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lastblossom's review against another edition
- 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
A beautiful queer romance front and center against a historical backdrop that sparks the imagination.
About
Jack Devin's great at sleight of hand, which is a good skill to have when your boss is a stage magician. He's also got flexible morals, which is a good mindset to have when your boss is ALSO a con artist. When Jack and his employer, the Enchantress, find themselves with a show at the Alaska Yukon Pacific World's Fair, it looks like the money's going to start flowing in. At least, until rival magician Laszlo appears with tricks that even Jack can't figure out. But Jack soon discovers he's much more interested in Laszlo's assistant, the quiet and enigmatic Wilhelm.
What I Liked
Stories about stage magicians are great. Even more when the author seems to respect the craft and the work that goes into it. Very little is spent on the actual magic, but all the tricks seem grounded and researched. Huuuge plus in my book. The setting - a World's Fair in Seattle - is full of potential and enthusiasm for the future, and the author does a great job of carrying the reader into that hopeful space. Both POVs are likable, and written with distinct voices, making the narrative easy to follow. The supporting cast are painted clearly with their own lives, dreams, and motivations. I've seen some descriptions liken this to The Prestige. It definitely had some similarities to the film (not the book, though), but it's a lot less dire of an ending, so I think I prefer this.
What Wasn't For Me
For a story about people who are also con artists, there was very little time spent on cons. The one we do get wasn't quite as twisty as I had hoped. But that feels like a very minor complaint overall.
Graphic: Confinement and Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Colonisation
meliroo's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Murder
angelareads's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
mals_library's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
orchidd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
rey_therese07's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
dobbsthedog's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book!
I think it's the first historical Shaun Hutchinson has written and I thought it was well done. I liked that he included a note at the end to explain the intentional historical inaccuracies, which I did notice while reading. (I won't go into them because mild spoilers!)
So, the book is basically about two magicians, one real and one not. And by real, I mean he's actually really magic, and by not I mean he's a skilled illusionist. They both have similar, though quite different upbringings, and they meet at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909. I liked the cast of characters and the setting, I think everything worked really well together.
Reading it kind of reminded me of being at Expo 86, all the people and the grandeur and wonder of it all. All the different pavilions and technologies and performers. Honestly, it was a pretty spectacular thing, seeing as I have fairly vivid memories of it yet I was only 3 years old when I attended with my family.
Despite the CWs, it was a fun read, and I do recommend.
Graphic: Child abuse and Confinement
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
puddlemud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, and Lesbophobia
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Coming in at 504 pages, there's a lot of room in this YA tome for streamlining. A better editor would have talked Hutchinson into slimming this down by cutting down on the performances and the ruminating on abuse and the " white gay man reflects on how hard America has been for marginalized people" and the "is this thing that is definitely the plan the plan?" Then we could have had a really great 300 page novel.
I know this is asking a lot of the "too much to read" among us, but the back 30% contains the evidence of a really great novel waiting to be edited out. Once the thing that has obviously been the plan is officially revealed to be the plan, the novel kicks into high gear. The romance becomes achingly cute (see the bottom two quotes), the tension ramps up to WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN levels, and the inclusion of illusions becomes a really fun plot device.
To add a quick note on white men including greater inequality in their MM romances, I did find it troubling how much "America was really racist" plays into the novel, yet the story also exists in a world in which sodomy laws aren't a big deal with the moments at the end of the story in which the leads display fairly public displays of affection.
Quotes:
"'I was running because I didn’t want to be late,' Wil said. 'He was waiting for me and I said I would meet him. I was afraid I had taken too long, but then I saw Jack standing by the entrance to Cairo, and he smiled when he saw me as if it were his happiest day instead of my own.'" (52%)
“'Yes. Yes to today, yes to tomorrow, and yes to whatever comes after that.'” (76%)
"I think it must’ve been a person who’d wished for love but had never known it who’d created the first clock. Because time is a reminder of how quickly the present passes and how little of the future remains, and no one in love would want to know that." (76%)
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
nicsnovellife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment