Reviews with content warning for Violence - Circus of the Damned

I have been enjoying this series so I'm not sure why it took me so long to pick up the next installment. This one was a lot of fun. I can say too much since it's the third book in the series but Anita is really good at finding herself in dangerous situations. It's set during Halloween and the story in this one had me hooked through the whole thing. I read about half of this via audiobook while commuting to/from work and it was AMAZING. Not only does the audiobook narrator have a wonderful voice, but they included mood-setting music and tons of fun sound effects as well. It made the whole thing really immersive, so much so that I was finding myself choosing the audiobook over the physical book. Definitely hoping to pick the next book in the series up before too long.

This book counts for Popsugar 2022 for a book set during my favorite season (fall) and for r/Fantasy Bingo 2022 for an urban fantasy book.

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kloughlin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kerttuli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

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amylynn44's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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unwise_samwise's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Content Warnings: Violence, blood/gore, gun violence, injury, murder, graphic crime scenes, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, and fatphobia.

Since I originally read this series years ago [I'm about 5 books behind from everything released I believe] I've slowly been trying to re-read it and it has been eye-opening.

I first binged through everything up to Narcissus in Chains when I was 14 [the early 00s] and was in love with the badass-take-no-shit Anita Blake. As I'm now over twice that age it's been very interesting going back through these books and seeing Anita.

When I was young I LOVED stories where the main character wasn't like other girls but as an adult now I'm not a big fan of those kinds of stories. As the young outcast that I was I related to those characters whereas now as an adult I see them as divisive...a way to draw a line that separates women when really we need to find more ways to come together.

I plan to continue my reread and hope to pick up more of a shift in the way Anita looks at herself, those around her, and the world in general. In my first read, I never noticed the amount of racism, sexism, and fatphobia that were in these early books and I'm hoping that I'm able to see a BIG shift by the time I come to more recent releases.

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