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adelas's review against another edition
3.0
If I was still a teen, I would have liked this book a lot better. It was decent. Definitely geared towards teens.
guenhwyvar's review
4.0
An enjoyable tale of magic and life in the circus. I read this book when it was first released but failed to write a review. My memories of the details are hazy, but I recall that I enjoyed the intrigue, and the relationships between the characters, and especially the backstage circus details. I will likely check out the author's other books in this series.
fafabookcorner's review against another edition
4.0
Mini review:
Wow what a breath of fresh air! Loved the carnival and the magic. The characters were fantastic as were the friendships. The romance was surprisingly done well.
Will definitely be reading more from this author. Highly recommend.
Wow what a breath of fresh air! Loved the carnival and the magic. The characters were fantastic as were the friendships. The romance was surprisingly done well.
Will definitely be reading more from this author. Highly recommend.
bookishvanessa's review against another edition
2.0
I received this through a Goodreads Giveaway; thank you!
I did not read the first installment in this series, so perhaps that affected my experience with Girl in the Shadows. I was really excited about this book's plot, but something just didn't work for me. I appreciated the descriptions of famous magicians, but I didn't get attached to any of the characters. I found Moira slightly annoying and her relationship with Dez really hard to believe. The plot jumped around a lot, and I was confused for a majority of the book.
I did not read the first installment in this series, so perhaps that affected my experience with Girl in the Shadows. I was really excited about this book's plot, but something just didn't work for me. I appreciated the descriptions of famous magicians, but I didn't get attached to any of the characters. I found Moira slightly annoying and her relationship with Dez really hard to believe. The plot jumped around a lot, and I was confused for a majority of the book.
emilieisafandom's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review. I have to say I enjoyed this book. More for the setting and the magic trick descriptions then completely for the characters. Once again there was the instant love that bothers me. I did enjoy that it was a 2nd in a series book that you didn't have to read the first one to understand. and now it makes me want to read that first one. Might have more of an investment in the characters then.
hazelalaska's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars.
I really wanted to give this four stars, and by the middle of the book I thought I would, but while the middle 50% of the book was solid, the first and last 25% of the book didn't enchant me as much. It took me a long time to get through the first quarter, but I think part of that was my fault. I had read other reviews where people were saying it wasn't that good and that the characters were flat and the trope of insta-love is used, and I think that made me less interested in the book. Once I got through the first quarter it started picking up for me. I did feel that there was insta-love and that the main relationship wasn't as well developed as it could have been. I feel like if I had read this back in my middle school days or early high school, I would have given it five stars. I just think I've learned to be more critical of what I'm reading, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
I did still enjoy this book, though. It felt sort of similar to Girl on a Wire, where the main character joins Cirque American against her family’s wishes. In this case, Moira’s dad doesn’t want her to be a magician, and he says women don’t usually make it as magicians. Along the way, the main character discovers some secrets and there is magic involved. I have to say that this one fixed one if my problems with the first book which was that I wanted more magic. Magic ( both fake and real) abounds in this one. I really appreciated how Moira dedicated her acts to female magicians, spreading awareness of these forgotten women as sort of a way to prove her dad wrong. I think the plot of this one was more interesting than the previous book, though many of the characters from book one also play a role in this story. The plot was a bit more out there and involved more magic than that of just a few objects.
I would have liked to have seen more of the relationship between Moira and her dad before she left for the Cirque. He doesn't support her desire to perform magic, but I didn't know whether he was otherwise supportive. It seemed like it, but I felt I was grasping at straws. Moira herself said that he otherwise supportive, but then he made some choices late in the book that made me question how he could claim to be a supportive parent. All I saw was him being controlling.
I didn't have a problem with the relationship between Moira and Dez, other than the fact that it started out with insta-love. It felt like they barely knew each other and they already wanted to be in a relationship. I felt it could have developed more over time, since they are spending the summer together. I never felt that their relationship was totally solid, but there were other factors I think that subtly influenced this. I was fine with their relationship, but I wasn't gushing over it, and it wasn't necessarily OTP material.
Spoilers!
