Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Series: None
Format: e-ARC
Source: Netgalley
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Le Grand’s Carnival Fantastic isn’t like other traveling circuses. It’s bound by a charm, held together by a centuries-old curse, that protects its members from ever growing older or getting hurt. Emmaline King is drawn to the circus like a moth to a flame…and unwittingly recruited into its folds by a mysterious teen boy whose kiss is as cold as ice.
Forced to travel through Texas as the new Girl in the Box, Emmaline is completely trapped. Breaking the curse seems like her only chance at freedom, but with no curse, there’s no charm, either—dooming everyone who calls the Carnival Fantastic home. Including the boy she’s afraid she’s falling for.
Everything—including his life—could end with just one kiss.
I really wanted to love this book because it had so much potential to be truly amazing.
While the magical circus concept was not original, what happened in the story was. Em goes to the carnival and unwillingly becomes cursed by one of the performers. Because of the curse, she is forced to stay as close to the carnival as possible or it will physically hurt her. What was also unique is that the performers themselves were also cursed, but in a good way. As long as there is a Person in the Box, the performers will not get hurt, will not get sick, and will age a lot slower than normal humans. But the Person in the Box must suffer a life as a porcelain creature.
One of the biggest issues I had with the story was how rushed the entire thing was. Sometimes I enjoy quick reads, but because this had magic in it, I expected it to go a little more slowly. There wasn't really enough explanation for how the magic system worked.
Also, Em accepted her fate way too easily in my opinion. What happened to the 7 stages of grief? At first she was SO worried about her family and best friend but as soon as she saw a hot guy, she suddenly stopped worrying. That brings me to the insta-love. Em and Ben fell for each other way too quickly, especially given her situation. But as we know, insta-love is prevalent in YA books so it wasn't surprising, just disappointing.
I was also very disappointed when the best side character was killed off. Yes, he trapped Em in the curse, but he was also the most developed, and he deserved a hell of a lot more than what he got.
Overall it wasn't a terrible book, it was just not done like it should been. The potential was there, but it need to be executed a little better.
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