lolasreviews's review against another edition
3.0
Owl and the Japanese Circus is one of those books that sound really good, but for me it fell flat. There where things I liked about this book, but enough issues that I just barely can give it a 3 star rating. I really wanted to like this book, but so many things rubbed me wrong, that in the end it was frustrating and not as much fun as expected. What I did like about this book: the setting and focus on archaeological sites, it was original and I liked how the focus was on old artifacts, excavation sites and translating old scrolls. I have never read an urban fantasy book with that focus before and it worked for me. The other thing that I liked was Owl's cat Captain, he is without a doubt my favourite character of this book and I wish he had been the main character instead of Owl. Then there's the fact the main character plays an MMORPG (a multiplayer game online) and other modern touches like that and it gave a fun addition to this urban fantasy with very modern technologies and issues.
The story is filled with action and I would almost say fast paced, but it felt slow and dragging. It's really weird and I can't explain it properly, but while there was always something going on and the storyline progressed, it still felt slow. Also at the beginning Owl is tasked to find a scroll, but she goes off to a translation that has some far-fetched connection with it, that i didn't completely get. And there more of these instances where the story direction stalled a bit or took a bit of an weird turn. And there is an animal torture scene that made me really uncomfortable, wish there had been a trigger warning for that so I could skip it. I already hate torture scenes, but animal torture is something I really can't stomach.
Then there's the main character Owl, while there where things I liked about her, in general I couldn't stand Owl. A main character can really make or break a book sometimes and in this case Owl certainly broke this book for me. I don't think I ever met such a reckless character that completely lacks common sense. I couldn't stand Owl and she made so many dump decisions without thinking I was wondering if she even had a brain at time. There where a few things I did like about her, namely that she was a normal human. In many fantasy books the main character is special or has special powers, but Owl was an ordinary human and she knew how to run away instead of fight. Although if she learned how to shut her mouth sometimes and not try and talk every supernatural she met into a fight, she might not need the running as often. Due to her lack of powers the fight scenes where often a bit lame, involving uv lights and garlic water pistols and her cat.
The side characters are a bit better then the main character, but that says more about Owl than the side characters. In fact the only character I really liked was Captain the cat, can we talk about how awesome he is. He's smart, can learn and he can fight vampires. He smells when vampires are near and his fangs and claws are poisonous to vampires. Beside Captain and Owl we have a cast of side characters, but I never really cared about them. Rynn and Nadya could be interesting at times, but I felt like they where more the safety net for Owl then characters in their own right. They made sure Owl didn't made a colossal mess of everything and they treated her like a small child sometimes, but I can't say she didn't deserve that. Actually I have no idea why they are friends with Owl, but they where good friends to her. There are more side characters, but they don't play as big of a role and in all cases I didn't really care about them. Lady Siyu was kinda nice and I liked how she hated phone conversations and liked to get to the point of a conversation as soon as possible, I could relate to her.
There is some romance in this book and while it does play a role it doesn't take over the plot. However I didn't feel the romance at all, there was no spark no chemistry and no understanding why these characters even liked each other. I can sort of see why Owl likes Rynn as he keeps saving her, but that isn't enough to build a relationship on. I just didn't work for me and I didn't see what Rynn saw in Owl. And then they have this long standing joke where he calls her "train wreck" and she calls him "whore", it just wasn't funny.
I don't even know what to say about the world building except for the fact that it is one big mess. It's like the author took all the myths and supernatural creatures in the world and tried to cram them into one book. I think we meet about 10 till 20 different supernaturals in this book alone and there are hints that almost everything exists, but ofcourse the hum,an are oblivious even though they don't really take care to hide their existence and vampires have pheromones that should get everything lose to them high, so I don't even know how they can walk somewhere without attracting unwanted attention. It just didn't make sense and because there are so many different creatures we don't learn anything about them. Then Owl has a list of stereotypes for them all which colours her judgement and we basically don't know anything beside the most obvious facts. The most we learn about one is the vampires and that's only because Owl has been running from them and runs regulary in them in this book as well.
To conclude: this book has a great premise, but the story doesn't live up to it. I had so many issues with this book, although I did like a few things as well. The setting and focus on ancient artifacts was original and Owl's cat Captain was an awesome character. The story seemed to drag even though there always was something going on and failed to keep my attention. I couldn't stand the main character Owl,s he was really reckless, lacked common sense and ran head first into trouble without thinking things through. I didn't feel the romance and beside Captain I didn't care about the characters. The world building was a mess with lots of different supernaturals and not enough explanation or depth to any of them.
