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pumpkinspiciest's review against another edition
3.0
So a big thing with me is magicians. I LOVE stories about magicians. Movies involving magic. I mean illusion magic. I mean, fantasy magic is fun too, but I love illusionists. It’s so fun! I’m also a big fan of Gwenda’s Lois Lane series. I mean, 2 things I’m into, so I was happy to get a chance to read this via NetGalley. And I liked it! It wasn’t a showstopper book for me, but it was great to read over the weekend. It was a fast read and a good summer read if you just want to read something where you can jump in and out around your other weekend plans. It’s a good poolside read. It’s not too heavy, it’s not too light, keeps you interested enough to try to figure out where it’s going.
We follow the story of Moira, the daughter of a famous magician who wants to be a magician herself, but her father is very against it. She makes her way to a traveling circus by an accident and then another accident lands her a job as a mid-way magician. She discovers a secret about herself while in this circus. It’s pretty huge and it causes her to fall into a mob-like group that wants something from her and the circus.
I like the way Gwenda writes her female characters. In a lot of YA I feel like writers often just rely heavily on women being naive and having someone save them from the naivete. But Gwenda doesn’t write females like that. Sure, sometimes they make dumb decisions, but that’s just being human. The women aren’t stupid just to make the story easier to build around them, to fit what maybe YA readers expect. Sometimes they can be almost too smart and put themselves more into danger! But that’s okay, it’s a welcome change.
I haven’t read the first book in this series so I wondered if I’d be lost but I really wasn’t. I’m sure there were nods that I missed and some of the backstory with Dita, Jules, Remy, etc. was probably lost on me. But I didn’t feel like I had to know that story to enjoy this one. I wasn’t totally kept in the dark about their story, parts came out while reading Moira’s story. It felt natural that way, so even though I was learning new things halfway through this book that were probably covered in the first book, I appreciated how natural that exposition felt. Not like, here’s a rehash at the beginning of the book and now you’re caught up (that’s a pain point with me in series books).
I did have a problem with the two bad people in this book. I know they were supposed to sound scary/creepy/unreliable but I really just felt like they were jammed in there. I almost wish they’d been part of the circus just so we could constantly see how creepy/unreliable they were. I think with them coming in and out, it just made it feel like they were caricatures of bad guys. At one point in the book the description of their ceremony put visions of LARP players in my head, which made it not seem at all as scary as it was being written. That part was a let-down for me because they were the bad guys in the story and in the end they didn’t add anything.
I’m glad I got a chance to read this, I think it was a nice weekend read.
We follow the story of Moira, the daughter of a famous magician who wants to be a magician herself, but her father is very against it. She makes her way to a traveling circus by an accident and then another accident lands her a job as a mid-way magician. She discovers a secret about herself while in this circus. It’s pretty huge and it causes her to fall into a mob-like group that wants something from her and the circus.
I like the way Gwenda writes her female characters. In a lot of YA I feel like writers often just rely heavily on women being naive and having someone save them from the naivete. But Gwenda doesn’t write females like that. Sure, sometimes they make dumb decisions, but that’s just being human. The women aren’t stupid just to make the story easier to build around them, to fit what maybe YA readers expect. Sometimes they can be almost too smart and put themselves more into danger! But that’s okay, it’s a welcome change.
I haven’t read the first book in this series so I wondered if I’d be lost but I really wasn’t. I’m sure there were nods that I missed and some of the backstory with Dita, Jules, Remy, etc. was probably lost on me. But I didn’t feel like I had to know that story to enjoy this one. I wasn’t totally kept in the dark about their story, parts came out while reading Moira’s story. It felt natural that way, so even though I was learning new things halfway through this book that were probably covered in the first book, I appreciated how natural that exposition felt. Not like, here’s a rehash at the beginning of the book and now you’re caught up (that’s a pain point with me in series books).
I did have a problem with the two bad people in this book. I know they were supposed to sound scary/creepy/unreliable but I really just felt like they were jammed in there. I almost wish they’d been part of the circus just so we could constantly see how creepy/unreliable they were. I think with them coming in and out, it just made it feel like they were caricatures of bad guys. At one point in the book the description of their ceremony put visions of LARP players in my head, which made it not seem at all as scary as it was being written. That part was a let-down for me because they were the bad guys in the story and in the end they didn’t add anything.
I’m glad I got a chance to read this, I think it was a nice weekend read.
nerdyrev's review against another edition
2.0
Here are two things I didn't know before reading Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond*-
1. It is part 2 of a series.
2. It is a Young Adult book
If I had known these two things ahead of time, I think it would have changed my view of this book.