Even though Moira herself says her dad supports her in things other than her desire to perform, I didn't see that late in the novel. I really disliked him because he tried to make Thurston get rid of Moira and make her come home, and I think that was incredibly controlling behavior, and it was unsettling because he was trying to control his adult daughter. Moira is still young, but she is legally an adult who can make her own choices. I'm glad Thurston stood up for her and said that he would not force her to leave. I think her dad's behavior went beyond being protective. I was thinking the whole time when Moira was worried about her dad finding out about her lie that technically he couldn't legally make her come home because of her age. The only thing he could do was exert his power and influence within the industry.
I felt like I wasn't totally all-in on the relationship between Moira and Dez because Dez wasn't either. In part because of his loyalties as part of the Praestigae, but also because of his own insecurities that come out late in the book. He's grown up thinking he's a failure and that he has to make up for what his dad did. It doesn't seem like he has experienced love before, and he is put down a lot by the Rex, so of course he would question whether he is worthy of love. He put on a bravado of sorts, a pretend rakishness, as Moira called it, but it was to hide his own insecurities. I do think their relationship and characters developed over the course of the novel because he didn't reveal this side of him at first, not even to Moira. I don't know if other people felt this way about their relationship and whether it was an intentional choice, but it felt kind of genius.
I wasn't at all surprised by the revelation that Dez's "family friend" and Moira's mom were part of the Praestigae, or that Brandon and Dez were too. some of the dead giveaways for me were the the names. I knew Rex was latin for king, and Regina queen. When Dez said where he came from the believed in kings and benevolent queens, I immediately knew he was part of it too. I don't know if it was supposed to be shocking but it wasn't for me. I still thought it was really clever, though. I love when the meaning of the names is important for the plot. What did surprise me was the Raleigh was searching for the coin. I hadn't ruled him out, though I was suspicious of him because his trailer hadn't been rifled through and he was talking a lot about the notes being misdirection. I guess that should have been my clue that he was the real culprit.
I felt the story was strongest in the middle. After the 75% mark it started losing me a bit again. I wasn't sure that I totally understood the plan and how it was going to work, even before her dad went and complicated things. I still had some questions about Regina as well. Is her name actually Regina, or did she have another name? She mentioned the Regina has to reproduce or they're cursed. I assume her mom was the previous Regina, so did she name her daughter for the role she would take? Can Regina have more kids and pass her power on, or would their power die out because Moira won't be the next Regina? I like how their society was led by women because women hold the magic. I also wondered whether Regina was on Moira's side all along or whether she was also in it for the ulterior motives and not just because of the Rex. It seems she is sort of entitled because of how Dez described her as not ever paying for anything and always using illusions, though whether that was because of the Rex we never learn. She is still a very mysterious figure at the end of the book, which is fine.
I feel like at times, Moira makes some rookie mistakes, not all of which make sense within the story. For example, she learned about the Praestigae from Nan, yet only at the end does she ask Nan for information about them. She even tried searching the internet first and found nothing. I was questioning the whole time why she didn't ask Nan, who seems to know a bit about them. She may have distrusted Nan at the beginning, but she later came to trust her because she went to Nan first when she knew someone was looking for the coin, instead of going to Thurston. Also, Moira's not really good at playing Nancy Drew because when she follows Dez and Brandon, she waltzes right into a strange house instead of trying to look in the windows to figure out what's going on. I feel like it's her own fault that she got in the situation she did.
I really wanted to give this four stars, and by the middle of the book I thought I would, but while the middle 50% of the book was solid, the first and last 25% of the book didn't enchant me as much. It took me a long time to get through the first quarter, but I think part of that was my fault. I had read other reviews where people were saying it wasn't that good and that the characters were flat and the trope of insta-love is used, and I think that made me less interested in the book. Once I got through the first quarter it started picking up for me. I did feel that there was insta-love and that the main relationship wasn't as well developed as it could have been. I feel like if I had read this back in my middle school days or early high school, I would have given it five stars. I just think I've learned to be more critical of what I'm reading, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
I did still enjoy this book, though. It felt sort of similar to Girl on a Wire, where the main character joins Cirque American against her family’s wishes. In this case, Moira’s dad doesn’t want her to be a magician, and he says women don’t usually make it as magicians. Along the way, the main character discovers some secrets and there is magic involved. I have to say that this one fixed one if my problems with the first book which was that I wanted more magic. Magic ( both fake and real) abounds in this one. I really appreciated how Moira dedicated her acts to female magicians, spreading awareness of these forgotten women as sort of a way to prove her dad wrong. I think the plot of this one was more interesting than the previous book, though many of the characters from book one also play a role in this story. The plot was a bit more out there and involved more magic than that of just a few objects.
