Trapeze covers everything from loss to new relationships, fresh starts to first love, and abuse to happy endings. So many key factors were hit along the way that made me want to keep reading until I reached the end. I expected there to be more circus and less high school, but overall I enjoyed this quick read!

I was really excited to read this book since I enjoyed the story on Wattpad. Well, reading it now, I did find it a little stupid though.

I loved the beginning of this book. The author's starting line was hooking and engaging and had a great punch. The first few chapters flew off really well, as we get to see the characters and learn about them. I also enjoyed the whole setting of the circus and how disaster struck so soon.

The story was basically very predictable though. I enjoyed seeing the chemistry between our love interests and how friendships were formed, I really enjoyed that. But at the same time, I wish there was more of the circus and the lights and glamour. I found the story basically the MC complaining about not being in the circus, worrying about people finding out about her truth and also wanting to be in love. Haha. It just didn't jell well.

Well, towards the middle, I lost interest in the story. It got boring and monotonous, the author trying to forcefully add twists to the story. I felt like a few scenes could've been well removed and the story would've been still great.

Apart from this though, I enjoyed this book. The ending was predictable but beautiful. It was lovely and a sweet contemporary romance if you're looking for light summer reads.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the e-arc of this book. All opinions expressed are fully mine.

i don't know what i was expecting but wow.

trapeze focuses on corey, a trapeze artist who's suddenly forced to live like a normal teenager with her estranged mother after a tragic accident and struggles to navigate the woes of high school.

i wasn't expecting luke to be hiding THAT, my heart was breaking for him. i'm glad corey did what she did to help him, it's what he needed.

i'm so used to reading stories where the MC and another character end up together but in this case? it was more realistic, despite my fleeting disappointment.

this book was good. i definitely recommend it.

Trapeze is an interesting book. The writing is incredibly strong, and the concept is intriguing. The book does drag a bit in the middle. Additionally, the book only focuses a bit on Corey’s time at the circus vs. her time at a high school. It does have some themes of violence that may be triggering.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my my own.

2.5 stars

I love the idea of a circus setting. Circus life intrigues me! However, majority of this book does not take place in a circus or on a trapeze. It starts off that way, but it quickly becomes a novel about a teen girl in high school.Unfortunately because of the 'negative stigma' surrounding circus performers, Corey was quick to hide everything that made her different..so what made Corey quirky and different was quickly lost.

Although this book was easy to read, I felt like some things were unexplained and others were not believable. I also wished that there was more emphasis on the time Corey and her mother spent together reestablishing their relationship.

I felt like this was a promising book that ended up being just ok.

Thank you to NetGalley and Smith Publicity for providing an advance copy of this book.

I can't say I liked this book but I did find some things within that I enjoyed.
The first of all was the story itself because we don't get many stories about people, mainly children, and teenagers that live with a circus and all the discrimination they have to face along with the love for their art.
I wasn't too crazy about Corey but I did like that she wasn't all Miss Perfect: she holds tiny grudges, she is aware of her own failings and she loves what she does with such a passion that she becomes a bit arrogant over the things that she can do that others can't. I loved that we got a girl that took pride in her hard-earned muscles.
But what I liked the most was that this book wasn't about romance, it was about a girl that has to stop doing what she loves for a while. Yes, there is a boy in there but he is not the goal, her career and passion are.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpadd Books for this ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley and Wattpad, for the complimentary advance copy of this book.

Circus girl Corey becomes real world girl after tragedy strikes and the show must stop. During her time in the real world as a 17 year old, Corey goes to a regular school for the first time, makes friends, faces adversity and find love.

While this was a cute story wrapped up in a nice, neat bow, I can’t help but be a little intrigued at what a little deeper dive could have done for this character. She seemed to take all her life changes rather easily. It would have been great to know more about her relationship with her mother and the loss she suffered when the world as she knew it ended.

Likable characters, light read, happy ending.

This review is based on an ARC of Trapeze which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (Wattpad Books).


Maybe some Wattpad novels should stay on Wattpad…

This isn’t the worst book I’ve ever read. I’ve read books not published via Wattpad, books from notable publishers, that are way worse. I did make it through the entirety of this one (barely), so that speaks for its being at least somewhat bearable. However the story comes across extremely amateurish. (Of course, it’s easy for me to talk such big talk when I’m just a nobody critiquing somebody’s creative work. I get that. And I apologize if I sound harsh.) My problem(s) wasn’t even with the prose, voice, characters, or simplicity of the story. My problem with Trapeze is that so much of it just didn’t make sense. Below I have provided a compiled list of queries, concerns, and general annoyances of this fiction. (Note: List is not exhaustive.)

