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laurie_tx's review against another edition
4.0
Very entertaining! Could have benefited from another pass-through by an editor but kept my attention all the way through the set-up-Book2 epilogue. Good start to a series. Bought book 2 and plan to start it immediately.
voodoomutt's review
3.0
a pulp fiction Tomb Raider with serious impulse control issues.
fun read but took a while to get going with fairly obvious plot twists.
fun read but took a while to get going with fairly obvious plot twists.
typewriter's review
adventurous
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I haven't read any urban fantasy in a while so this was strangely nostalgic? While the dialogue does at times get corny and not all the character dynamics make sense (I do with some of Owl's "bad" decisions), this was still on the whole a very fun and enjoyable read. I loved getting to see Owl steal things with varying degrees of success, and her relationships with Rynn, Nadya, Captain (obviously the best character), and even Alexander were compelling. I don't feel the need to read the next book right away or even at all, but if I ever want something lighter I'll be sure to pick it up.
jezzebelljc's review
4.0
I was very pleasantly surprised by this gem. Alix, or Owl, is a purveyor of antiquities and as such gets on the bad side of a bunch of people. She happened across some vampires in a previous job and has to go on the run. Enter the dragon that whisks her away for a job and the story starts. Again I say, dragon. He's mostly in a human form, but that doesn't make him any less scary. Since Owl has sworn off having anything to do with the supernatural, she's not thrilled to find herself thrown smack dab in the middle of it for the rest of the story.
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”
biteintobooks's review
3.0
I remember seeing a glowing review for this book and the synopsis really made me curious. This book was definitely entertaining to listen to. I especially liked the gaming part in this book, because I'm a gamer myself. I felt a link there right away. This book was a fairly good 3-star book, and I have been doubting to give it 4 stars.
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
Definitely a fun book with pros an cons for me. I am very curious about the next book and hopefully it's a tad better than this first book. So I will give the second book a chance and hopefully I can continue this series. Because I do feel like the archaeology and the gaming are unique!
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
Definitely a fun book with pros an cons for me. I am very curious about the next book and hopefully it's a tad better than this first book. So I will give the second book a chance and hopefully I can continue this series. Because I do feel like the archaeology and the gaming are unique!
siobhan27's review
4.0
What makes a great adventure story? A great main character, and to have that character be a young woman made Owl and the Japanese Circus that much better for me. This book has it all, action, adventure, a strong female main character (with flaws) and a pinch of the paranormal. And by pinch I mean a lot but for me it didn't seem to be that much until I stopped and thought about it. But more on that later. Lets focus on Owl, our main character. She was an amazing heroine to read. She was fierce, and strong and extremely independent. But what I think I loved that most was that she was not perfect. She still needed help from her friends, she was horrible at dealing with her feelings for a certain character, and she made a lot of mistakes.
Owl's relationships in this book drive the plot forward more than the mystery and adventure. I honestly think I was more interested in the human factor than solving the mystery. I loved Owls friendship with Nadya. It was so complex with issue in trust and honesty rocking them back and forth at every turn. Nadya was such a great character to contradict Owl because Nadya was steady and trustworthy and had an incredible ability to hack into any computer, which came in very handy at times during this story. I also really liked Owls relationship or lack thereof with Rynn. Rynn is a soth of side note in this book. Most people wont like him because he really doesn't do much...yet. I can see this character having many books, so if the author writes more for Owl I hope that Rynn gets a bigger role because he brings out the best in Owl, and most of the time she doesn't even know its happening. I know many people didn't like Rynn since they were more interested in the adventure part of the story but I really liked him and his relationship with Owl. It was extremely slow moving but it made sense for her character and it was as realistic as it could have been written.
Ok, now onto the book itself and the story. This book is first and foremost an action adventure story, with Owl trying to find a lost artifact for a very powerful Casino owner. What I think I loved was that the author did not shy away from what this book will be compared to...Indiana Jones. There are so many similarities that you really cant avoid it. That is why most people are saying this is the Indiana Jane of Fiction. The author embraced her predecessor and brought in great anecdotes from the movies that just made this book so much more hilarious to read. Earlier I said that this book read like a light paranormal book, and that is because this book read like a straight adventure book. I never felt overwhelmed with creatures or anything like that. I just felt like this was the way the world was, and it felt no different to me than a contemporary read. The author did an amazing job making it seem like Vampires and Dragons were normal, and that creatures that take possession of someone else s skin was normal. This is what made this book so fantastic. I will admit there were some instances in the middle where the story became a bit dry and I wanted more action to happen, but overall this book was a pleasure to read from start to finish. I will definitely read more from this author in the future, and I hope that she writes more about Owl because shes bad ass and deserves more adventures!
