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A review by bzliz
The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Before embarking on this book, take care in reviewing the content warnings. If you still want to read it, be prepared for the first 50% to move at a glacial pace. Once I made it past that point, much of it made sense as establishing points for the characters, but it went on for so long that I seriously considered DNFing.
Aurelius Ashe runs the Carnivale of Curiousities but behind the scenes he can make most wishes come true, for a price. The performers of the Carnivale are a little hodgepodge of quirky characters who’ve come together as a found family. Odilon Rose is a powerful man in his own right whose ward- Charlotte- is dying. Given that he enjoys assaulting her nightly, her death would be unacceptable, so he engages Ashe’s services to save Charlotte’s life, but the consequences could be severe.
So many bad things happen in this book that I couldn’t possibly list them all. It is well written (a little overwritten, honestly) but I cannot forgive how slow the first half is. The focus changes so frequently that it can be hard to keep track of where we are and the people involved in the scene are often concealed until we’re being moved away which makes every chapter have multiple cliffhangers. I would only recommend this to someone if they asked for the grimmest book without any actual on page assault/murder.
Aurelius Ashe runs the Carnivale of Curiousities but behind the scenes he can make most wishes come true, for a price. The performers of the Carnivale are a little hodgepodge of quirky characters who’ve come together as a found family. Odilon Rose is a powerful man in his own right whose ward- Charlotte- is dying. Given that he enjoys assaulting her nightly, her death would be unacceptable, so he engages Ashe’s services to save Charlotte’s life, but the consequences could be severe.
So many bad things happen in this book that I couldn’t possibly list them all. It is well written (a little overwritten, honestly) but I cannot forgive how slow the first half is. The focus changes so frequently that it can be hard to keep track of where we are and the people involved in the scene are often concealed until we’re being moved away which makes every chapter have multiple cliffhangers. I would only recommend this to someone if they asked for the grimmest book without any actual on page assault/murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Infidelity, and Classism
A note about incest & rape/sexual assault: Charlotte suffers regular assault at the hands of Odilon. It is not on page itself but is referenced several times including feelings of deep shame from Charlotte, not-so-veiled allusions to actions he would take while assaulting her, strong evidence that his behavior was not only known but tolerated or even encouraged by his mother, overt reminders from him that it doesn’t matter if she locks her door, the beginning steps of an assault before fading to black, and more. Clues are laid throughout but in the end we are explicitly told that Charlotte is Odilon’s half sister, a fact known to both him and their sister Florence, plus their now late mother. All three delighted in her suffering.