—The girl on the cover is doing silks, not trapeze. Big oof.
—“dull brown hair” (emphasis on the “dull”), because what other hair colors could a Wattpad heroine have?
—“not a normal girl”, because what Wattpad heroine with “dull brown hair” is normal?
—For some reason, there’s inexplicable drama between the different aerialists at the circus??? Even though you've worked together for goodness knows how long and should at least have a professional tolerance towards each other??
—I really really really don’t get why she was even put in high school, honestly. If there was a system at the circus (sort of) figured out for minors to learn to drive and get their licenses, and a version of homeschooling going on, why didn’t Corey just take her GED? Why hadn’t she tried already? You can’t just… not go to school in America. There are laws against that.
—And also why, when she was put in public high school, was she put in Precalculus? I had fairly decent math grades and I never even had to do any Precalc, so what gives?
—The tutoring? Yeah, called that.
—Also, the teacher wrote “See me” on her paper and she never did that. Oopsie?
—She claims to be “best friends” with Kim and George even though they never go out, or text, or call, or really do anything besides have lunch together, which is mostly on Kim, which I also can’t trust as genuine friendship after all Kim said about being Student Body President and what that requires of her in terms of socializing with the Student Body.
—Corey never seemed genuinely upset about her passion and livelihood being ripped out from under her without warning. Even though she said how upset she was, she never showed it in any way.
—Why was Dave—and the rest of the circus for that matter—so keen on her staying in school and being normal? Surely he realizes that trapeze is her passion and she is great at it. Outside of the circus, there aren’t too many opportunities to make a career of the trapeze. So why do they all want to shun her away from her calling for a chance at a “normal” life?
—What’s wrong with being a “circus freak”? I would be living for that title.
—One of Corey’s “friend’s” parents paid for the reopening of the circus? And this was saved until the climax because…? Yeah, that’s realistic.
—I don’t think that the author knows the difference between foreshadowing and bashing the reader over the head repeatedly with glaring neon signs. For future reference, this makes readers feel like they’re being called dumb and it’s not a nice feeling or one you really should aim to evoke.

So, in the end, I didn't give up entirely on this story, which keeps it at two stars. A generous two stars, mind you. Don't get me wrong, tons of people will enjoy this and love it and revel in the cutesy contemporary love story meeting the underappreciated topic of the circus. I am not one of these people.

First off, the cover art is beautiful-- for that alone, this book is worth picking up. As far as YA goes, Trapeze is good. It's nothing spectacular, but it's well written, with developed characters and a clear line of action. As a reader of almost exclusively female-centered stories, I nearly always connect with the female characters. However, here, I found myself connecting most with Luke. Where there are gaps in the psychological motivation and logic of Corey, Luke's trajectory and character seems to be consistent. The biggest hurdle for me was the apparent abhorrence the community felt towards the circus, and Corey's wanting to keep her involvement in it a secret. It felt very contrived and unrealistic, and while I tried to overlook it, it's inextricably woven into the plot. To me, it seems like Corey's trapeze skills and life in the circus would've actually made her popular, so it didn't work as a mechanism here. It felt like maybe the author was trying to use it as a veil, to talk about refugees or ostracized groups of marginalized people (i.e. illegal immigrants), but I think she would've had to be more like a circus oddity to draw that comparison-- something that would make her different in a way that could be perceived as negative on the outside, but beautiful on the inside. Trapeze is just too glamorous. I did like that the author made a bold decision with the ending, rather than wrapping things up in a cliche "happily ever after".

This book was a light and easy read. The book is well written and the first portion of the book grabbed my attention but unfortunately the last part of the book seemed to drop off. There was great character development and I cared about the main character, which left me wanting more for her story. This is a great book for an easy, quick read.

This was a interesting book.
It shows the hard ship of growing up and the problems that come with it.

Would probably have enjoyed it more if I was on the younger side.

Overall, a good book.

