I adore circus books. This book was no exception to that rule. It was fun and sweet and cute and circusy to the max. Please read this one.

I dabble into YA fiction from time to time because I like to try it for my teenage stepdaughters. I have found some real gems that I really enjoyed and with its background in the circus I was sure this would be one I would enjoy.

Corey is a teenager sigh a slightly unusual life in the circus Mystique. Estranged from her birth mother, Corey has been brought up her Aunt Shelby and trained as a trapeze artist. Now 17, Corey dreams of becoming the lead artist on trapeze and a lifelong career with the company. However, one fateful night in a town called Sherwood a terrible fire changes Corey’s future completely. Mystique are ruined and Aunt Shelby can’t give her a home anymore. The police are suspicious about the cause of the fire and so many performers are injured there is no way forward. Corey is forced to reunite with her estranged mother who happens to live in Sherwood. Now she is like every other teenager, going to school every day and living in the suburbs. How will Corey adjust to this new way of living and will she ever build a relationship with her birth mother?

Family is a major part of the novel and I enjoyed the way the author subverted the usual ideas around the best way to bring up children. Hazel, Corey’s mother, could not offer her the stable family she needed. Everything we think is wrong for children has been Corey’s norm: the travelling lifestyle, minimal schooling, living in a caravan and performing every night. The instability of the circus has been her constant so any disruption of that, even for a more ‘normal’ environment, is going to have an impact. The author illustrates this best when Corey first goes to Hazel’s house. In contrast to the colourful, cramped surroundings of the circus, Corey’s new home feels vast, cold and sterile. Her bedroom is very white with nothing out of place. Corey yearns for the cramped trailer, her glittery costumes and the sound of other voices. Hazel and Aunt Shelby may be sisters but their characters seem to match their decor; Aunt Shelby is warm and welcoming whereas Hazel feels quite austere at first.

School is another hurdle and contrasts sharply with the bits of schooling she’s had previously. Corey feels out of her depth, emotionally and intellectually. The new classmates she meets are friendly but she also faces discrimination and scrutiny. The fire is front page news and Corey is horrified to hear how some classmates talk about her circus friends, accusing them of vandalising a new housing estate and speculating on who started the fire. However, she does befriend Luke, and they form a relationship that gives Corey more stability in this new world. While she is struggling to bring her school work up to standard and improve her relationship with her Mum, Luke feels like a constant. The book does focus in on their romance and how it impacts on their respective families. While reading I wondered whether Corey would become so involved with Luke and Sherwood that the circus and her talent as a performer we would be lost.

I was glad to see that the author chose not to go for the saccharin happy ending, not everything is tied up neatly. I think it’s important for YA fiction that endings are more realistic and not hearts and flowers. I imagine the original format of the novel made it difficult to come to a conclusion - the book was serialised on WattPad before publication and readers would have been heavily invested in certain characters and subplots so pleasing everyone would be difficult. I think Corey is such a sympathetic character that it’s hard not to root for her and I was wishing for an ending where she can get back to her true love, the circus. The lesson that not everyone is cut out for a conventional lifestyle was something teenagers need to hear. It’s ok to follow a different path and do what you love.

Title: Trapeze
Author: Leigh Ansell
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

Seventeen-year-old Corey Ryder grew up in the circus. She’s a trapeze artist, and lives for the moments she’s flying through the air. To everyone else, life in Circus Mystique looks chaotic and strange, but for Corey, it’s home. When they stop in small Sherwood, California, it’s business as usual for the circus, although Corey does meet a cute local boy, Luke Everett, at a diner.

But that night, tragedy strikes and the circus burns. Corey escapes, but finds her entire life in ruins. Instead of her high-flying life in the circus, she finds herself living with a mother she never knew while struggling to keep her circus roots a secret from a town who thinks circuses—and their people—are bad news.

Talk about issues: Corey and Luke both have them in spades. I cannot imagine being in either one of their situations, or the strength it would take to walk in their shoes. Corey’s circus-training workout made me exhausted just reading about it, but the strength in her personality was what carried this book. It takes a strong person to stand up for someone who doesn’t want you to.

