding, although not voluntarily, but she still believes that she will make it home and that her fiance will love her.

In caraval, it is repeatedly emphasized that this is just a game and not reality, but this is not for everyone - by this I mean the main character.

Scarlett is a  very  weak character in terms of her personality.  Unlucky is so stupid that I already feel sorry for her.  She is able to pay with the power of life FOR A CLOTHES. Also, when there is a chance to find out the location of her sister or if she is well SHE PREFERS TO ASK ABOUT HER FUTURE HUSBAND.  I almost threw myself out the window.  When they ask her riddles, her little brain regularly turns off and she wouldn't even notice the answer if they poked his eyes out.  She flees from a man who abused her, another man waits for her at the altar and she flees into the arms of a man who kidnapped her. This sentence does not make much sense, but it faithfully reflects Scarlett.  Her love affair with Julian is completely out of thin air, it has no beginning, no end, and it is exhausted to the extent that Julian CANNOT call her by her name, despite Scarlett telling him to end it.  I could have seriously scraped the wall at this point.  I really thought about whether I should close the book here or maybe it will be better later and only the beginning/middle is so bad.

I know now that I should have chosen the first option.

The ending, like love, is the result of completely random and stupid turns.  After Scarlett finds her sister, who is not happy for her NO WAY, it turns out that she had a very good time while Scarlett was suffering, she even had a boyfriend.  (I didn't mention it, but anyway Donatella consumes men in large quantities.) And at the end, because her sister is unable to understand her, she jumps from the tower, but no body is found, she simply disappears like camphor.

The plot was SO DAMN BORING, the characters had no personality and the world building was painfully lame.

The only interesting character was Legend - or Dante - Caraval's grandmaster, who kept an eye on everything and everyone during the game.  He's not the kind of arch-villain who became who he was because he wasn't understood or because love did that to him, but because he wanted power, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got a curse.  I would love to read more about him, but I won't expose myself to another Caraval book, because my time will hurt.

This is definitely my favorite book in the trilogy as it really has a closed ending and for those who haven't read the other four books it's a perfect ending.

Agatha isn't actually a favorite character, I mean I like her, but in this book it definitely wasn't her, it was Merlin.  Regardless, I was happy that she remained the kind-hearted and kind girl she was. A girl who would defy even death to get her best friend back and save their world.

Sophie is BOTHERED ME LIKE HELL. It would have been easier to kill her and leave her on the side of the road than to go through all this. Her contemporaries died because of her, and so did most of the good ones.  A small part of me - that isn't mad at her - is actually glad she got the happy ending.

The three witches are my everything, especially Anadil. They are true friends and truly evil, but they know what needs to be done to maintain balance.

Rafal… I honestly only wanted to fall in love with his character IF we had some kind of enemies to lovers trope, but NOTHING.  Basically, I have no problem with age gape romances - I assume the main heroine is 16-20 years old and the love interest is 100+ - but this was weird.  I mean, he was basically an old man, he was just disguising himself, so I don't really know what to do with him.

Basically, I don't want to talk about the other characters because I feel it's unnecessary, regardless, the twist was rough and I really liked it. The plot was easy to read, although it was confusing in some places.

Btw, I would love to read a book about Merlin or Gunievere!  I'm just kidding, I don't care about the latter as much as Sophie.

No. I'm not a S&B fan, not even remotely. I only suffered through this because it was short and needed to fulfill my goal lol. 

Okay, I remember a little more of this, not much, but something. I had mixed feelings when I finished. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I wouldn't say I hated it either, I'm somewhere in the middle. Mulan is one of my favorite childhood tales, so there was no question I would read this book. 

I fell in love with Mulan even more than before; her endurance, strength and stamina, in a word, the perfect word is concentrated in her. Mushu the dragon was not present this time, but there was Shishi the great lion guardian whom I think I really liked. 

The plot was interesting; It was a mixture of Chinese underworld and mythology, which I was happy to get to know. The pace may have been a little slower than it should have been, but the excitement and adventure made up for it. It got a nice closure and overall was bearable.

Huh, I don't remember absolutely anything of this anymore (I know-I know I have a really bad memory, no need to say). But I accept my rating, surely then I knew what I was doing. 

First reading: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Second reading: ★ ★ ★ ★ ¾
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Sybella is definitely my favorite of them all.  She has the fire that Annith has and the past that Ismean has. A very very strong female lead and arguably everyone's role model.  If I had to compare her to a book character, it would be Manon. 
She is a ruthless, cunning and fearless woman who takes what is rightfully hers.  Regardless, she also has a closed self, which she only showed to her sisters.  Although she protects and cares for her siblings with as much love as she has a great love for her country.  While Ismae is the grace and mercy of death, Sybella is the judgment and promise of death.

The horror knight - thank heaven - was saved.  To be honest, during this book, that big behemoth grew very close to my heart.  Behind his walls, he is just like anyone else.

This was definitely a strangers to friends to lovers trope as opposed to the previous book's enemies to lovers (which was pretty weak).  I really loved their relationship.  They were connected by grief, the dark shadows of the past and found comfort in each other.

I'm glad that D'Albert

died

(

Sybella being his daughter was a terrible twist anyway

), the poor guy deserved it and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Coal burners were the type of Protestants, or something like that.  They did not respect saints or gods, instead they worshiped and honored a Dark Mother. They have a very interesting culture for sure. I would like to read about them more!

The action moved much faster than the previous one, it was fast-paced and full of shadows, intrigue and betrayal, a true dark ages!

It was not that bad. I had high hopes for it, but I had to be disappointed. I'm a little confused about that because I don't know where these 5 star sobbing reviews come from? Did we read the same book?