milkshakevoid's review against another edition
3.0
There's something about the circus that is enchanting, and while it's easy to recreate that sort of magic in pictures or on film, in my experience, it's a hard sell in fiction. Pantomime, however, hit the mark.
What was hit or miss was the world building. Going in, I was aware that the story followed a hermaphrodite noble woman who runs away from societies expectations to become a man in the circus. I cannot stress enough that the story is so much more than that and I absolutely enjoyed it, but I had no idea going in that this a bit high fantasy. Or maybe not high, but otherworldly with fairies and gods and mystical doodads that aren't ever really explained. While I eventually got the hang of what was going on and the characters were so compelling and well rounded that I couldn't put the book down, for the longest time all the magic/god details were totally lost on me because I didn't realize that this wasn't straight up fiction. At best I figured it must be an alt universe a few decades or centuries ahead of us, and then somewhere around the midpoint they mention the year 10500 ( or something like that) and I kind of reeled.
It would have been nice to have had a primer with dates or a brief history or something ahead of time, because I don't think that the Kedi/god stuff made an appearance early enough on to not be jarring. It made for lots of interesting twists later on, but I think those twists were received with more pursed lips and indignant sighs than the author probably intended.
Also, the ending was a bit of a let down. No spoilers but I'd felt like the climax of the novel wasn't quite enough. And as a side note, I really hope this series starts to make sense and not just hold all the cards till the end because aside from the parents reveal I wasn't too thrilled with most of the twists in this book and I'm already rolling my eyes at the idea of spending the next book with some magician when we've never even heard of their being magician's in this world until the last chapter. I'd much rather if that Dr found Micah at the circus but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I really enjoyed Micah/Gene and Drystan definitely grew on me, which is good because without their chemistry I probably wouldn't be as eager to continue onto the sequels.
What was hit or miss was the world building. Going in, I was aware that the story followed a hermaphrodite noble woman who runs away from societies expectations to become a man in the circus. I cannot stress enough that the story is so much more than that and I absolutely enjoyed it, but I had no idea going in that this a bit high fantasy. Or maybe not high, but otherworldly with fairies and gods and mystical doodads that aren't ever really explained. While I eventually got the hang of what was going on and the characters were so compelling and well rounded that I couldn't put the book down, for the longest time all the magic/god details were totally lost on me because I didn't realize that this wasn't straight up fiction. At best I figured it must be an alt universe a few decades or centuries ahead of us, and then somewhere around the midpoint they mention the year 10500 ( or something like that) and I kind of reeled.
It would have been nice to have had a primer with dates or a brief history or something ahead of time, because I don't think that the Kedi/god stuff made an appearance early enough on to not be jarring. It made for lots of interesting twists later on, but I think those twists were received with more pursed lips and indignant sighs than the author probably intended.
Also, the ending was a bit of a let down. No spoilers but I'd felt like the climax of the novel wasn't quite enough. And as a side note, I really hope this series starts to make sense and not just hold all the cards till the end because aside from the parents reveal I wasn't too thrilled with most of the twists in this book and I'm already rolling my eyes at the idea of spending the next book with some magician when we've never even heard of their being magician's in this world until the last chapter. I'd much rather if that Dr found Micah at the circus but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I really enjoyed Micah/Gene and Drystan definitely grew on me, which is good because without their chemistry I probably wouldn't be as eager to continue onto the sequels.
diaryofthebookdragon's review against another edition
5.0
Pantomime was ya fantasy novel I was very excited about. Then I read a review by the friend and thought that she spoiled a big secret about the plot: that Gene & Michas are the same person. I was wrong. This fact is revealed pretty quickly + has no influence on how you will enjoy this book at all.
Pantomime is one of those books I am so sorry they are not more popular, since it should be a role model for ya fantasy genre. It has:
✸ MC who is a hermaphrodite.
✸ Complex characters.
✸ It's not all about romance.
✸ Set in a circus.
✸ Intriguing world-building.
✸ A lot of mystery.
✸ World full of strange artifacts left by previous civilization (like in Dark Tower series.)
I loved Pantomime and I am just sorry I haven't read it sooner. If you are looking for unique and different fantasy novel (not necessarily meant only for ya audience), then read it as soon as you can!
Pantomime is one of those books I am so sorry they are not more popular, since it should be a role model for ya fantasy genre. It has:
✸ MC who is a hermaphrodite.
✸ Complex characters.
✸ It's not all about romance.
✸ Set in a circus.
✸ Intriguing world-building.
✸ A lot of mystery.
✸ World full of strange artifacts left by previous civilization (like in Dark Tower series.)
I loved Pantomime and I am just sorry I haven't read it sooner. If you are looking for unique and different fantasy novel (not necessarily meant only for ya audience), then read it as soon as you can!
ancsanna's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.5
ginnikin's review against another edition
2.0
For a while I was really enjoying it, but then that passed. it's fine, but I won't be reading the others. Oh well.
caedocyon's review against another edition
4.0
This contains mild spoilers, but only if you have absolutely no idea how Micah and Iphigenia are connected, and it's not hard to guess.
I liked Pantomime so much, but the end was hard to read. I'm still not totally decided about whether the violence was shocking because it really did come out of nowhere or because it was in keeping with the rest of the book and I was shocked because I cared so much about the characters.
I just gave up on The Other YA Fantasy Novel With Trans Characters, [b:Eon: Dragoneye Reborn|2986865|Eon Dragoneye Reborn (Eon, #1)|Alison Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1299076175s/2986865.jpg|3017319], and I was thinking that the main problem I had with it was that it was all about magic and I don't really read fantasy anymore. That's not quite true, though---Pantomime is fantasy (albeit with a steampunk edge), and I really enjoyed the fantasy elements.
It would be hard to overstate how great the LGBTI representation is in this book. Laura Lam did an awesome job, y'all. Micah wonders at one point if he likes Aenea in a straight way or a gay way. Just... <3. There are a number of other awesome gay, lesbian, and bi characters too.
I'll be looking out for the second one!
I liked Pantomime so much, but the end was hard to read. I'm still not totally decided about whether the violence was shocking because it really did come out of nowhere or because it was in keeping with the rest of the book and I was shocked because I cared so much about the characters.
Spoiler
The scene where Micah for some reason decides that the only way he can explain his condition quickly is to take off all his clothes was honestly as hard to read for me as the deaths.I just gave up on The Other YA Fantasy Novel With Trans Characters, [b:Eon: Dragoneye Reborn|2986865|Eon Dragoneye Reborn (Eon, #1)|Alison Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1299076175s/2986865.jpg|3017319], and I was thinking that the main problem I had with it was that it was all about magic and I don't really read fantasy anymore. That's not quite true, though---Pantomime is fantasy (albeit with a steampunk edge), and I really enjoyed the fantasy elements.
It would be hard to overstate how great the LGBTI representation is in this book. Laura Lam did an awesome job, y'all. Micah wonders at one point if he likes Aenea in a straight way or a gay way. Just... <3. There are a number of other awesome gay, lesbian, and bi characters too.
I'll be looking out for the second one!
womanon's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pleasant surprise! It took me a while to get into, but the storyline was really enjoyable in the end, and I find myself curious what will happen next!
quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism
tehani's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 really, only a touch off 5 stars because of some story inconsistencies that jarred me while reading.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars, actually.
Alternating between Micah, a penniless and homeless young man learning to be a trapeze artist in a circus while enduring the hazing of the circus folk-- all but one, young clown with a mysterious past and the young aerialist who is his teacher--and Iphigenia "Gene" who is a young noblewoman who'd rather climb trees than sip tea, this story is in an alternate, medieval-esque society spotted with strange left-over, magical tech called "vestiges" from the world that went before.
The big secret about Micah and Gene pretty much isn't a secret, for more than the start of the book, but I won't spoil it for you here. Suffice it to say that both are dealing with gender issues and being forced to choosewho to be and who to love when they are so much more than strict gender definitions.