Moria is a magician attempting to break out of her father's shadow. Her father is one of the most respected magicians in the world and Moria has been told by her father not to follow in his footsteps. She is really good though and wants to try out her magic in front of people. She happens across a mysterious envelope with an invitation to the most prestigious magic group.
While she is auditioning in front of this group, her hands all of a sudden feel like they are on fire! Things she wishes in her head become a bit of reality- cards transform, water appears from no where, etc. It turns out Moria is a real magic user, but she must keep that a secret.
In the meantime, there is Dez, the circus knife thrower. Dez is kind of a bad boy who Moria knows she must stay away from, but will she fall for his antics? Hint: yes.
As Moria learns more about her magic, her mother's link, and a mysterious coin in the circus, something is out there- will Moria find her place, create an incredible trick, and learn how to control her magic?
I included what I didn't know because when I started this book, I started it on a train trip to NYC. The trip is about 2-2.5hrs long and by the end of the first trip, I had finished just shy of 40% of the book. I had the book finished by the ride back. It started off well, but the relationships kept bothering me. Dez and Moria's relationship takes off too quickly, Moria is trusted by the magic group very quickly, and the plot moves forward, yet the characters aren't developed too well. The writing is also very simple and some of the sentences had me scratching my head. Knowing that it was geared toward a YA crowd, I might have read the book a bit differently. There are also characters who appear and seem to have some kind of significance, but we aren't told why. It turns out they are part of the first book.
If I had to classify this book, I would classify it as summer reading for a YA crowd. It was a light and quick read, but it simply wasn't for me, even though I love magic. Even on a YA scale, it wasn't a great book. It was good, but not great.
I rated this one a 2 star on the YA scale.
*I received this book for review from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
1. It is part 2 of a series.
2. It is a Young Adult book
If I had known these two things ahead of time, I think it would have changed my view of this book.
Moria is a magician attempting to break out of her father's shadow. Her father is one of the most respected magicians in the world and Moria has been told by her father not to follow in his footsteps. She is really good though and wants to try out her magic in front of people. She happens across a mysterious envelope with an invitation to the most prestigious magic group.
While she is auditioning in front of this group, her hands all of a sudden feel like they are on fire! Things she wishes in her head become a bit of reality- cards transform, water appears from no where, etc. It turns out Moria is a real magic user, but she must keep that a secret.
In the meantime, there is Dez, the circus knife thrower. Dez is kind of a bad boy who Moria knows she must stay away from, but will she fall for his antics? Hint: yes.
As Moria learns more about her magic, her mother's link, and a mysterious coin in the circus, something is out there- will Moria find her place, create an incredible trick, and learn how to control her magic?
I included what I didn't know because when I started this book, I started it on a train trip to NYC. The trip is about 2-2.5hrs long and by the end of the first trip, I had finished just shy of 40% of the book. I had the book finished by the ride back. It started off well, but the relationships kept bothering me. Dez and Moria's relationship takes off too quickly, Moria is trusted by the magic group very quickly, and the plot moves forward, yet the characters aren't developed too well. The writing is also very simple and some of the sentences had me scratching my head. Knowing that it was geared toward a YA crowd, I might have read the book a bit differently. There are also characters who appear and seem to have some kind of significance, but we aren't told why. It turns out they are part of the first book.
If I had to classify this book, I would classify it as summer reading for a YA crowd. It was a light and quick read, but it simply wasn't for me, even though I love magic. Even on a YA scale, it wasn't a great book. It was good, but not great.
I rated this one a 2 star on the YA scale.
*I received this book for review from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
ali_jenna's review
2.0
i didn't realize this was a book 2 even though i had heard of the book one and even thought about reading it and realized they were by the same author and had similar titles lol
anyway it doesn't matter i don't think i missed anything by not reading the first one
this book is not very good
there's not much to say other than that
ohh wait ok dez??? like wtf he's so gross like duude he is such a pick me boy and like such like the dumb 'bad boy' cliche like get him ouut of here
also if he is adopted by her mom's husband....?
like were they not weirded out by that?
also the entire beginning of their relationship was them lying to each other like - thats not going to work out
anyway allll of the characters in this book were unrealistic and if there's one thing i hate it's unrealistic characters so this book is not very good
anyway it doesn't matter i don't think i missed anything by not reading the first one
this book is not very good
there's not much to say other than that
ohh wait ok dez??? like wtf he's so gross like duude he is such a pick me boy and like such like the dumb 'bad boy' cliche like get him ouut of here
also if he is adopted by her mom's husband....?
like were they not weirded out by that?
also the entire beginning of their relationship was them lying to each other like - thats not going to work out
anyway allll of the characters in this book were unrealistic and if there's one thing i hate it's unrealistic characters so this book is not very good
kim3100's review against another edition
4.0
I received the ebook in exchange for an honest review.
