Publication: January 3rd 2017 by St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Received this for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. Thank you!
Goodreads Summary: In a world of magical visions and pyrokinesis, Mara just wants to have a normal life. But is that possible?
Mara has become used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future.
She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in the small town of Caudry and she meets a gorgeous local guy named Gabe. But before long, Mara realizes there’s a dark presence lurking in the town that’s threatening the lives of her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she had in order to save everyone she cares about—and change the future forever.
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My Thoughts:
When I first heard about this book I thought it was one of the coolest concepts ever. It's a more recent historical fiction; it has a "freak show" carnival; and it has paranormal characters--what more could I want for a unique YA read? While it definitely delivered what it promised, I just didn't connect with the characters and felt the plot was overall a little lackluster for my taste.
I did really enjoy the setting of this book and felt it was done very well. Laced throughout the book are references to the late 80s which brought an authentic feel to the setting without it being overwhelming or campy. The carnival and sideshow get to be explored through the main character in a way that really lets the reader envision the attractions without being information dumpy. It was fun to be able to see what goes on behind the scenes and to get to see performers off-stage.
There were certainly a lot of characters though! It was difficult to keep everyone straight when first reading, especially as the characters were often connected with other characters in the sideshow in dating relationships. I did like the main character of Mara and found her to be unique compared to a lot of other YA protagonists. She thinks differently and acts differently and it was nice to have an author connect a character's personality so thoroughly to how she was brought up. I also really enjoyed Mara's mother and Gideon, the owner of the sideshow.
There were some things that just felt off to me about the book however. I felt a lot of the plot line didn't really go together nor did some characters reactions really make sense. Parts of the plot were left hanging only to be quickly tied up in the end, almost like an afterthought. Some dramatic, should-have-been-turning-points events were barely dwelled upon while we were given yet another detailed description about Mara and Gabe kissing for the fiftieth time. Some of my other issues I could chalk up to having received an ARC but these are things that are problems with the plot and not due to uncorrected errors.
Overall, I certainly don't regret reading the book and would be open to reading something else from the author; but this book just needed some more time ironing out the plot line.
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