Leigh Ansell can be found on Wattpad. Trapeze is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Wattpad Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Trapeze was such a unique novel. I love to read novels set in situations that are unfamiliar to me such as working in a circus! Corey has grown up in the circus and she is just on the cusp of truly beginning her trapeze career. But, before she is able to, a tragedy hits the circus. This shakes up Corey's whole life, sending her back to her family to live a "normal" life. I thought this story was quaint. However, it wasn't a page turner for me.

This is an engaging and exciting page turner! Leigh did an amazing job, her novels always have an adventure you want to join. The perspective of a travelling trapeze artist with her journey and experiences. Loved every page!!!

I received this ebook copy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Corey, 17, is a Trapeze artist in the traveling Circus Mystique. On her big debut night of taking the lead of the trio trapeze act, a fire breaks out and the most of the Circus burns down.

As the future of the Circus is unknown, her aunt Shelby sends Corey to live with her estranged mother and go to high school like normal kids.

I did enjoy the story, but can’t really say that there was a lot of growth of the main character in this story. I enjoyed the side characters Luke, Kim and George.
I was hoping for a HEA. It didn’t really fit, but the ending still wasn’t great either. Bummer.

Trapeze had a really great premise. The idea of a teenage trapeze artist who then gets dropped into a high school after being homeschooled all her life (much like in Mean Girls) is a really interesting plot. Unfortunately, the book doesn't seem to quite know what to do with a really interesting character like Corey. Corey reacts to situations in such interesting ways. She's very street smart but doesn't behave like a normal teenager because she never had a chance to be one. I really liked Corey as a narrator. I also liked the way the main romance played out, it was a nice twist for a ya romance.

At points in the story, it seems like Corey's going to develop more as a character, but at the end of the novel, it doesn't seem like all that much has changed for her. On the subject of the ending, it seems a tad unrealistic in my opinion. It's very anti-climatic,

I would recommend this book for people looking for a young adult novel that has a fish-out-of-water storyline, as well as to people who want a book with some representation (there are people of color and at least one LBGTQA+ character mentioned in the book). However, the representation isn't the focus.

Here's one of my concerns with the book. There were no trigger warnings at the beginning, and there were graphic depictions of abuse of one of the main characters. I know trigger warnings are controversial with many people because they find it "spoiler-y" but I think general warnings are necessary, and this book definitely warranted them.

Another qualm I have is that for a book name Trapeze, I would have appreciated more circus scenes. And more development of the characters in the circus, aside from Corey.

I would actually rate this book 3.5 stars, but that's not an option here or on Goodreads, so 3 stars it is.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a great first novel by Leigh Ansell. She has been publishing her work on Wattpad for the last 8 years and she has accumulated over 130,000 followers. I see great things in this young author's future. There were entire sections of this novel that were first rate - incredibly impressive, in fact. Leigh Ansell will only get better with time.

Corey Ryder met Luke at the start of her brilliant career: as a trapeze artist. But that same night, her career came crashing to a complete stop when the circus tent burned to the ground around her. She was lucky to have escaped with her life. Her Aunt Shelby has no choice but to send Corey to live with her mother.. Corey struggles to find a place for herself in an alien and unwelcoming world. There are a few sections of this story that fall into the usual patterns: rowdy, drunken high school parties, bullying from the football star of the high school, having the cutest and most popular boy in the school fall for you, but the author's very good writing style went a long way to make up for her reliance on these standard tropes. I am more than willing to cut this talented author some slack here.

The author did an excellent job in creating the character of Corey Ryder. I admired Corey's physical strength and stamina, as well as her refusal to give up and cry over her plight. The dialogue was often realistic. Luke's character needed a bit more rounding out, but he still came across as real to me.

A lot of the other reviewers complain about the fact that the ending is open ended, but I don't understand why these reviewers are bothered by this. The author was obviously trying to create realistic characters, with realistic outcomes. As time has taught all of us, teen love does not always endure the rigors of separation and new interests and friends.