And then there's the world of the circus and the freaks, and the mythology of fantastic creatures the author weaves through the narrative.
And the strange reaction of the Vestige blue glass monuments when Micah draws near.
This is a strange, little story. I kept wanting it to be set in our real world instead of this alternate, magical one, and the half star it lost was mostly me reacting to the "almost earth" quality of the story which I felt ultimately kind of confused things instead of pulling Micah and Gene's struggles into greater clarity. I spent too much time trying to figure out the ways in which this world differed instead of focusing on how the author layered bits of mythos and geek culture into the narrative.
The ending also felt torn from the story, leaving bits of unraveled and unresolved things dangling in the wind-- what is the penglass? What is the clown's terrible secret? What does being a kedi mean for Micah?
I have already ordered the sequel because I must know how Micah and Drystan end up. This one is possibly more older YA, if YA at all, for some necessary references to anatomy, although most of it is oblique and fuzzy.
Alternating between Micah, a penniless and homeless young man learning to be a trapeze artist in a circus while enduring the hazing of the circus folk-- all but one, young clown with a mysterious past and the young aerialist who is his teacher--and Iphigenia "Gene" who is a young noblewoman who'd rather climb trees than sip tea, this story is in an alternate, medieval-esque society spotted with strange left-over, magical tech called "vestiges" from the world that went before.
The big secret about Micah and Gene pretty much isn't a secret, for more than the start of the book, but I won't spoil it for you here. Suffice it to say that both are dealing with gender issues and being forced to choosewho to be and who to love when they are so much more than strict gender definitions.
And then there's the world of the circus and the freaks, and the mythology of fantastic creatures the author weaves through the narrative.
And the strange reaction of the Vestige blue glass monuments when Micah draws near.
This is a strange, little story. I kept wanting it to be set in our real world instead of this alternate, magical one, and the half star it lost was mostly me reacting to the "almost earth" quality of the story which I felt ultimately kind of confused things instead of pulling Micah and Gene's struggles into greater clarity. I spent too much time trying to figure out the ways in which this world differed instead of focusing on how the author layered bits of mythos and geek culture into the narrative.
The ending also felt torn from the story, leaving bits of unraveled and unresolved things dangling in the wind-- what is the penglass? What is the clown's terrible secret? What does being a kedi mean for Micah?
I have already ordered the sequel because I must know how Micah and Drystan end up. This one is possibly more older YA, if YA at all, for some necessary references to anatomy, although most of it is oblique and fuzzy.
elenajohansen's review against another edition
3.0
In looking to other reviews to help me gather my thoughts, I completely missed the boat on the "twist" that, when the book was newer, thought was either brilliant or the worst thing to happen in the LGBTQIA+ sphere ever. (Though my copy is secondhand and from the original printing, so I have the nonsense misleading blurb on the back, and boy howdy, it's bad.)
I can't know for sure what my experience would have been if I had started the book not already knowing that Micah and Gene were the same person. I've always known this book was about an intersex protagonist, because once the hype started for it, that's usually the leading reason for recommendation--the representation. We just don't get a lot of books about intersex people.
But I hope I would have figured it out long before the narrative states it plainly. The mere fact that Gene's chapters are all clearly marked "Spring" in the header, while Micah's are "Summer," should be a huge clue that Gene's chapters happen first and aren't necessarily going to intersect with Micah's as if they were two separate people. And about a dozen smaller things, but that was the super-obvious one for me.
All that aside, what did I think of the book knowing the big secret ahead of time? It's a really mixed bag. I appreciate all the care and delicacy that went into crafting Micah/Gene and his experience living as both genders. It was a quick read that didn't ever get snagged on anything confusing or befuddling. But the setting was bland "generically magical circus vs. fantasy aristocracy with obviously Victorian social values." Hey, guess what, I've seen that before, quite a bit actually, and the incredibly small hints of magic and mythology that should have made this world more interesting were few and far between.