The first thing I fell in love with with this book is the cover. I just love this kind of covers. On top of the the story has a well-written, original storyline. I loved the independent female protagonist. A must-read for me...
The first thing I fell in love with with this book is the cover. I just love this kind of covers. On top of the the story has a well-written, original storyline. I loved the independent female protagonist. A must-read for me...
ellieroth's review against another edition
2.0
Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento
Tengo tantos sentimientos encontrados con Girl in the Shadows y no del todo positivos. Lo que me gustó del primer libro fue la magia que recorría el circo, los misterios "normales" que me esperaba. Pero Girl in the Shadows me ha dejado con una sensación no sólo de decepción, sino también un poco de enfado.
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Tengo tantos sentimientos encontrados con Girl in the Shadows y no del todo positivos. Lo que me gustó del primer libro fue la magia que recorría el circo, los misterios "normales" que me esperaba. Pero Girl in the Shadows me ha dejado con una sensación no sólo de decepción, sino también un poco de enfado.
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howlsmovinglibrary's review against another edition
2.0
*I received a free ARC copy for this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Moira is an aspiring stage musician, who finds out that she has real magic. When an invitation to join the mysterious Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes joins them in the hopes of proving to her father that she has as much talent as him. But when a series of high stakes escape acts leave her performing real impossible feats, Moira discover she is one of the Prestigae, real magicians with powers beyond any stage trick.
This book had an interesting premise, combining real and performance magic in the same style as The Prestigate (as perhaps inferred by the group name Prestigae), in a more modern setting. Moira decides to escape her overbearing father, who refuses to let her follow in his footsteps, by joining a world renowned circus as it's resident magician. Performing seemingly impossible mistakes, Moira must balance her burgeoning magic with the desire for fame and fortune, while also avoiding the sinister Prestigae whom she has somehow remained hidden from.
There were several things that I thought were done well in this book. I liked the setting of the story in the world of Vegas and the circus, it was a fun environment to set a story in and the reader learns a lot of technical detail about magic and it's mechanics, which was new and interesting information. I also liked the way that gender was addressed in the world of magic - very few women are as successful as their male counterparts, and Moira emphasised this dynamic a lot in her interactions with her father and with other male performers in her life. I liked that this was something that the author chose to highlight in the performance setting.
However, as is often the case with ARCs, this story was in need of some serious editing. It got very longwinded in places, balancing Moira's arc as a performer with the Prestigae threat, as well as several subplots and a romance. There was a lot of exposition heavy portions of this book, and while I enjoyed that when it was addressing the technical aspects of Moira's tricks, there were other points - particularly in the initial dialogue explaining what Moira's real magic was and who the Prestigae were - when it just felt heavy handed and dull. This was very much the case once I reached the ending, as it seemed to end at several places - with the ferris wheel trick, then with her father's acceptance, then with the epilogue - where I just felt that it could have been cut down. Moira's narration was very descriptive and a hard slog at times.
While I think a lot of this can be fixed with some editing, what seemed particularly unfixable was that I just didn't find Des, Moira's love interest, at all compelling or interesting, nor Moira's interaction with him. Des himself is a knife thrower who just seems to....talk a lot? He didn't really do anything interesting, didn't show much backstory, and didn't stand out as a unique character in the same way the Raleigh and Dita did. The awkwardly paced witty banter that seemed to be the basis of their attraction was clunky and not that funny, not in, say, the way of Cassandra Clare, which obviously feels very unreal but at least is amusing. And Moira's constant 'I'm here for work, I can't be interested in boys' spiel that was used to inject the relationship with a 'will they won't they' vibe was just badly done: if you use that as the reasoning, particularly when your book focuses on the issues that face women's careers in comparison to men's, having her capitulate and stay with Des just seems like a pretty confused message. And even if you ignore its implications, her reticence felt forced, as if it was needed to provide some kind of obstacle to their otherwise very boring and personality-less romance. I felt that too much time was dedicated to building a relationship that wasn't really there and wasn't particularly interesting when it was, which really impacted and otherwise interesting story.
