Lauren
Unfortunately, the Circus Rose was not for me. In its defense, I may never have come across it if it wasn’t one of the books I could pick to read for my master’s course on YA literature, but I really thought I would love it.
There were some interesting things in this book. I enjoyed the inclusion single parent representation, found family, bisexual representation, polyamory representation, difficult child/parent relationships, and the exploration of how siblings (particularly twins) are their own, individual people. Many YA readers can related to one or more of those things. While it did not work for me, I can still appreciate one POV being in prose while the other with told in verse. I think poetry readers may get more out of that mechanic. Speaking of mechanics, I also liked how one of the daughters wanted to be center stage, while the other was interested in mechanics.
All that to be said, I just didn’t love it. In the very first pages we are told that Rose and Ivory are twins from different fathers. We know at this time that their mother is NOT in a poly relationship with two men. She is dating two men, but they are uninvolved with each other. Now, is it totally possible for someone to have two eggs drop in a cycle? Yes. In theory, if that person self with two separate people during ovulation, could one sperm from each person fertilize one of the two eggs and both eggs implant? Also yes. However, the third line of the first chapter states that she simply slept with them in the same month. Sure, the daughters likely did not get details, but it just seems incredibly unlikely and misleading. If you’re going to include this in a YA novel, I need magic to explain it or the author to explain how this anomaly happened.
I also found the beginning terribly boring. It was repetitive (both girl’s POVs mentioned the same things - like that Bear could unlock their own cage) and the first few chapters felt like lazy world building. We get a recap of the first 15-16 years of their lives, but we aren’t really there. I would have perfected just jump into the story or give us their last in flashbacks. This way of writing made it impossible for me to really care because I felt so disconnected. (I have nowhere to put this, but there is a line about how one of the girls could fit into a spot that a girl of 15 could never fit into….she was 14. Many girls that are 14 and 15 are similar is shape and size, so why include this???)
Even when the true events of the book kicked off, I just didn’t care. I felt no sense of urgency and never really had reason to care. I am so sure there is an audience for this book, but unfortunately it wasn’t me.
Unfortunately, the Circus Rose was not for me. In its defense, I may never have come across it if it wasn’t one of the books I could pick to read for my master’s course on YA literature, but I really thought I would love it.
There were some interesting things in this book. I enjoyed the inclusion single parent representation, found family, bisexual representation, polyamory representation, difficult child/parent relationships, and the exploration of how siblings (particularly twins) are their own, individual people. Many YA readers can related to one or more of those things. While it did not work for me, I can still appreciate one POV being in prose while the other with told in verse. I think poetry readers may get more out of that mechanic. Speaking of mechanics, I also liked how one of the daughters wanted to be center stage, while the other was interested in mechanics.
All that to be said, I just didn’t love it. In the very first pages we are told that Rose and Ivory are twins from different fathers. We know at this time that their mother is NOT in a poly relationship with two men. She is dating two men, but they are uninvolved with each other. Now, is it totally possible for someone to have two eggs drop in a cycle? Yes. In theory, if that person self with two separate people during ovulation, could one sperm from each person fertilize one of the two eggs and both eggs implant? Also yes. However, the third line of the first chapter states that she simply slept with them in the same month. Sure, the daughters likely did not get details, but it just seems incredibly unlikely and misleading. If you’re going to include this in a YA novel, I need magic to explain it or the author to explain how this anomaly happened.
I also found the beginning terribly boring. It was repetitive (both girl’s POVs mentioned the same things - like that Bear could unlock their own cage) and the first few chapters felt like lazy world building. We get a recap of the first 15-16 years of their lives, but we aren’t really there. I would have perfected just jump into the story or give us their last in flashbacks. This way of writing made it impossible for me to really care because I felt so disconnected. (I have nowhere to put this, but there is a line about how one of the girls could fit into a spot that a girl of 15 could never fit into….she was 14. Many girls that are 14 and 15 are similar is shape and size, so why include this???)
Even when the true events of the book kicked off, I just didn’t care. I felt no sense of urgency and never really had reason to care. I am so sure there is an audience for this book, but unfortunately it wasn’t me.