The story is filled with action and I would almost say fast paced, but it felt slow and dragging. It's really weird and I can't explain it properly, but while there was always something going on and the storyline progressed, it still felt slow. Also at the beginning Owl is tasked to find a scroll, but she goes off to a translation that has some far-fetched connection with it, that i didn't completely get. And there more of these instances where the story direction stalled a bit or took a bit of an weird turn. And there is an animal torture scene that made me really uncomfortable, wish there had been a trigger warning for that so I could skip it. I already hate torture scenes, but animal torture is something I really can't stomach.
Then there's the main character Owl, while there where things I liked about her, in general I couldn't stand Owl. A main character can really make or break a book sometimes and in this case Owl certainly broke this book for me. I don't think I ever met such a reckless character that completely lacks common sense. I couldn't stand Owl and she made so many dump decisions without thinking I was wondering if she even had a brain at time. There where a few things I did like about her, namely that she was a normal human. In many fantasy books the main character is special or has special powers, but Owl was an ordinary human and she knew how to run away instead of fight. Although if she learned how to shut her mouth sometimes and not try and talk every supernatural she met into a fight, she might not need the running as often. Due to her lack of powers the fight scenes where often a bit lame, involving uv lights and garlic water pistols and her cat.
The side characters are a bit better then the main character, but that says more about Owl than the side characters. In fact the only character I really liked was Captain the cat, can we talk about how awesome he is. He's smart, can learn and he can fight vampires. He smells when vampires are near and his fangs and claws are poisonous to vampires. Beside Captain and Owl we have a cast of side characters, but I never really cared about them. Rynn and Nadya could be interesting at times, but I felt like they where more the safety net for Owl then characters in their own right. They made sure Owl didn't made a colossal mess of everything and they treated her like a small child sometimes, but I can't say she didn't deserve that. Actually I have no idea why they are friends with Owl, but they where good friends to her. There are more side characters, but they don't play as big of a role and in all cases I didn't really care about them. Lady Siyu was kinda nice and I liked how she hated phone conversations and liked to get to the point of a conversation as soon as possible, I could relate to her.
There is some romance in this book and while it does play a role it doesn't take over the plot. However I didn't feel the romance at all, there was no spark no chemistry and no understanding why these characters even liked each other. I can sort of see why Owl likes Rynn as he keeps saving her, but that isn't enough to build a relationship on. I just didn't work for me and I didn't see what Rynn saw in Owl. And then they have this long standing joke where he calls her "train wreck" and she calls him "whore", it just wasn't funny.
I don't even know what to say about the world building except for the fact that it is one big mess. It's like the author took all the myths and supernatural creatures in the world and tried to cram them into one book. I think we meet about 10 till 20 different supernaturals in this book alone and there are hints that almost everything exists, but ofcourse the hum,an are oblivious even though they don't really take care to hide their existence and vampires have pheromones that should get everything lose to them high, so I don't even know how they can walk somewhere without attracting unwanted attention. It just didn't make sense and because there are so many different creatures we don't learn anything about them. Then Owl has a list of stereotypes for them all which colours her judgement and we basically don't know anything beside the most obvious facts. The most we learn about one is the vampires and that's only because Owl has been running from them and runs regulary in them in this book as well.
To conclude: this book has a great premise, but the story doesn't live up to it. I had so many issues with this book, although I did like a few things as well. The setting and focus on ancient artifacts was original and Owl's cat Captain was an awesome character. The story seemed to drag even though there always was something going on and failed to keep my attention. I couldn't stand the main character Owl,s he was really reckless, lacked common sense and ran head first into trouble without thinking things through. I didn't feel the romance and beside Captain I didn't care about the characters. The world building was a mess with lots of different supernaturals and not enough explanation or depth to any of them.
sjj169's review against another edition
2.0
I just can't get into this book. Owl is a former archaeology student who was disgraced and wiped her past clean. She takes up stealing artifacts for whomever has the most money. She crosses some vampires and ends up on a vamp hit list.
She is offered protection from the vamps by a Dragon but he has an agenda of his own.
It sounds good, but I'm just done with it. Owl is just a bland character. The most exciting thing I've read about her is she has a cat that can sense vampires.
I hate dnf'ing books..but too many books are looking at me to spend the time on one that isn't getting it for me.
I'm giving it 2 stars because it wasn't horrible..just wasn't for me at this time.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
She is offered protection from the vamps by a Dragon but he has an agenda of his own.
It sounds good, but I'm just done with it. Owl is just a bland character. The most exciting thing I've read about her is she has a cat that can sense vampires.
