Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
So compelling, even though I figured out the ending ahead of time.
(Originally reviewed in 2017.)
Uh oh, circus purist reads another novel purporting to be about a circus! After The Night Circus, you'd think I'd stop, but you just never know. I mean, Something Wicked This Way Comes is great! And, really, this novel and the aforementioned Night Circus owe a lot to it.
Actually, Circus Mirandus is not too dissimilar from the basic conceit of The Night Circus: super powerful magicians, aesthetics, invitation-only, mysteriously showing up across the globe, and all. But I'm pretty sure that MG could do a better iteration than this.
Before I go on, I'm going to repeat what I said after I read Night Circus. So, if you don't care about circus history or circuses, SCROLL DOWN.
This is not a circus. A circus is a variety show with multiple acts beneath one tent/on one stage. This is a carnival, where you go from one tent/location to another.
(And, just to really punch the air out of that inflatable gorilla, in 500 BC, a circus would be a completely different kind of entity. A hippodrome. A Roman spectacle. Not a traveling tent show. The use of the word circus to mean a ring and a performer was a product of the 18th century.)
Okay, so now that I've annoyed everyone, here's the actual review of the book.
I don't know what I'm missing, but I'm clearly missing something. And I don't think it's a belief in magic.
After all the buzz that built around this novel (and then seemed to vanish), I was at least expecting some beautiful writing, even if I found the story uninteresting. Unfortunately, the writing was just as okay as the story.
It's not infuriatingly uneventful, but it's also just... not much of one thing and not much of another. At least it moves forward? At least it has a pace? At least it has a distinct plot with a point? But like others who rated this something other than five stars (few of us though there are), I found everything pretty one-dimensional. A bit more early reader than MG.
So, Micah Tuttle is about to lose his guardian and grandfather, Ephraim, to an illness. They're being looked after by AuntPetunia Gertrudis, who is vile and terrible and, like Aunt Petunia, was disappointed and hurt by magic in the past, and has become jealous and obsessed with hating the whole concept of Circus Mirandus.
Grandpa Ephraim visited Circus Mirandus as a child, where he bonded with the magician. The magician offered him a miracle, but Ephraim saved it. Now Micah believes that this miracle will save Ephraim's life, but we're all pretty sure that's not what's going to happen.
The Tuttle speciality is knot-tying, which you had to figure would be important/magical because it was mentioned all the time.
Micah is paired withHermione Granger Jenny Mendoza (props for having diversity in here), a bookish and not-well-liked girl, to do a presentation. This creates an Instant Friendship as they investigate Circus Mirandus and eventually visit it.
The Lightbender, unlike the cover copy, actually does want to give Ephraim his miracle. It's the proprietor of the show who does not. Because of, we learn, Micah's grandmother, a former act who suddenly made Aunt Gertrudis seem like the okay female character.
The Bird Woman's big act of defiance had me reeling. Talk about accelerating to 100mph in a 35mph zone! I mean, the intensity of it just did not fit with anything else in the book. There was the story, which even gave us some sort of reason to maybe feel bad for Aunt Gertrudis, but it was just a flashback. Nothing more than that. And not even Aunt Gertrudis ever acknowledged it or tried to come to terms with it after Micah found out.
So, essentially, Ephraim asks the magician to take care of and train his grandson after he dies. Because, as is clear from the get go, the Lightbender dude is a literal illusionist, and you can't cheat death.
In the end, Ephraim dies, which left me without much feeling, Aunt Gertrudis almost moves Micah to Arizona, but the magician rescues him and he goes to live on Circus Mirandus.
Shrug.
Uh oh, circus purist reads another novel purporting to be about a circus! After The Night Circus, you'd think I'd stop, but you just never know. I mean, Something Wicked This Way Comes is great! And, really, this novel and the aforementioned Night Circus owe a lot to it.
Actually, Circus Mirandus is not too dissimilar from the basic conceit of The Night Circus: super powerful magicians, aesthetics, invitation-only, mysteriously showing up across the globe, and all. But I'm pretty sure that MG could do a better iteration than this.
Before I go on, I'm going to repeat what I said after I read Night Circus. So, if you don't care about circus history or circuses, SCROLL DOWN.
This is not a circus. A circus is a variety show with multiple acts beneath one tent/on one stage. This is a carnival, where you go from one tent/location to another.
(And, just to really punch the air out of that inflatable gorilla, in 500 BC, a circus would be a completely different kind of entity. A hippodrome. A Roman spectacle. Not a traveling tent show. The use of the word circus to mean a ring and a performer was a product of the 18th century.)
