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tatyanavogt's review
4.0
Loved the concept, it went in a really interesting direction and I really look forward to seeing how the series continues.
share_the_book_dragon's review
Boring, focused on unlikable characters, beg of ch29
kaeliwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Okay okay. Reminds me of Stephanie Garbers Caraval series, but more murderous and gruesome. The vibe reminds of me a short story titled Marionnette I read recently, very grey (and the Flames rise in the background). The prologue really pulled me right into thr story. Excited to start the next one!
sylvilel's review against another edition
4.0
London 1884. Iris is a tightrope walker. She is African. She works in a circus. She has lost her memories and doesn’t know who she is. Oh, and she can’t die.
When a strange lord approaches her one day, it doesn’t take long before Iris is sucked into a mayhem of survival, bloodshed, camraderie and mystical powers - and a potential apocalypse.
To understand what will happen, and what her role is in all of this, Iris has to fight for her life while searching for the truth: Who is she, and what the hell does she have to to with the end of the world?
First, this book was so much more grown-up than I expected, which was a happy surprise.
The opening caught me head on, which is another thing I loved about it. This is an actual, honest to God, Victorian steampunk adventure, and I can’t find enough of those
When a strange lord approaches her one day, it doesn’t take long before Iris is sucked into a mayhem of survival, bloodshed, camraderie and mystical powers - and a potential apocalypse.
To understand what will happen, and what her role is in all of this, Iris has to fight for her life while searching for the truth: Who is she, and what the hell does she have to to with the end of the world?
First, this book was so much more grown-up than I expected, which was a happy surprise.
The opening caught me head on, which is another thing I loved about it. This is an actual, honest to God, Victorian steampunk adventure, and I can’t find enough of those
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
This book was so different and I love it to pieces. The general idea of this book had me wanting more. the mystery of who Iris was, the setting! AGH I could not get over the Victorian setting. I loved the plot. the climax was INSANE. I cannot get my hands on the second book faster.
This book was so different and I love it to pieces. The general idea of this book had me wanting more. the mystery of who Iris was, the setting! AGH I could not get over the Victorian setting. I loved the plot. the climax was INSANE. I cannot get my hands on the second book faster.
jose_kg's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I really wanted to love this book, magical realism in Victorian London sounded amazing and many of the ideas that Raughley had are very interesting. The problem was the execution, the pacing was odd, very slow in parts and a lot of unnecessary repetition of characters back stories to the point I wondered if she'd set herself a high minimum word count. There was a lot of telling instead of showing and characters having deep feelings for each other with no reason. There was a fair amount of mind-reading going on, where Iris would question something in her mind and then a character would helpfully supply the answer without being asked. Iris was a surprisingly boring MC despite a really interesting back story, I think the author wanted her to be too perfect and that made her boring and the plot had to drive the story completely. The love triangle wasn't very believable and I don't know what was meant to be going on with Adam.
I found the final big battle with the other 'fanciful freaks' really silly. Firstly these people were meant to be her friends, we'd been told over and over how much their friendship meant, but the second they perceived her as a possible threat they try to kill her. Secondly they try to kill her, a person they explicitly know cannot die, so what on earth did they think they were going to achieve? Piss her off so she'd kill them faster? Thirdly, they heard her story of all the pain she'd gone through, the fact she didn't want to kill anyone and now that she knows what she can do she won't accidentally kill anyone else, so as a group that has multiple murderers in it, they decide she's the worst for accidently killing someone? It just seemed so contrived and took any emotion from the realisation that many of them probably died when the club burnt down.
Overall I found this a hard book to finish and I won't be reading the rest of the series. I have given some stars because the premise is really interesting, I just wish it had been executed better.
Overall I found this a hard book to finish and I won't be reading the rest of the series. I have given some stars because the premise is really interesting, I just wish it had been executed better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, and Death
nickyfox13's review
2.0
The plot was incoherent and disjointed in a way that should've been fun given the sheer *amount* of plot hooks that were started. Unfortunately, despite the creativity of the premise that drew me in (African American tightrope walker with amnsesia trying to figure out who she is), I wasn't having fun. I felt like how the plot got explained didn't make sense, because nothing was really connected or explained. I don't expect to be spoonfed but I do expect some kind of clarity when plot is being explained.
lunaballz's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this and it started off good, but it was a struggle to finish it.
Characters: There's almost no character development. The side characters never even get enough development for them to have personality and for me to care about them, they just feel like placeholders for plot points. Iris wants to protect them or is upset by something one of them says and I just think "why? why does she care about these people she barely knows?