Basically, I really liked the idea but I felt it was executed badly, with too many plotlines that meant that the worldbuilding was confusing, and a romantic plot tumour that really dragged on the book. Hopefully much of this will be fixed with editing!
Moira is an aspiring stage musician, who finds out that she has real magic. When an invitation to join the mysterious Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes joins them in the hopes of proving to her father that she has as much talent as him. But when a series of high stakes escape acts leave her performing real impossible feats, Moira discover she is one of the Prestigae, real magicians with powers beyond any stage trick.
This book had an interesting premise, combining real and performance magic in the same style as The Prestigate (as perhaps inferred by the group name Prestigae), in a more modern setting. Moira decides to escape her overbearing father, who refuses to let her follow in his footsteps, by joining a world renowned circus as it's resident magician. Performing seemingly impossible mistakes, Moira must balance her burgeoning magic with the desire for fame and fortune, while also avoiding the sinister Prestigae whom she has somehow remained hidden from.
There were several things that I thought were done well in this book. I liked the setting of the story in the world of Vegas and the circus, it was a fun environment to set a story in and the reader learns a lot of technical detail about magic and it's mechanics, which was new and interesting information. I also liked the way that gender was addressed in the world of magic - very few women are as successful as their male counterparts, and Moira emphasised this dynamic a lot in her interactions with her father and with other male performers in her life. I liked that this was something that the author chose to highlight in the performance setting.
However, as is often the case with ARCs, this story was in need of some serious editing. It got very longwinded in places, balancing Moira's arc as a performer with the Prestigae threat, as well as several subplots and a romance. There was a lot of exposition heavy portions of this book, and while I enjoyed that when it was addressing the technical aspects of Moira's tricks, there were other points - particularly in the initial dialogue explaining what Moira's real magic was and who the Prestigae were - when it just felt heavy handed and dull. This was very much the case once I reached the ending, as it seemed to end at several places - with the ferris wheel trick, then with her father's acceptance, then with the epilogue - where I just felt that it could have been cut down. Moira's narration was very descriptive and a hard slog at times.
While I think a lot of this can be fixed with some editing, what seemed particularly unfixable was that I just didn't find Des, Moira's love interest, at all compelling or interesting, nor Moira's interaction with him. Des himself is a knife thrower who just seems to....talk a lot? He didn't really do anything interesting, didn't show much backstory, and didn't stand out as a unique character in the same way the Raleigh and Dita did. The awkwardly paced witty banter that seemed to be the basis of their attraction was clunky and not that funny, not in, say, the way of Cassandra Clare, which obviously feels very unreal but at least is amusing. And Moira's constant 'I'm here for work, I can't be interested in boys' spiel that was used to inject the relationship with a 'will they won't they' vibe was just badly done: if you use that as the reasoning, particularly when your book focuses on the issues that face women's careers in comparison to men's, having her capitulate and stay with Des just seems like a pretty confused message. And even if you ignore its implications, her reticence felt forced, as if it was needed to provide some kind of obstacle to their otherwise very boring and personality-less romance. I felt that too much time was dedicated to building a relationship that wasn't really there and wasn't particularly interesting when it was, which really impacted and otherwise interesting story.
Basically, I really liked the idea but I felt it was executed badly, with too many plotlines that meant that the worldbuilding was confusing, and a romantic plot tumour that really dragged on the book. Hopefully much of this will be fixed with editing!
lberestecki's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 Stars.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this follow up was disappointing. It lacked the charm of the first book, and it wasn't as well written. I thought Bond did a great job evoking emotions in the first book, but here the dialogue was stilted and the characters were flat and unlikable. It was easy to root for Jules in her story, but I didn't find it easy to root for Moira, this book's protagonist. Bond also fell prey to the "I need to throw this in here to show how progressive I am" trap a couple times, which resulted in a few heavy handed moments. Overall I was quite disappointed with this book and it lessened my enthusiasm for what I thought was a promising author.
Received from NetGalley.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this follow up was disappointing. It lacked the charm of the first book, and it wasn't as well written. I thought Bond did a great job evoking emotions in the first book, but here the dialogue was stilted and the characters were flat and unlikable. It was easy to root for Jules in her story, but I didn't find it easy to root for Moira, this book's protagonist. Bond also fell prey to the "I need to throw this in here to show how progressive I am" trap a couple times, which resulted in a few heavy handed moments. Overall I was quite disappointed with this book and it lessened my enthusiasm for what I thought was a promising author.
Received from NetGalley.