Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance. This book had the fantastical feel of The Night Circus and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the darkness of The Deathly Hallows. And I loved it! I also loved that it had a historical feel with Chicago World's Fair and the Chicago Fire entwined in the story.

While Come See the Fair, by Gavriel Savit, reminded me a bit of Night Circus, I struggled to finish it. I loved the characters but the story was a bit confusing to me and I found myself having to reread parts multiple times to figure out what was happening. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review. I probably would not have finished this one had I not been reading it to do a review.

I liked Eva and Henry and the start of the book was strong, but the magic rules were confusing and the story rather dark. The ending kind of sputtered out in a dissatisfying way, esp for a book aimed toward middle grade readers, at least in my opinion. 2.5-3 ish stars. Thanks for the free Netgalley book for review though!

I'm really sad to say that this one just didn't work for me. I really enjoyed The Way Back by the same author, so I was looking forward to this book as well. I still liked the writing style, however the plot was extremely hard to follow and seemed very muddled to me. I loved the characters but just couldn't understand what was going on most of the time. I would, however, try another book by this author.

I did not finish this book because I was very confused throughout. I made it 50% of the way through before letting it go. The details were hard to follow and I found myself writing down characters and plot points to try to keep up.

i really wanted to love this book. it started out super fun and thrilling and then i just got kinda bored. i am so thankful to netgalley for letting me read this early!!

Where do I start with this book? If you know the history behind Disney’s Carousel of Progress, have read the Night Circus and enjoy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then you will devour this book like I did. The Carousel of Progress is what I think about when someone mentions World’s Fair. The characters were amazing. It was so enchanting. I was constantly looking to see what would happen or appear next. Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!
My only concerns were how dark the book could be at times, but it was still an amazing book.

Come See the Fair follows the journey of young Eva Root and her discovery of magic, and her own magic.

I loved the premise of the book, the characters and Henry’s art.

I had a hard time following the rules of this magical world. It distracted me and made it hard to follow along.

Although I enjoyed the characters, the book just wasn’t for me.

Typically I would not have chose a book abut seances to read. However, my interest was piqued when I read the description of the book. I found the story to be an interesting one even if it was a little hard to follow at times. There were parts that I thought I had missed some information but instead the story just kind of jumped to another part. I did enjoy the story. It was a fun read. I enjoyed the suspense and imagination of the story.

I was provided a copy of the book by Net Galley in exchange for my honest feedback. Thank you Net Galley.

When a young orphan who pretends to channel spirits at seances escapes she finds herself hearing a voice in her head to go to the World’s Fair in Chicago. On her way there she meets a mysterious boy who has been seeing visions and drawing them before he ever encounters said place or person and a mysterious magician who needs her help to bring magic back. However the more Eva helps this magician the more she begins to think something even more sinister is happening and that the magician isn’t as good as she thought. This was an okay read for me, it started out really interesting but unfortunately lost my interest as I got further into the book. By the time I finished it I just didn’t think it was all that memorable or as interesting as it had started off. While this didn’t work for me, I think maybe younger readers will have a better experience reading it.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Reading the book summary, this had all the making of a great middle-grade found magic story.

Eva starts as a mistreated orphan who finds a world of magic as she visits the Chicago World's Fair. The start was promising. When we reached the magical elements, the middle-grade sweet spot disappears.

The magic rules are hard to follow, it's very disjointed and full of creepy edicts from this mysterious magical man to an 11-year-old girl: Come to the fair- in the middle of the night and make sure you are alone. Come live at this magical house, don't worry- we will magically make it so no one will remember you are gone. Memories are taken without consent and fuzzy memory gaps happen more than once.

The obedience of the main characters to these mandates in order to learn magic felt equivalent to a kid willingly taking off in a random car because a stranger is offering them candy. Given the age range of the target readers for this genre, this is not the best device to drive the plot.

I really enjoyed this novel! Historical setting (the Chicago world's fair), likeable main characters, and an excitingly pased plot. I think this is a good story for a middle grade reader and will keep their interest. Would recommend to a lover of historical fiction and circuses/fairs.

This book started off with a bang. I loved the seance and psychic introduction to the MC Eva Root. The descriptive details of the Chicago Fair were amazing and well researched, I felt as if I was walking the grounds and marveling at the sights with Eva and Henry. When Eva meets a mysterious magician at the Fair, the story begins to veer into territory that was hard to follow with a difficult to understand system of magic and muddled supporting characters. I would have loved to have read more of Eva's backstory and wish more time was spent on her seance beginnings.

Come See the Fair had promise and it really interested me from the description and cover, which is really beautiful. Unfortunately the characters were shallow and I was hoping for more depth and character development. The plot had holes and moved really quickly. I'm sure some would enjoy it, but this was not for me.

I loved the idea of magic, mediums, and séances in the setting of the Chicago World’s Fair. It was such a well done story, I enjoyed Gavriel Savit's writing and thought it was a beautifully done children's book. Even though it sets up as a kids book it still could be enjoyed by any age. The plot of the book was wonderfully done and I was invested in the magic that was used. The characters were interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. I look forward to read more from the author.

"Eva came crashing out of the grounds at the Sixty-Second Street turnstiles. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show was encamped just a block down, and she could hear the gunfire and the whooping of the crowd as she made her way to the line of waiting hansom cabs by the curb. Slowly, slowly, her stomach was settling, the buzzing in her bones resolving into a dull headache. She needed privacy, needed to think, and she climbed into the first cab in the rank without a word to the driver. Moments later, his ruddy face appeared at the window."

There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but neither is it particularly exciting. The story seemed a little bit disjointed, a little bit shallow. Perhaps it would be more appealing to a younger reader, but it didn't seem like any of the characters seemed to hold any development. The just never felt real.

Come See the Fair is Gavriel Savit’s third novel and his first middle grade work. Set in the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, we follow Eva Root as she discovers that the line between possible and impossible isn’t as finite as she believes. This was a selection from NetGalley, who provided me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. You can read my full thoughts on this one on my blog, mziniganmshiiken.wordpress.com.

The story starts off very strong! We’re immediately immersed in Eva’s story and invested in how she gets on. Descriptions of different scenes are lush but not over-done; the same is true of the characters. In a way this brings a real sense of immersion from Eva’s point of view, as other characters’ interactions with her are sometimes difficult to parse. The first half/two-thirds of the book were in a consistent style that was easy to follow and drew me in to find out what happened next. The last third, however, had a stylistic shift that made the conclusion difficult to follow and understand. All of that said, I’m coming down on the side of listing this book as recommended.