The Immortal Circus

The Immortal Circus

by A.R. Kahler

 

Murdered contortionists aren’t exactly what Vivienne signed up for when she ran away to join the circus. But like most things under the big top, nothing is what it seems. With a past she can't quite remember, Vivienne finds that running away forever might not be as appealing as it once sounded—because forever means something quite different at the Cirque des Immortels.

Aided by her friends Kingston—a feisty stage magician whose magic is quickly stealing her heart—and his sarcastic assistant Melody, Vivienne finds herself racing against the clock to discover the culprit behind a series of deaths that should be impossible. However, the answer she seeks might reveal more about her own bloody past—and future—than she bargains for.


The show's just beginning.


Step right up... (description from Amazon.com)

Wow. This was my first experience getting a Kindle "serial," and it was actually pretty cool. I paid a one-time purchase price for this ebook and then had five segments delivered to my Kindle App automatically as they were released.  They were two weeks apart and it was sort of like waiting to see the next episode in your favorite TV show... the sense of anticipation definitely kept me hanging, ready to devour the next part of Viv's story.

Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton will devour this book.  It is the same dark, decadent, and dangerous type of world.  Secrets and dark twists lingered around every corner.  Though I'm not always a fan of amnesia stories, here it really worked because it was tied into Vivienne's contract with the circus and as the story unfolded more and more was revealed until we realize we don't really know Vivienne at all. 

If you like dark, twisted stories, check out this title.  I'm really hoping that a sequel is in the works!

Full disclosure: Serial ebook purchased for my Kindle App

The Night Circus

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. (description from Amazon.com)


Okay, something you should know about me as a reader... I shy away from any book, and I mean *any* book that has a circus setting.  Why?  In college, I had this really weird lit class where we read about people on the outskirts of society, including circus "freaks."  SO, we read parts of the book Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and it literally creeped me out so bad that I will not consciously pick up a circus book at all now, without some massive prodding. 

Well, enter Morgenstern's debut, the toast of 2011, and about 20 people telling me to pick it up, including two very reliable sources (Thanks Geri! Thanks Danielle) and I had enough prodding that I, albeit still reluctantly picked up The Night Circus. 

I am so glad that I did! This book definitely lived up to all its hype.  Morgenstern literally created a magical masterpiece.  Every time I cracked open the cover, I found myself immersed in another layer of seductive imagery... a world that I longed to live in.  I wanted to become one of the fanatics that followed the Cirque de Reves from city to city, wrapping a red scarf round my neck, and marveling again and again at its wonders.

Aside from the love story that defied time and fate to find its happy ending, the wonder of this book is that you truly lose yourself in it.  The words wrap themselves around you and refuse to let go, taunting you to read *just a little more*... When I closed the book for the final time, I sat there momentarily stunned and immensely disappointed that I had no further excuse to linger.  I believe this will be a book that I will read again...