There is still a tiny germ of hope for those die-hard readers who absolutely insist that Corey and Luke will find their way back to each other. But my philosophy has always been: rejoice that you have loved, even if it only lasted a very short time. Sending out love into this world creates much positive energy. Corey and Luke, being such caring and loving people, are bound to find love again - and who knows, down the road, they might find their way back to each other, after all?! Maybe the author has a sequel in the works? I will certainly be on the alert for any future novels from this author. Well done!

I was given this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So, here's the honesty.

The (very pretty) front cover of the book shows a girl on circus silks. This is not our main character. She is a trapeze artist. She has a (completely unexplained) rivalry with the silks girls. This cover is emblematic of the contradictions this book constantly presents.

The main character Corey has no self esteem and is very, very passive. She is 17 and has been living with her aunt in the circus for 15 years, and is a lead performer. When the circus burns down she is returned to her mother, who she does not member. And the aunt just drops her off at the end of the street. Makes no sense.
She is meant to be a capable and talented performer, but she just trots off to high school, without even considering making her own living. And then it descends into a very low rate teen romance. The action feels like it comes from a John Hughes movie. For example Luke is "the most popular boy in school". Is that a thing? Did they vote on it? there is not a lot of evidence for the statement, but there it is. Corey makes presumptions about Claire - because she's pretty she can't be nice. It's just clunky.

I couldn't finish it because I just didn't care. I got half way through and noped out. I just couldn't keep reading. The book contradicted itself and had no internal consistency, from sentence to sentence. I know I'm in trouble with a book when I start highlighting passages to read to my husband. I'm not going to write them out here, because I think writing a book is brave, and mocking someone who has tried their best is unnecessary. Maybe their editor should have been paying attention. When I'm reading a book I don't want to feel sad for the author because she had a potentially good idea, but didn't execute it well, which is how I felt reading this.

I thought this was going to take place in a circus. It spends about 2 seconds in the circus and then something tragic happens and the main character Corey, has to leave the circus. Corey then has to go live with her estranged mother in a town in California. Due to unusual circumstances, Corey wants to keep the fact that she’s a trapeze artist a secret.

Corey also meets Luke. Luke is supposed to be very popular, but it’s never actually shown why he is. But he leads a very private life that no one knows about, but everyone talks about?! Not much happens during the time that Corey iS at her new school. Lots of pre-calc tutoring. Then there’s a kiss. I could never really buy into Corey and Luke.

Also...Corey is supposed to be this individualistic person who keeps to herself, but befriends all the popular kids within a minute of a walking into town. The friendships seemed forced to me, just like the romance. I really wasn’t rooting for anyone in this book.

It wasn’t a bad read, it just isn’t memorable. I really wanted it to be set in a circus, but it just ended up being another high school romance book.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thanks for the E-ARC.

Trigger warning for physical abuse.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. When I first read the concept of this book I can honestly say I was intrigued. I miss the circuses of my childhood, the mystique, the acrobats, the intrigue. I really enjoyed the main character. It was fun to watch her grow and learn. I did feel for her friend Silver at the beginning and once you read it you will understand. It was a quick read but also kept you super interested in it. Luke's story made my heart hurt and I am glad they were able to continue their relationship as it became. I wish I could taste those curly fries though :)

This was a key down, because the cover is beautiful and the premise seemed interesting with the originality of the circus. However, you didn't get any of that in the story. The first 50 or so pages were written beautifully, and made you feel this book had promise, but that was not the case. After that, it was very dull and repetitive, and you couldn't connect with Corey. It took too long for anything relatively interesting to happen.

ARC Copy...Although I appreciate coming from the circus setting...I found it could have been more present and certain social situations like being dropped in town especially one with a stigma towards a said circus is abit on the unrealistic side.