Trapeze by Leign Ansell is the story of Corey Ryder, a young trapeze artist, whose life if thrown into chaos when the circus she is apart of is targeted by an arsonist. She is sent to live with the mother she’s never met and forced to attend a traditional school for the first time in her life. When Corey finds herself growing closer with town golden boy Luke Everett, she has to learn to navigate her old life and her new one while staying true to the person she knows she is.

I’m not a big YA reader, but I found this book very compelling. I found the characters to be pretty multi-dimensional, which is something I find usually lacking in YA fiction. This book did a nice job navigating the teenage experience (struggling in school, making new friends, parental relationships), while also covering heavy subject material (parental abuse). It was a super quick read, but still very enjoyable. I liked the circus aspect of this book, which I thought was unique. I would definitely check this one out if you’re looking for an easy read.

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for honest and thoughtful review.

I loved the premise! Corey was a good character. It starts off strong, and I just thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a good young adult read, and I want to read more by Leigh Ansell!

An entertaining read, Trapeze makes you think: what would you do if your whole world was turned upside down.

This book was pretty good. It didn't blow my mind but I really enjoyed the read and look forward to Leigh Ansell's work in the future.

A light, quick YA book about a teenager who has spent her life on the road with a circus getting thrown into the life of public high school following a tragic event with the circus.

First off, my biggest peeve is the cover image. It shows a blond on arial silks and our main character is a brunette trapeze artist. I seriously can’t get past this inconsistency & has irked me since it was revealed that she has “dull brown hair” and she was circus enemies with the arial silk cliche.

I loved the first part of the story with the circus descriptions and storyline, but once the main character joined the school it seemed like her whole circus life disappeared. She doesn’t communicate with her old friends, aunt, trapeze mentor, or anyone until the last few chapters of the book. She doesn’t seem to miss trapeze itself and her confidence from the first chapters vanishes completely.

The story left me wanting in several areas, but wasn’t down right awful either. An okay summer read, but not one I’ll likely recommend to others.

I follow an aerialist on Instagram so I was excited to have been approved for this! I did see a bit of the trapeze and circus life, but as the blurb promised, this focused more on home and high school life drama, and a bit of teen romance. And while the plot was established well enough and the conflicts were clear; I just didn't feel like I could connect with any of the characters. I'd read another work by this author, though, because I liked the voice

This was such a well done book! I loved the characters and the story! Ansell wrote people I could relate to! The character development was great and I could really picture the setting. I will be recommending that we purchase this one! Great summer read!

FULL REVIEW: https://wordsunfilteredbys.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/trapeze/

I literally finished reading it about an hour ago and I’m just sitting in awe. I loved this book. It was phenomenal and so, so well written. I did notice some changes from the Wattpad version and if anything, it got even better. Leigh’s writing has always been amazing but it’s only improved over the years, and this version of it is marvelous, honestly. When I finished reading it, I knew that this is a book I will be raving about to all my friends. It touches on the things we try to push away, making us realise that sometimes the cycle we’re in isn’t always right and it isn’t something we should be used to. It makes the reader realise that when seeing something — when finally seeing beneath the surface and the mask someone puts up — that is so awful and harrowing, there needs to be something done about it.

In some ways, it was reminiscent of Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. I won’t say why. But the latter half of Trapeze really reminded me of that particular book.

Trapeze is a book that has always stood out amongst other Wattpaders, and this version is no exception.

When the traveling circus - Mystique - is set ablaze during an performance in northern California, Corey's career as a trapeze artist comes to an abrupt halt. With the circus' future uncertain, she is sent to live with the mother who gave her away. For the first time, Corey is living in one place, going to school and trying to hide her circus roots in an unfriendly town. When she starts to make friends, she discovers that everyone has a secret and some are not meant to be kept. Can Corey reconcile her past with her present and give herself a future?

This was an interesting premise that I found to be a bit lacking. Corey is two people, confident in herself with regards to anything athletic and dismally aware of her shortcoming in other areas. I was really rooting for her to come to a decision about who she wanted to be and make that choice for most of the novel. I was also hoping for more about the circus itself. As the story progresses, Corey's trapeze work becomes almost meaningless until the secret gets out. What initially drew me to this book was the concept of a teen trapeze artist. There is very little about trapeze in this novel beyond the opening chapters - one could almost replace this by any other upbringing quirk and have the same novel.

Kudos to Ansell for handling the domestic abuse subplot with aplomb.