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ellelainey's review against another edition
5.0
I fell in love with Cornelius Quaint, his circus and Prometheus in this story. I felt for Prometheus and Cornelius throughout the whole story and found that the more I read, the more I got sucked into the story.
justfoxie's review against another edition
1.0
One of the worst books I've ever had the misfortune to read. The plot is contrived and yet utterly predictable, the characters are tropes and barely one dimensional, the writing is repetitive and just barely holds together. Also it is painfully obvious the author has never set foot in London. The only thing that kept me going with it, was some interesting ideas for the characters, which ultimately fail to get realised. Best avoided. Read Glass Books of the Dream Eaters instead.
ajraffles's review against another edition
5.0
Let me just list off a few things that I love ardently:
1) Mysteries
2) The Victorian Era
3) Harry Houdini
4) Sherlock Holmes
5) Indiana Jones
6) Circuses/performing acts from the 19th century and early 20th century
When I was promised all of these things, or something akin to them, I immediately purchased this book and the second one in the series. Most of the things I want to read are either set IN the Victorian Era or set in the present time...the present being the Victorian Era in which they were written. I had rather high hopes for this book from the start.
Speaking of which: I have a rather lax attention span, and if a book doesn't hook me quite fast I'm apt to put it down and let it fester for some time. This book hooked me worryingly quickly; I had only wanted to read part of it as I wished to write and instead found myself devouring the rest of it, rapt and curious as to how it ended.
The book is a rollicking caper, filled with a mystery in which the characters all seem to have ties to one another that begins to unravel with rapidity as the novel progresses. I love when a hero finds himself in peril and this book was thankfully chock-full of it, forcing Cornelius Quaint to the very limits in his quest to solve the murder of one of his employees and exonerate another whilst simultaneously stopping an insidious plot from unfolding and destroying thousands.
I think my only complaint to the book is one someone else had: the language is often not very Victorian at all. I could overlook it, however; it's not too jarring. If the author had really thrown in things, like "bro" and "chick" and whatnot I might not have been able to do so, but it was more the informal speech that he chose that must be the base of the user's complaints. Wait, a second complaint: MORE CIRCUS LIFE. I adore vintage circus life.
I saw that it had been rated poor-to-mediocre at best on here, and I was suddenly seized with doubt as to MY rating of it, as I am ever keen to stick with the pack mentality. I asked myself how I truly felt, though, and I enjoyed it immensely so I want to give it a generous rating to counter-balance the really rather overly-harsh reviews some have given it. It's worth a read (and I'm ready for the second one)!!
1) Mysteries
2) The Victorian Era
3) Harry Houdini
4) Sherlock Holmes
5) Indiana Jones
6) Circuses/performing acts from the 19th century and early 20th century
When I was promised all of these things, or something akin to them, I immediately purchased this book and the second one in the series. Most of the things I want to read are either set IN the Victorian Era or set in the present time...the present being the Victorian Era in which they were written. I had rather high hopes for this book from the start.
Speaking of which: I have a rather lax attention span, and if a book doesn't hook me quite fast I'm apt to put it down and let it fester for some time. This book hooked me worryingly quickly; I had only wanted to read part of it as I wished to write and instead found myself devouring the rest of it, rapt and curious as to how it ended.
The book is a rollicking caper, filled with a mystery in which the characters all seem to have ties to one another that begins to unravel with rapidity as the novel progresses. I love when a hero finds himself in peril and this book was thankfully chock-full of it, forcing Cornelius Quaint to the very limits in his quest to solve the murder of one of his employees and exonerate another whilst simultaneously stopping an insidious plot from unfolding and destroying thousands.
I think my only complaint to the book is one someone else had: the language is often not very Victorian at all. I could overlook it, however; it's not too jarring. If the author had really thrown in things, like "bro" and "chick" and whatnot I might not have been able to do so, but it was more the informal speech that he chose that must be the base of the user's complaints. Wait, a second complaint: MORE CIRCUS LIFE. I adore vintage circus life.
I saw that it had been rated poor-to-mediocre at best on here, and I was suddenly seized with doubt as to MY rating of it, as I am ever keen to stick with the pack mentality. I asked myself how I truly felt, though, and I enjoyed it immensely so I want to give it a generous rating to counter-balance the really rather overly-harsh reviews some have given it. It's worth a read (and I'm ready for the second one)!!
nini_f's review against another edition
4.0
Any story that combines a circus, and a murder mystery is one that I knew would be an interesting read. I was not disappointed. The story itself is a nice mix of mystery and history. The description of circus life and the performers was very well done and created a sense of family. I enjoyed the way the lead characters background and realtionships were examined through the investigation. I found this story a nice mix of comedy and murder mystery and would definitely read another in the series.
koshkemeow's review
3.0
This book neither sucked nor was amazing...it was average. It was good, I am sucker for a mystery novel any day. Some of the metaphors and the writing was a little forced but it didn't detract me from enjoying the mystery plot. In the end, it did get me wanted to read the second one and maybe even continue on with the story excited for where the 2nd one sends Quaint and if it will answer any questions left from the first.
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