3.5 stars

This started off so promising! I loved the first 70 or so pages - they were beautifully written and so engaging. Corey was such an easy character to get to know and I loved her meet cute with Luke. But it quickly went downhill after Corey started living with her mum and going to school in Sherwood. It became repetitive and all that happened was calculus and counselling. Again and again and again. I wanted to be invested with Luke and Corey's blossoming friendship and their eventual relationship but it took like 60% to get to their first kiss (IIRC) and before that, they barely spoke to each other. I did really love Luke and Corey though, I just felt like they were the only two well-developed characters in the book. I would still recommend this as it's quick and cute and Corey is a refreshing narrator.

Corey has been in a circus for 15 years, now at 17 she is getting ready to take over the lead position as a trapeze artist. However, disaster strikes the same night she takes the lead; a fire consumes the circus and nothing is left. Now, Corey has to leave living with her aunt and live with her Mom, whom she hasn't seen since she was two. Corey will navigate the ups and downs of being in a typical high school, and not among her circus family, and perhaps find romance along the way.

This book was so intriguing. The author set up the first few chapters so well. They drew you in and made you want to keep turning the pages. The suspense was wonderful and kept me on my toes. By chapter 4, I already felt for the characters and for Corey and what she was going through. At first, the relationship between Corey and her mom was strange, and a bit annoying, however, the further you got in the book the more you understood the relationship, and the better it developed. By the end of the book I was very happy with that relationship.

Now, Corey and Luke. Whew. They were a whirlwind. They were adorable, and I kept turning the pages to find out what Luke's secret was. When it was revealed, wow, I felt for Luke and Corey both. I could feel the heartbreak with both of them. Luke's reactions were real, and painful, and true to what the psychological reactions would be for a person in that situation. However, the ending of their story really bothered me. Granted, I loved the book, but how they ended up as big question mark, then gave you the idea they would end up as more later on, bothered me to no end. I really wanted them to get a better, more definitive happily ever after, but I was not mad with the ending. I loved how Corey was able to be in the circus again, and melded her two lives together seamlessly.

This book is so important because it discusses real issues teenagers face in light of bullies and abuse that people may not know about. The author does a wonderful job of bringing these issues to light in a tasteful way.

The reason it did not get 5 stars is due to the hanging ending of Luke and Corey, and that the book hardly took place in the circus at all, which from reading the description is that the circus would be more prevalent in the book.

Corey is 16 year old, and ever since she has been two, she's worked as a Trapeze artist for the Mystique Circus, moving place to place. She loved the circus folks like family. he found her place, and confidence, high up above in the air with a rope in her hand. Once at a diner in Sherwood, Corey meets Luke, a fellow teen, and they instantly hit it off. But she knows they can't have a lasting friendship. But a twisted fate brings her back to the ground, and she is forced to reunite with and stay with her mother whom she didn't even remember seeing. She reunites with Luke once she joins the local school. Luke agrees to tutor her in math and she doesn't mind his interest in her, considering he's the most popular guy at school. He's also the only one in school who knows her true history - because Sherwood people isn't kind to people like her - circus artists. Like always though, secrets don't stay buried for long...

This book was really well-written. The author certainly has got a gift for describing things so well that it keeps you glued to the page. But I wasn't very impressed with the characters or their development. I also kind of felt disappointed in how few of actual Trapeze moments there were in the book. The chemistry between Luke and Corey felt forced sometimes. I thought they were better off as friends than couples. Corey's relationship with her mother is very realistic and well-portrayed. The book deals with some intense topics like physical abuse and does it well. The ending also caught me off-guard and I really loved the way it wrapped up, romance and plot-wise.

Overall, an enjoyable read with a unique element of circus life traipsing through the pages.

A bit predictable, but a nice story of love, change and friendship. Some darker themes of abuse, but overall a quick read with a unique plotline.