Worse, I have issues with the weak love triangle. Using love interests of different genders is a great way to have Micah explore what living as male means to him and if/how that affects his attraction to others, when as Gene (s)he was only supposed to be attracted to and eventually marry a boy. So I can appreciate that. But at the same time, setting up a love triangle as a choice between genders does play into some negative stereotypes about bisexuality, and Micah is clearly attracted to both Aenea and Drystan; while that's understandable for Micah, it's also part of a pattern I've seen in YA where bisexual leads face that same love triangle because it's an easy way to show they're bi, even while it also reinforces the ideas that bisexual people are indecisive and might drop their love interest to be with someone of the other binary gender simply because. I can see that's not the case here, but as part of that larger pattern I can't exactly be happy about it.
Also I generally don't like love triangles, and this one ending with the death of one of the love interests means Micah didn't have to choose, the choice was made for him, and that doesn't sit well with me.
The cliffhanger ending raised the stakes a huge amount in very short space, a leap in pacing and tension that I don't feel the rest of the book prepared us for. Micah is in very little danger for a very long time, and then having the biggest threat to both his chosen way of life and his actual life come from inside the circus basically without warning, rather than the outside threat we've been expecting, doesn't really feel right to me. The foreshadowing for Bil and Frit is pretty weak, so the climax was less of an inevitable surprise as it was being sucker-punched with a plot twist out of almost nowhere.
I'm giving this its third star completely out of respect for its sensitivity in portraying an intersex YA protagonist, but the rest of the book is two stars at best.
I can't know for sure what my experience would have been if I had started the book not already knowing that Micah and Gene were the same person. I've always known this book was about an intersex protagonist, because once the hype started for it, that's usually the leading reason for recommendation--the representation. We just don't get a lot of books about intersex people.
But I hope I would have figured it out long before the narrative states it plainly. The mere fact that Gene's chapters are all clearly marked "Spring" in the header, while Micah's are "Summer," should be a huge clue that Gene's chapters happen first and aren't necessarily going to intersect with Micah's as if they were two separate people. And about a dozen smaller things, but that was the super-obvious one for me.
All that aside, what did I think of the book knowing the big secret ahead of time? It's a really mixed bag. I appreciate all the care and delicacy that went into crafting Micah/Gene and his experience living as both genders. It was a quick read that didn't ever get snagged on anything confusing or befuddling. But the setting was bland "generically magical circus vs. fantasy aristocracy with obviously Victorian social values." Hey, guess what, I've seen that before, quite a bit actually, and the incredibly small hints of magic and mythology that should have made this world more interesting were few and far between.
Worse, I have issues with the weak love triangle. Using love interests of different genders is a great way to have Micah explore what living as male means to him and if/how that affects his attraction to others, when as Gene (s)he was only supposed to be attracted to and eventually marry a boy. So I can appreciate that. But at the same time, setting up a love triangle as a choice between genders does play into some negative stereotypes about bisexuality, and Micah is clearly attracted to both Aenea and Drystan; while that's understandable for Micah, it's also part of a pattern I've seen in YA where bisexual leads face that same love triangle because it's an easy way to show they're bi, even while it also reinforces the ideas that bisexual people are indecisive and might drop their love interest to be with someone of the other binary gender simply because. I can see that's not the case here, but as part of that larger pattern I can't exactly be happy about it.
Also I generally don't like love triangles, and this one ending with the death of one of the love interests means Micah didn't have to choose, the choice was made for him, and that doesn't sit well with me.
The cliffhanger ending raised the stakes a huge amount in very short space, a leap in pacing and tension that I don't feel the rest of the book prepared us for. Micah is in very little danger for a very long time, and then having the biggest threat to both his chosen way of life and his actual life come from inside the circus basically without warning, rather than the outside threat we've been expecting, doesn't really feel right to me. The foreshadowing for Bil and Frit is pretty weak, so the climax was less of an inevitable surprise as it was being sucker-punched with a plot twist out of almost nowhere.
I'm giving this its third star completely out of respect for its sensitivity in portraying an intersex YA protagonist, but the rest of the book is two stars at best.