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A review by beforeviolets
The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
CW: torture, fictional racism/xenophobia, loss of parent (father and mother, a character finds out about the passing of their mother during the plot of the book), emotionally abusive parents, death of grandparents (past), alcohol, drug use, bullying, violence, death, murder, blood, sexual content, gore, body horror, vomit, suicide (brief, onscreen), nonconsensual medical procedure
Thank you to Angry Robot for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
What a whimsical story! Like a mixture of City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, but make it adult!
This story follows Jes, an asexual panromantic mixed-race empath escaping from a life of torture and experimentation. It has diverse representation, found family, heists, and an adult coming-of-age narrative. Jes's personal growth was extremely well-done, from the self-discovery of his powers to his journey through experiencing a romantic relationship for potentially the first time.
I will say, the book as a whole didn't blow me away, but I found the story engaging and the characters easy to love.
A few nit picks:
-The writing was written in third person but in the style of first person, which made it a bit difficult to read at times. (Like the way it was written, I kept expecting to see the pronouns "I/me" rather than the "he/him" pronouns on the page.)
-The book as a whole could've just been 100 pages shorter. With the amount of heist and action, the pace could've been a lot faster and started a lot earlier. It took me a bit to really get into the narrative and it made the stakes feel unearned at times.
-The word "suss" or "susses" used as the ONLY word for Jes's empath abilities.
Thank you to Angry Robot for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
What a whimsical story! Like a mixture of City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, but make it adult!
This story follows Jes, an asexual panromantic mixed-race empath escaping from a life of torture and experimentation. It has diverse representation, found family, heists, and an adult coming-of-age narrative. Jes's personal growth was extremely well-done, from the self-discovery of his powers to his journey through experiencing a romantic relationship for potentially the first time.
I will say, the book as a whole didn't blow me away, but I found the story engaging and the characters easy to love.
A few nit picks:
-The writing was written in third person but in the style of first person, which made it a bit difficult to read at times. (Like the way it was written, I kept expecting to see the pronouns "I/me" rather than the "he/him" pronouns on the page.)
-The book as a whole could've just been 100 pages shorter. With the amount of heist and action, the pace could've been a lot faster and started a lot earlier. It took me a bit to really get into the narrative and it made the stakes feel unearned at times.
-The word "suss" or "susses" used as the ONLY word for Jes's empath abilities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Drug use, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Medical content, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Sexual content, Bullying, and Racism
Minor: Vomit