Owl's relationships in this book drive the plot forward more than the mystery and adventure. I honestly think I was more interested in the human factor than solving the mystery. I loved Owls friendship with Nadya. It was so complex with issue in trust and honesty rocking them back and forth at every turn. Nadya was such a great character to contradict Owl because Nadya was steady and trustworthy and had an incredible ability to hack into any computer, which came in very handy at times during this story. I also really liked Owls relationship or lack thereof with Rynn. Rynn is a soth of side note in this book. Most people wont like him because he really doesn't do much...yet. I can see this character having many books, so if the author writes more for Owl I hope that Rynn gets a bigger role because he brings out the best in Owl, and most of the time she doesn't even know its happening. I know many people didn't like Rynn since they were more interested in the adventure part of the story but I really liked him and his relationship with Owl. It was extremely slow moving but it made sense for her character and it was as realistic as it could have been written.
Ok, now onto the book itself and the story. This book is first and foremost an action adventure story, with Owl trying to find a lost artifact for a very powerful Casino owner. What I think I loved was that the author did not shy away from what this book will be compared to...Indiana Jones. There are so many similarities that you really cant avoid it. That is why most people are saying this is the Indiana Jane of Fiction. The author embraced her predecessor and brought in great anecdotes from the movies that just made this book so much more hilarious to read. Earlier I said that this book read like a light paranormal book, and that is because this book read like a straight adventure book. I never felt overwhelmed with creatures or anything like that. I just felt like this was the way the world was, and it felt no different to me than a contemporary read. The author did an amazing job making it seem like Vampires and Dragons were normal, and that creatures that take possession of someone else s skin was normal. This is what made this book so fantastic. I will admit there were some instances in the middle where the story became a bit dry and I wanted more action to happen, but overall this book was a pleasure to read from start to finish. I will definitely read more from this author in the future, and I hope that she writes more about Owl because shes bad ass and deserves more adventures!
christina_34's review
3.0
Owl and the Japanese Circus was an ok read. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was ok.
The archaeology and mythology details were really interesting, the action was ok and the relationships between the characters were passable.
The only things that irritated me every time were the plot holes and loose ends all over the place, but I guess they match with Owl's personality, so I guess that's ok too?
The archaeology and mythology details were really interesting, the action was ok and the relationships between the characters were passable.
The only things that irritated me every time were the plot holes and loose ends all over the place, but I guess they match with Owl's personality, so I guess that's ok too?
krismoon's review
4.0
I have a suspicion some readers couldn't finish this book, hence the lower rating. And I can't blame them, as the first 75% of the book is a bit rough. I found nothing likable about Owl. Her cat, maybe. Superfluous cursing abounded. And I like a well-placed f-bomb like any other red-blooded American, but I was pretty tired of reading "shit" nearly every page of this book.
But I gotta hand it to the author- the climax is pretty darn good. Finally I felt tension, intensity. And it was fun! I felt more of an acceptance of the characters in the end, acceptance of them even though they still remained mostly unlikable.
While I had some problems with this book, the ending made me temporarily forget about all of them. And doesn't it say something when the end of a book can make you forgive the beginning? I think it does. The author worked for every one of these four stars, and I respect that.
This one's worth sticking it out through to the end.
But I gotta hand it to the author- the climax is pretty darn good. Finally I felt tension, intensity. And it was fun! I felt more of an acceptance of the characters in the end, acceptance of them even though they still remained mostly unlikable.
While I had some problems with this book, the ending made me temporarily forget about all of them. And doesn't it say something when the end of a book can make you forgive the beginning? I think it does. The author worked for every one of these four stars, and I respect that.
This one's worth sticking it out through to the end.
hammychop's review
4.0
Entertaining audiobook that Eric & I binged on. Some parts made me roll my eyes but I liked the overall story.
matosapa's review
2.0
I had high hopes for this due to reviews that claimed it was a strong debut of a tough, female protagonist. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the female protagonist was once again caught in numerous love triangles and relationship issues. . In addition, she was no Indiana Jane, the online gaming and her personal attitude were distracting me from the story (which barely held my interest). Several of the twists were quite telegraphed and underwhelming for the most part.