I would have liked to have seen more of the relationship between Moira and her dad before she left for the Cirque. He doesn't support her desire to perform magic, but I didn't know whether he was otherwise supportive. It seemed like it, but I felt I was grasping at straws. Moira herself said that he otherwise supportive, but then he made some choices late in the book that made me question how he could claim to be a supportive parent. All I saw was him being controlling.
I didn't have a problem with the relationship between Moira and Dez, other than the fact that it started out with insta-love. It felt like they barely knew each other and they already wanted to be in a relationship. I felt it could have developed more over time, since they are spending the summer together. I never felt that their relationship was totally solid, but there were other factors I think that subtly influenced this. I was fine with their relationship, but I wasn't gushing over it, and it wasn't necessarily OTP material.
Spoilers!
Even though Moira herself says her dad supports her in things other than her desire to perform, I didn't see that late in the novel. I really disliked him because he tried to make Thurston get rid of Moira and make her come home, and I think that was incredibly controlling behavior, and it was unsettling because he was trying to control his adult daughter. Moira is still young, but she is legally an adult who can make her own choices. I'm glad Thurston stood up for her and said that he would not force her to leave. I think her dad's behavior went beyond being protective. I was thinking the whole time when Moira was worried about her dad finding out about her lie that technically he couldn't legally make her come home because of her age. The only thing he could do was exert his power and influence within the industry.
I felt like I wasn't totally all-in on the relationship between Moira and Dez because Dez wasn't either. In part because of his loyalties as part of the Praestigae, but also because of his own insecurities that come out late in the book. He's grown up thinking he's a failure and that he has to make up for what his dad did. It doesn't seem like he has experienced love before, and he is put down a lot by the Rex, so of course he would question whether he is worthy of love. He put on a bravado of sorts, a pretend rakishness, as Moira called it, but it was to hide his own insecurities. I do think their relationship and characters developed over the course of the novel because he didn't reveal this side of him at first, not even to Moira. I don't know if other people felt this way about their relationship and whether it was an intentional choice, but it felt kind of genius.
I wasn't at all surprised by the revelation that Dez's "family friend" and Moira's mom were part of the Praestigae, or that Brandon and Dez were too. some of the dead giveaways for me were the the names. I knew Rex was latin for king, and Regina queen. When Dez said where he came from the believed in kings and benevolent queens, I immediately knew he was part of it too. I don't know if it was supposed to be shocking but it wasn't for me. I still thought it was really clever, though. I love when the meaning of the names is important for the plot. What did surprise me was the Raleigh was searching for the coin. I hadn't ruled him out, though I was suspicious of him because his trailer hadn't been rifled through and he was talking a lot about the notes being misdirection. I guess that should have been my clue that he was the real culprit.
I felt the story was strongest in the middle. After the 75% mark it started losing me a bit again. I wasn't sure that I totally understood the plan and how it was going to work, even before her dad went and complicated things. I still had some questions about Regina as well. Is her name actually Regina, or did she have another name? She mentioned the Regina has to reproduce or they're cursed. I assume her mom was the previous Regina, so did she name her daughter for the role she would take? Can Regina have more kids and pass her power on, or would their power die out because Moira won't be the next Regina? I like how their society was led by women because women hold the magic. I also wondered whether Regina was on Moira's side all along or whether she was also in it for the ulterior motives and not just because of the Rex. It seems she is sort of entitled because of how Dez described her as not ever paying for anything and always using illusions, though whether that was because of the Rex we never learn. She is still a very mysterious figure at the end of the book, which is fine.