I hate dnf'ing books..but too many books are looking at me to spend the time on one that isn't getting it for me.
I'm giving it 2 stars because it wasn't horrible..just wasn't for me at this time.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
kblincoln's review against another edition
3.0
Urban Fantasy with "Japanese Circus" in the title? Archeological run-headlong-into-danger heroine? Love interest who runs a Host bar in Tokyo?
I'm all over that.
Sadly, this book just didn't "take" with me. Lots of cool elements: details of archeological/mythological Balinese digs, etc. Some great locales, a potentially cool villainous foil and Russian best friend. And the cat. Captain, the vampire-sensing Egyptian Maur cat is the greatest.
Jumping out at vampires deep inside tunnels, squirming through grates to rescue Owl, fetching vampire-hormone soaked rat-toys poolside. Really. I'm a big Captain fan.
I got bored. Part of the problem for me was Owl herself. She does stupid things. Even after several points in the story that were opportunities for her to stop her often self-destructive or morally questionable behavior--she doesn't grow up. The love interest can sometimes hold me through characters that don't "take' with me, but while Rynn was cool, I could not understand at all what he saw in Owl (and really, how many times can Rynn call her on the phone right before Owl storms into the office/tunnel/den for the Macguffin they're after and say "wait for me, it's too dangerous" and then Owl get out without a scratch?) and sadly, I like my Urban Fantasy at least Pg-13. This one only alludes the morning after.
Despite interesting elements, this is probably not a series i'll stick with.
I'm all over that.
Sadly, this book just didn't "take" with me. Lots of cool elements: details of archeological/mythological Balinese digs, etc. Some great locales, a potentially cool villainous foil and Russian best friend. And the cat. Captain, the vampire-sensing Egyptian Maur cat is the greatest.
Jumping out at vampires deep inside tunnels, squirming through grates to rescue Owl, fetching vampire-hormone soaked rat-toys poolside. Really. I'm a big Captain fan.
I got bored. Part of the problem for me was Owl herself. She does stupid things. Even after several points in the story that were opportunities for her to stop her often self-destructive or morally questionable behavior--she doesn't grow up. The love interest can sometimes hold me through characters that don't "take' with me, but while Rynn was cool, I could not understand at all what he saw in Owl (and really, how many times can Rynn call her on the phone right before Owl storms into the office/tunnel/den for the Macguffin they're after and say "wait for me, it's too dangerous" and then Owl get out without a scratch?) and sadly, I like my Urban Fantasy at least Pg-13. This one only alludes the morning after.
Despite interesting elements, this is probably not a series i'll stick with.
laurie_tx's review
4.0
Very entertaining! Could have benefited from another pass-through by an editor but kept my attention all the way through the set-up-Book2 epilogue. Good start to a series. Bought book 2 and plan to start it immediately.
voodoomutt's review against another edition
3.0
a pulp fiction Tomb Raider with serious impulse control issues.
fun read but took a while to get going with fairly obvious plot twists.
fun read but took a while to get going with fairly obvious plot twists.
typewriter's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I haven't read any urban fantasy in a while so this was strangely nostalgic? While the dialogue does at times get corny and not all the character dynamics make sense (I do with some of Owl's "bad" decisions), this was still on the whole a very fun and enjoyable read. I loved getting to see Owl steal things with varying degrees of success, and her relationships with Rynn, Nadya, Captain (obviously the best character), and even Alexander were compelling. I don't feel the need to read the next book right away or even at all, but if I ever want something lighter I'll be sure to pick it up.
jezzebelljc's review against another edition
4.0
I was very pleasantly surprised by this gem. Alix, or Owl, is a purveyor of antiquities and as such gets on the bad side of a bunch of people. She happened across some vampires in a previous job and has to go on the run. Enter the dragon that whisks her away for a job and the story starts. Again I say, dragon. He's mostly in a human form, but that doesn't make him any less scary. Since Owl has sworn off having anything to do with the supernatural, she's not thrilled to find herself thrown smack dab in the middle of it for the rest of the story.
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”
biteintobooks's review against another edition
3.0
I remember seeing a glowing review for this book and the synopsis really made me curious. This book was definitely entertaining to listen to. I especially liked the gaming part in this book, because I'm a gamer myself. I felt a link there right away. This book was a fairly good 3-star book, and I have been doubting to give it 4 stars.
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
Definitely a fun book with pros an cons for me. I am very curious about the next book and hopefully it's a tad better than this first book. So I will give the second book a chance and hopefully I can continue this series. Because I do feel like the archaeology and the gaming are unique!