Good book, but something was missing

I think the cover is very pretty, but it sort of odd because the Trapeze artists in the story are sort of rivals with the Ariel Silk girls and the cover picture is an Ariel Silk girl, not a girl on a Trapeze. Despite that, I would have to give Trapeze 3.4 stars. It was good enough to be over three because it held my interest till the very end, but not enough to bump it up to 4 stars because something was just missing. I did like the ending, though it was a surprise. I think that part of the problem may have been when the main character, Corey Ryder was going to school for a while there is seemed that for a while there were some boring descriptions of her days and unnecessary scenes.

The book starts out very well, with great characterizations and a wonderful story about Corey’s life as a 17 year old Trapeze artist in training in the circus. They just have pulled into the town of Sherwood, California. Corey has a tradition of going to the first restaurant she sees in every town where the show sets up and if she has a good experience that means they will have a good opening night.

She meets a cute boy at the diner, Luke Everett, who she invites to the show as she leaves. After practice she finds out she will no longer be in training, but will be the main trapeze artist. However, during the show tragedy strikes and she ends up having to leave circus life and move in with her Mother. She hasn’t lived with her Mom since she was two and doesn’t remember her. But it turns out the reason they came to Sherwood was because her Mother wanted to meet her.

Going forward the book has a ton of angst, which is understandable. There is angst about living with a mother she doesn’t know, about going to school for the first time, about her homeschooling in the circus not being good enough, and most of all about kids finding out she was from the circus.

Then she ends up in a class with Luke and when she does poorly on a test, he offers to be her tutor. I think one thing that could be done much better in the book is the relationship between these two. There are only a few times when they are together that are described in the book. But then at one point it is mentioned that they kiss a lot when they are together at his house. But most of those times were not written about. Yet a bunch of her school days and a trip to her guidance counselors office was.

All in all, I did enjoy the book. It had some dark themes that I won’t get into, because I don’t want to give everything away. Some of these are slowly revealed as you read the story, so it was interesting how it all came out. I did like the ending, which was a HEA. I would like to say more on that, but I don’t want to give that away either. The book was definitely worth reading and wasn’t that long and there aren’t many books with the circus and trapeze artists in them so it is original in that way.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Corey had been traveling with her aunt's circus for practically her whole life, but when a fire ravaged the big top, her future as an up and coming trapeze artist was put on hold, and she was forced to settle down with her estranged mother. Faced with so many new and intimidating situations, Corey pushed on as she awaited the fate of future with the circus.

• Pro: I absolutely loved the premise of this story. I am always up for a good fish-out-of-water tale, and having someone from a traveling circus settle down in one place was something I was interested in learning more about.

• Pro: I was captivated by all the trapeze portions of the book. The author's appreciation of the art form was obvious, and I thought she did an impressive job pulling me into that world and helping me see the beauty these artistic athletes create. I actually wish there was more of this, because it was one of my favorite parts of this book.

• Pro: I was so happy with the group of friends Corey found outside of the circus. Kim, George, and Luke were all fantastic, and I enjoyed seeing their friendships grow.

• Pro: I was especially fond of Luke. I shipped these two from their first meeting in the diner. He was just as closed up as Corey, so it was gratifying to see them learn to share more of themselves, even the ugly parts, with others. I was really please with the direction Ansell took his story, even if it didn't go exactly how I had wished.

• Pro/Con: I had such a love/hate relationship with that ending. There were way more positive things than negative things, and I was very grateful for the vast number of plot lines Ansell tied up, but she left a few things a little murky, and it basically made my heart ache. I am known for needing really definitive endings, though, and I do believe others would be ok with it.

• Pro: Corey was a great protagonist. I found myself immediately invested in her story and was torn between wanting her to embrace her new life and wishing she could return to her life on the road. Her struggle with assimilating, catching up, trying to open up to others, and battling her loneliness had me turning the pages, which was a good indication, that I cared.

An interesting fish-out-of-water story, which captivated me with the high flying routines and captured my heart with its exploration of complicated family dynamics, friendship, and romance.

This book ended up not being for me. I did not connect to the characters or story. I ended up skimming the majority of it and because of that, I will not be rating this book on other platforms as it would be unfair to the book and author.