I feel like at times, Moira makes some rookie mistakes, not all of which make sense within the story. For example, she learned about the Praestigae from Nan, yet only at the end does she ask Nan for information about them. She even tried searching the internet first and found nothing. I was questioning the whole time why she didn't ask Nan, who seems to know a bit about them. She may have distrusted Nan at the beginning, but she later came to trust her because she went to Nan first when she knew someone was looking for the coin, instead of going to Thurston. Also, Moira's not really good at playing Nancy Drew because when she follows Dez and Brandon, she waltzes right into a strange house instead of trying to look in the windows to figure out what's going on. I feel like it's her own fault that she got in the situation she did.
mariakazantzi's review
3.0
Don’t let my rating fool you. It is a good book to spend your afternoon. But is not the book that will leave you breathless and in awe.
Moira is a great protagonist. She is smart, willing to pursuit her dreams, no matter what, believes in herself and is willing to risk her life for her craft. And she is good at it. The parts about her magic tricks and her escapes are the reason I liked this book.
But overall the book lacked depth. The only explanation about her (real) magic is that she descends from an ancient family – that’s all folks! nothing else! And even if this magic can prove fatal for her, she never actually tries to learn to control it. She just uses it and then chaos prevails. And because that is the course of events every single time she uses magic, the book becomes a little bit tiring to read.
As for the romance, I believe it was pointless. There was nothing that justified it, it happened so fast that you didn’t have the time to care for the characters, and the fact that they were willing to risk their lives for each other without even knowing each other was annoying.
But if you can overlook the insta-love romance (and drama) and the lack of story-building, it is a nice book that you will enjoy reading.
Moira is a great protagonist. She is smart, willing to pursuit her dreams, no matter what, believes in herself and is willing to risk her life for her craft. And she is good at it. The parts about her magic tricks and her escapes are the reason I liked this book.
But overall the book lacked depth. The only explanation about her (real) magic is that she descends from an ancient family – that’s all folks! nothing else! And even if this magic can prove fatal for her, she never actually tries to learn to control it. She just uses it and then chaos prevails. And because that is the course of events every single time she uses magic, the book becomes a little bit tiring to read.
As for the romance, I believe it was pointless. There was nothing that justified it, it happened so fast that you didn’t have the time to care for the characters, and the fact that they were willing to risk their lives for each other without even knowing each other was annoying.
But if you can overlook the insta-love romance (and drama) and the lack of story-building, it is a nice book that you will enjoy reading.
veganmariposa's review
3.0
I’m once again torn with writing a book review. The book was full of great ideas; it just felt like some weren’t all completely fleshed out. For once there was a female hero that’s wasn’t completely wrapped up with thoughts of another man constantly. Now that’s not to say there is no romance in the book. But I honestly wish there wasn’t. It wasn’t very good in the least. I felt like I was reading romance written from someone who was young or someone trying too hard to make it feel young. In my opinion the story suffers from too much clutter and I feel as if this could be one of the things forgotten. Also I didn’t really get to build a bond with the supporting character like I’m used to. Every time I started to care or have feelings for one of them, they are thrown to the side. It was a bit frustrating. Now I don’t want to sound all negative, I did like the book. I really liked the slight feminist touches the author brings to the story. Moira(main character) is a strong woman who doesn’t quit and won’t let people get in the way of what she wants. She grows up with a father, a magician, who tells her magic is not for women. His words hurt her but they don’t stop her. She struggles from a young age to learn and teach herself in secret just to prove him wrong and follow her dream to being one of the greatest female performers. She hitches a ride with a traveling circus practicing and performing when some unexpected things fall into her life. She’s then must try to put all the puzzle pieces together to save herself, her family and her new friends. One of the things I loved was when Moira was performing she would give out bit of information about past female magicians. I’m really curious to look it all up. It’s really interesting. As I myself have never heard of any female magicians, I can see where the frustrations of the main character trying to make a name for herself in a male dominated industry might ring a bit of truth. The ending of book felt rushed, disappointing and anticlimactic. I was expecting a lot more action and instead got more of a fairy tale ending. It was too clean and easy for my tastes. Over all this was an ok book and I did enjoy it. I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy weekend or beach read. Also on a side note while there is magic beyond sleight of hand magician things; just know that there really isn’t much. If you looking for magic, spells and fantasy, this really isn’t it.
*~ARC kindly provided via Net Galley in exchange for a honest review~*
*~ARC kindly provided via Net Galley in exchange for a honest review~*
ellieroth's review
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
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!