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
Definitely a fun book with pros an cons for me. I am very curious about the next book and hopefully it's a tad better than this first book. So I will give the second book a chance and hopefully I can continue this series. Because I do feel like the archaeology and the gaming are unique!
siobhan27's review against another edition
4.0
What makes a great adventure story? A great main character, and to have that character be a young woman made Owl and the Japanese Circus that much better for me. This book has it all, action, adventure, a strong female main character (with flaws) and a pinch of the paranormal. And by pinch I mean a lot but for me it didn't seem to be that much until I stopped and thought about it. But more on that later. Lets focus on Owl, our main character. She was an amazing heroine to read. She was fierce, and strong and extremely independent. But what I think I loved that most was that she was not perfect. She still needed help from her friends, she was horrible at dealing with her feelings for a certain character, and she made a lot of mistakes.
Owl's relationships in this book drive the plot forward more than the mystery and adventure. I honestly think I was more interested in the human factor than solving the mystery. I loved Owls friendship with Nadya. It was so complex with issue in trust and honesty rocking them back and forth at every turn. Nadya was such a great character to contradict Owl because Nadya was steady and trustworthy and had an incredible ability to hack into any computer, which came in very handy at times during this story. I also really liked Owls relationship or lack thereof with Rynn. Rynn is a soth of side note in this book. Most people wont like him because he really doesn't do much...yet. I can see this character having many books, so if the author writes more for Owl I hope that Rynn gets a bigger role because he brings out the best in Owl, and most of the time she doesn't even know its happening. I know many people didn't like Rynn since they were more interested in the adventure part of the story but I really liked him and his relationship with Owl. It was extremely slow moving but it made sense for her character and it was as realistic as it could have been written.
Ok, now onto the book itself and the story. This book is first and foremost an action adventure story, with Owl trying to find a lost artifact for a very powerful Casino owner. What I think I loved was that the author did not shy away from what this book will be compared to...Indiana Jones. There are so many similarities that you really cant avoid it. That is why most people are saying this is the Indiana Jane of Fiction. The author embraced her predecessor and brought in great anecdotes from the movies that just made this book so much more hilarious to read. Earlier I said that this book read like a light paranormal book, and that is because this book read like a straight adventure book. I never felt overwhelmed with creatures or anything like that. I just felt like this was the way the world was, and it felt no different to me than a contemporary read. The author did an amazing job making it seem like Vampires and Dragons were normal, and that creatures that take possession of someone else s skin was normal. This is what made this book so fantastic. I will admit there were some instances in the middle where the story became a bit dry and I wanted more action to happen, but overall this book was a pleasure to read from start to finish. I will definitely read more from this author in the future, and I hope that she writes more about Owl because shes bad ass and deserves more adventures!
Owl's relationships in this book drive the plot forward more than the mystery and adventure. I honestly think I was more interested in the human factor than solving the mystery. I loved Owls friendship with Nadya. It was so complex with issue in trust and honesty rocking them back and forth at every turn. Nadya was such a great character to contradict Owl because Nadya was steady and trustworthy and had an incredible ability to hack into any computer, which came in very handy at times during this story. I also really liked Owls relationship or lack thereof with Rynn. Rynn is a soth of side note in this book. Most people wont like him because he really doesn't do much...yet. I can see this character having many books, so if the author writes more for Owl I hope that Rynn gets a bigger role because he brings out the best in Owl, and most of the time she doesn't even know its happening. I know many people didn't like Rynn since they were more interested in the adventure part of the story but I really liked him and his relationship with Owl. It was extremely slow moving but it made sense for her character and it was as realistic as it could have been written.
Ok, now onto the book itself and the story. This book is first and foremost an action adventure story, with Owl trying to find a lost artifact for a very powerful Casino owner. What I think I loved was that the author did not shy away from what this book will be compared to...Indiana Jones. There are so many similarities that you really cant avoid it. That is why most people are saying this is the Indiana Jane of Fiction. The author embraced her predecessor and brought in great anecdotes from the movies that just made this book so much more hilarious to read. Earlier I said that this book read like a light paranormal book, and that is because this book read like a straight adventure book. I never felt overwhelmed with creatures or anything like that. I just felt like this was the way the world was, and it felt no different to me than a contemporary read. The author did an amazing job making it seem like Vampires and Dragons were normal, and that creatures that take possession of someone else s skin was normal. This is what made this book so fantastic. I will admit there were some instances in the middle where the story became a bit dry and I wanted more action to happen, but overall this book was a pleasure to read from start to finish. I will definitely read more from this author in the future, and I hope that she writes more about Owl because shes bad ass and deserves more adventures!