Okay, so now that I've annoyed everyone, here's the actual review of the book.
I don't know what I'm missing, but I'm clearly missing something. And I don't think it's a belief in magic.
After all the buzz that built around this novel (and then seemed to vanish), I was at least expecting some beautiful writing, even if I found the story uninteresting. Unfortunately, the writing was just as okay as the story.
It's not infuriatingly uneventful, but it's also just... not much of one thing and not much of another. At least it moves forward? At least it has a pace? At least it has a distinct plot with a point? But like others who rated this something other than five stars (few of us though there are), I found everything pretty one-dimensional. A bit more early reader than MG.
So, Micah Tuttle is about to lose his guardian and grandfather, Ephraim, to an illness. They're being looked after by Aunt
Grandpa Ephraim visited Circus Mirandus as a child, where he bonded with the magician. The magician offered him a miracle, but Ephraim saved it. Now Micah believes that this miracle will save Ephraim's life, but we're all pretty sure that's not what's going to happen.
The Tuttle speciality is knot-tying, which you had to figure would be important/magical because it was mentioned all the time.
Micah is paired with
The Lightbender, unlike the cover copy, actually does want to give Ephraim his miracle. It's the proprietor of the show who does not. Because of, we learn, Micah's grandmother, a former act who suddenly made Aunt Gertrudis seem like the okay female character.
The Bird Woman's big act of defiance had me reeling. Talk about accelerating to 100mph in a 35mph zone! I mean, the intensity of it just did not fit with anything else in the book. There was the story, which even gave us some sort of reason to maybe feel bad for Aunt Gertrudis, but it was just a flashback. Nothing more than that. And not even Aunt Gertrudis ever acknowledged it or tried to come to terms with it after Micah found out.
So, essentially, Ephraim asks the magician to take care of and train his grandson after he dies. Because, as is clear from the get go, the Lightbender dude is a literal illusionist, and you can't cheat death.
In the end, Ephraim dies, which left me without much feeling, Aunt Gertrudis almost moves Micah to Arizona, but the magician rescues him and he goes to live on Circus Mirandus.
Shrug.
Closer to a 3.5.
Sometimes comparisons for books can be a bit of a death knell right from the start. At a conference I was at recently, this book was quickly one of the more popular options both for the excellent cover treatment and the very obvious comparison to being The Night Circus for kids. The Night Circus was a truly wonderful read, and while Circus Mirandus is solid in its own right, the comparison is only sort of apt.
At its base, the tale is about a magical circus that a child's grandfather speaks of. All sorts of wild and wonderful things happen there, and the master of ceremonies still owes the grandfather a miracle to boot. The kid seeks out to find the circus and get some answers as a result.
For kids, this will be a fun and interesting fantasy, especially for those into circuses and magic. Adult readers of middle grade will probably find the tale lacking a bit, but some of the magic and mystery really works out well. That the comparison to Night Circus exists is ultimately the problem, as the expectations that are set up here just cannot be met in this instance.
Sometimes comparisons for books can be a bit of a death knell right from the start. At a conference I was at recently, this book was quickly one of the more popular options both for the excellent cover treatment and the very obvious comparison to being The Night Circus for kids. The Night Circus was a truly wonderful read, and while Circus Mirandus is solid in its own right, the comparison is only sort of apt.
At its base, the tale is about a magical circus that a child's grandfather speaks of. All sorts of wild and wonderful things happen there, and the master of ceremonies still owes the grandfather a miracle to boot. The kid seeks out to find the circus and get some answers as a result.
For kids, this will be a fun and interesting fantasy, especially for those into circuses and magic. Adult readers of middle grade will probably find the tale lacking a bit, but some of the magic and mystery really works out well. That the comparison to Night Circus exists is ultimately the problem, as the expectations that are set up here just cannot be met in this instance.
If I could give it more than five stars...believe me, I would definitely give it an 11.
This was a really sweet book! Heartwarming and full of magic, but quick and easy to read in just a few hours!
I wish there were more books about the character Chintzy, I absolutely loved her!
I liked the storyline, characters and writing, but I think the hype for this book was so high that my expectations just couldn't be met. A solid fantasy book for middle grade readers that felt a tad slow, taking me several weeks to get through.
Absolutely fantastic. This book will have even the most practical reader believing in magic. Well-written, well-crafted, and a completely enjoyable and heartbreaking at the same time. I'm excited to see how this book takes off!
What a magical book!! I enjoyed everything about this wonderful book.