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armorganbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Second best Series By Kat Kingsley!
I am 100% buying the entire series. I've always loved Kat's ability to create these multidimensional characters, but she did that EXCEPTIONALLY well with this series. It's in direct competition with her Momento Mori series for me.
Simon was deliciously evil and the right amount of psychotic with a whole oflt of sexy!
Cora grew on me. I'll admit, she made grumpy quite a few times, but her perseverance despite being a weenie in the beginning.
Great series if you're looking for 'villain loves the heroine'
I am 100% buying the entire series. I've always loved Kat's ability to create these multidimensional characters, but she did that EXCEPTIONALLY well with this series. It's in direct competition with her Momento Mori series for me.
Simon was deliciously evil and the right amount of psychotic with a whole oflt of sexy!
Cora grew on me. I'll admit, she made grumpy quite a few times, but her perseverance despite being a weenie in the beginning.
Great series if you're looking for 'villain loves the heroine'
sialovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
My seity is even more precious because I get to carry your wonderful stories with me to my grave
elaichipod's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
fairyofbao's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I like how anticlimactic it is.
theplantsalivesed's review against another edition
4.0
This whole series was nice and a lot of fun. I feel like I'll have to check out the rest of Kingsley's books soon too. I really, really enjoyed them. Having said that I have some strong feelings.
Here are some reasons it didn't quite reach 5 stars for me (spoilers, of course):
1. I'm tired of Muslim characters being portrayed as basically religious extremists. Was Turk the worst of this trope? No, not by a long shot. But it was irritating. Of course the only Muslim character is the "villain" (no matter what the story says about heroes and villains not existing) and for some vaguely hand-wave-y allusions to "Allah". Do better.
2. The characters described as evil are not evil.
Simon is violent, unpredictable, and insufferably smug but he's not evil. He's just an anti-hero. Sure he rips apart his buddies on the regular, but the "evil" of what comes down to temporarily inconveniencing immortals is debatable. Are his dolls freaky? Yeah. Are they evil? No, they've all been created consensually.
The transformation of Amanda is the only time that Simon may have erred on that front--but given her conversations with Turk it is possible that she agreed to the process beforehand. This is the only gray spot. If she was tricked or coerced into it, then this is the one thing I can point to in the story that is an act of horrific evil on the part of both Simon and Turk.
The Faire, likewise, is not really evil. The whole stealing people from their lives is gnarly but then it is revealed that everyone the circus steals is basically being saved from a horrific life of harm both to themselves and others. The fact that the characters cease to exist outside of the circus after being nabbed further softens the blow. Crucially: we're given no evidence that the circus is lying.
3. The first two together (as an aside, why am I numbering this? lol) just make my frustration with the overall story and Turk's treatment as a character worse. Like come on, if this is a man-eating murder circus that a character feels so driven to destroy that he would sacrifice centuries and everything he holds dear including his own honor to kill it...like...Give me a morsel. Show me the circus had a spotty past. Make the people who lose loved ones to the circus remember them and live with that pain their entire lives. Evil carnivals are a thing: show me the soulless husks of beloved family members stumbling out of the circus because it decided to sample at the smorgasbord of seity.
The weakness here made the central conflict way less compelling than it could be. Even the cries of "we're monsters we eat other people" are less compelling because of how obsessively humane the circus tries to be about the whole eating people thing.
But with all of that said: the story hinges on Simon and the Circus not being evil. It wouldn't work if Simon was actually evil. It wouldn't work if the Circus was actually evil and not just a monster. The only clear cut evil character we see in this series is Duncan, and the difference between him and the "evil" characters (who are really just monstrous) is stark.
Having said all that
TL:DR: Really liked this series.
Here are some reasons it didn't quite reach 5 stars for me (spoilers, of course):
Spoiler
1. I'm tired of Muslim characters being portrayed as basically religious extremists. Was Turk the worst of this trope? No, not by a long shot. But it was irritating. Of course the only Muslim character is the "villain" (no matter what the story says about heroes and villains not existing) and for some vaguely hand-wave-y allusions to "Allah". Do better.
2. The characters described as evil are not evil.
Simon is violent, unpredictable, and insufferably smug but he's not evil. He's just an anti-hero. Sure he rips apart his buddies on the regular, but the "evil" of what comes down to temporarily inconveniencing immortals is debatable. Are his dolls freaky? Yeah. Are they evil? No, they've all been created consensually.
The transformation of Amanda is the only time that Simon may have erred on that front--but given her conversations with Turk it is possible that she agreed to the process beforehand. This is the only gray spot. If she was tricked or coerced into it, then this is the one thing I can point to in the story that is an act of horrific evil on the part of both Simon and Turk.
The Faire, likewise, is not really evil. The whole stealing people from their lives is gnarly but then it is revealed that everyone the circus steals is basically being saved from a horrific life of harm both to themselves and others. The fact that the characters cease to exist outside of the circus after being nabbed further softens the blow. Crucially: we're given no evidence that the circus is lying.
3. The first two together (as an aside, why am I numbering this? lol) just make my frustration with the overall story and Turk's treatment as a character worse. Like come on, if this is a man-eating murder circus that a character feels so driven to destroy that he would sacrifice centuries and everything he holds dear including his own honor to kill it...like...Give me a morsel. Show me the circus had a spotty past. Make the people who lose loved ones to the circus remember them and live with that pain their entire lives. Evil carnivals are a thing: show me the soulless husks of beloved family members stumbling out of the circus because it decided to sample at the smorgasbord of seity.
The weakness here made the central conflict way less compelling than it could be. Even the cries of "we're monsters we eat other people" are less compelling because of how obsessively humane the circus tries to be about the whole eating people thing.
But with all of that said: the story hinges on Simon and the Circus not being evil. It wouldn't work if Simon was actually evil. It wouldn't work if the Circus was actually evil and not just a monster. The only clear cut evil character we see in this series is Duncan, and the difference between him and the "evil" characters (who are really just monstrous) is stark.
Having said all that
TL:DR: Really liked this series.
sleepytimetay's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
skapple's review against another edition
5.0
What an ending!!
I love this series with all my heart. The characters are phenomenal and their arcs are even better!! I highly recommend reading this series! (and if you reading this, I assume you already have!!)
I love this series with all my heart. The characters are phenomenal and their arcs are even better!! I highly recommend reading this series! (and if you reading this, I assume you already have!!)
aszramek's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0