Romance: it's...not good. It's not actually a love-triangle as the author was going for a reverse harem trope, so instead every man is in love with Iris, and again I'm asking why? The only one that seems like he has a chance is her acrobatic partner because there's history there, but there's definitely not any chemistry because even he gets no character development and I know almost nothing about him except that he's in love with her.
The two other guys: one is a new guy who joins the gang and is apparently in love with her (but WHY?) but there's zero chemistry there and honestly it would've been better if all his jokes about loving her had really been jokes. The last guy is just creepy and is more in love with the idea of her than her.
Plot: the concept is good, but the pacing spoils it a bit. It's just way too long of a book for what happens in it. It starts off interesting and quick but the middle quickly becomes a slog
All in all, it had great potential and I love how the author incorporated the racial problems of the time and that almost everyone is characters of color but because of the slow pacing and bad character development I only spite finished this and probably won't be reading the sequels.
Characters: There's almost no character development. The side characters never even get enough development for them to have personality and for me to care about them, they just feel like placeholders for plot points. Iris wants to protect them or is upset by something one of them says and I just think "why? why does she care about these people she barely knows?
Romance: it's...not good. It's not actually a love-triangle as the author was going for a reverse harem trope, so instead every man is in love with Iris, and again I'm asking why? The only one that seems like he has a chance is her acrobatic partner because there's history there, but there's definitely not any chemistry because even he gets no character development and I know almost nothing about him except that he's in love with her.
The two other guys: one is a new guy who joins the gang and is apparently in love with her (but WHY?) but there's zero chemistry there and honestly it would've been better if all his jokes about loving her had really been jokes. The last guy is just creepy and is more in love with the idea of her than her.
Plot: the concept is good, but the pacing spoils it a bit. It's just way too long of a book for what happens in it. It starts off interesting and quick but the middle quickly becomes a slog
All in all, it had great potential and I love how the author incorporated the racial problems of the time and that almost everyone is characters of color but because of the slow pacing and bad character development I only spite finished this and probably won't be reading the sequels.
montigneyrules's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
#readingchallenge2023 (my book set in the 80s (1880s haha))
A strong start, I was intrigued by so much potential within the premise-the character’s & their abilities, the elements of the tournament, and the performances per challenge-but the overall world & its expanding complexity lost me. Granted I did enjoy the historical fiction time period element- the distracted writing lost me. (especially when realizing the novel was a series- making me cringe, as I realized so much would be drag on)-
Just when I felt hooked, I was then immediately confused & the hook fell loose. I never really connected to any aspect within the story because the chaos- when characters had a strength- they then faded- when the pacing was slow- then suddenly too much happened at once-
The story attempted to be character drive, but the multi-layered plot prevented a strong character development-some characters I struggled to understand their purpose, their twists, and the interactions & relationships between were presented but never really connected.
I didn’t mind the novel’s gore-or darkness-it was merely the execution that felt apart-maybe shorten edit- then leave it as a series- but I can’t imagine reading 3 500+pages of underdeveloped characters & plots. I’m going to try to wiki the next two plotlines, learn ending without reading, & move on.
A strong start, I was intrigued by so much potential within the premise-the character’s & their abilities, the elements of the tournament, and the performances per challenge-but the overall world & its expanding complexity lost me. Granted I did enjoy the historical fiction time period element- the distracted writing lost me. (especially when realizing the novel was a series- making me cringe, as I realized so much would be drag on)-
Just when I felt hooked, I was then immediately confused & the hook fell loose. I never really connected to any aspect within the story because the chaos- when characters had a strength- they then faded- when the pacing was slow- then suddenly too much happened at once-
The story attempted to be character drive, but the multi-layered plot prevented a strong character development-some characters I struggled to understand their purpose, their twists, and the interactions & relationships between were presented but never really connected.
I didn’t mind the novel’s gore-or darkness-it was merely the execution that felt apart-maybe shorten edit- then leave it as a series- but I can’t imagine reading 3 500+pages of underdeveloped characters & plots. I’m going to try to wiki the next two plotlines, learn ending without reading, & move on.
ratcousin's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An explosive start to a series that is so inventive and creative and unique and everything I could ever want. I feel like having a character that can't die would typically make the steaks hard to care about, but since the end of all things is quickly approaching our mc, that isn't really an issue here. One thing I will say is that as much as I enjoyed both of the love interests, it feels quite obvious who the mc will end up with in the end. I feel like if you're gonna do a love triangle there should actually be a question of "who will she end up with?????"