This one I had high hopes for, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. The characters were a bit too bland for me, and the story was just too slow.

This book is not specifically called a Young Adult novel but it certainly reads like one. And the writing is just, well, amateur, to put it nicely. Too many detailed descriptions of everyone’s outfits. Describing the scent of everything. Far too much telling and not enough showing. Odd metaphors and similes (“Heat hit Caitlyn’s cheeks like an oncoming storm in the distance ruffling her loose hair”). Run-on sentences all over the place (“Everything inside her head seemed to mock her weakness and continued to torment her until the sun rose when finally she slept dreamlessly, her head resting in Daniel’s lap stroking her hair softly”).

Authors, please edit your work. If you don’t have the skill and knowledge to do it yourself, find someone who does.

Absolutely magical, this book is well written and gripping. I adore when YA fantasy books discuss the matters of the soul and ghosts!

Amazing book from a wonderful author that I was happy to get to know. Jessica just has a way with words and story telling that just grabs you completely. The characters are wonderful and the whole carnival aspect is very whimsical and dark.

I am disappointed.
The idea itself is interesting, but the story is (in my opinion) underdeveloped and sadly underwhelming.
But I see so much potential.

I really wanted to like this story more - it was an interesting concept but it didn't flow right for me. It had a lot of common YA tropes that would appeal to YA/fantasy readers but they didn't grab me too much.

Too many characters. Too many adjectives. Too much telling. Insta-love.

Your typical YA fantasy romance book.

Yeah no, i did not like any of the characters. This was just...not for me. Someone said it`s like The Night Circus but i did not get that.

Let me start out by saying that if I could give this story more than five stars I absolutely would. Usually, when I start reading and progress through a story like this there are some things that I'm not really sure about or like. However, with this, story I actually can't think of one thing I didn't like about it. This story takes you on a wild ride that doesn't let you get your breath and by the end leaves you gasping. The story starts out with young Caitlyn Stoker happily living her mundane life as a diner waitress. It's not until she meets the mysterious Daniel that things start to change for her. Having never been to a circus in her life she talks her best friend Vanessa into going with her. Little did she know that her one visit would end up changing her life forever.

The pacing of the story from beginning to end was absolutely perfect. It really keeps you flipping the pages and not wanting to stop. Each chapter builds on the last just like they should and keeps you really guessing as to what exactly is going to happen next. Just when you think the story is about to slow down and let you catch your breath it kicks you square in the chest with new feelings and twists.

One of my favorite things about this novel was the rich imagery. The author really brings you into the story with the rich descriptions of everything around Caitlyn and the Troup. As I progressed I felt like I could really see the world through her eyes and felt as if I was a part of the story itself. The reason I say this is one of my favorite things is the way that the real world was differentiated from the Spirit Realm. The way the Spirit Realm was described made me feel like I was watching the scenes through Caitlyn's eyes.

Caitlyn is a very well rounded character and is really well fleshed out in the story. You can really feel her emotions throughout the story. Her fear, her love for Vanessa and Daniel, the way she questions her choices at first. Even the way she starts out being excited at the thought of joining the circus. You can really feel her doubt and even her fear as the story progresses and she comes in contact with the Ringmaster himself. You will find yourself cheering for her and scared for her at the same time. Something that intrigued me about this character was her ability and how it was treated as an extension of her being instead of just some random gift that some people are born with. The way her ability was fleshed out and shown throughout was sheer brilliance.

When I first started I wasn't sure how I felt about Jacob. Like Caitlyn, his dual character is really well fleshed out. There are going to be times you want to cheer for Jacob and times you will really despise him. Sometimes you may even feel both at the same time. I was really impressed by how complex this character was. Like Caitlyn, the way the Ringmaster was portrayed was really interesting. It's not a way I've seen psychic abilities treated before. I have to say I was greatly surprised by this and loved how there were times you couldn't really trust in the fact of who was who.

The secondary characters, Daniel, Vanessa, and the entire Troup of performers was really well developed. You could really feel what they felt throughout the story, even when you get to the ending. The one thing that got me throughout the story though was the way the abilities of those in the group were treated as extensions of themselves. I've read stories dealing with psychics before but they were always treated like it was a gift. I have to say that was another of my favorite things about this.

Overall, as I stated in the beginning if I could give this more than five stars I absolutely would. This story will take you on a ride and keep you flipping the pages and wanting more. I have read many stories dealing with this type of setting and I have to say this is the first that has made my heart race. I will definitely be rereading this in this future. Bravo Jessica on creating this wondrous ride

I am really torn when it comes to this title. The description gives me everything I want in a book, but inside it goes a little off track. There are a lot of things that are great about A Spectacle of Souls. However, some of the story line seems force and I am left wondering why these poor characters are doing the things they are doing - it doesn't help the story line and at times detracts from it as a whole. Great idea just needed a better planned execution.

I wish I had better things to say about this, I really do. The description sounded so interesting - it sounded like Night Circus meets murder mystery, but instead this feels like a not-great fan fiction of the Night Circus?

The writing feels immature and very wordy for very little action, including needless dialogue, juvenile interactions (the first third of the book feels likewatching teenagers obsess over boys for the most part).

Further, the storyline was utterly predictable. I was promised dark and twisted in the blurb but instead got predictably bad decisions and mostly inane dialogue, with super cringey and one-dimensional characters , who lacked any depth and development.

A spectacle of souls was a interesting concept but it could have been dealt with a whole lot better. To me, I think this book would be great for young fantasy buffs that love the whole insta love story but I have outgrown that.

DNF @ 9%

Already it's a major tropefest and I am really not a fan of the writing style: overly descriptive, with melodramatic dialogue and characters "communicating" nonverbally to the point of basically reading each other's minds. And I find the main character + best friend incredibly annoying, the worst kind of stereotypical teenage girl.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and I really did try, but ended up DNFing it. I may try to read it again at a different time, but not really my cup of tea

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Good story, I am excited to see where the next book takes us. I love the characters.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The positives: I loved the cover. It's beautiful and begs a buyer to pick up the book. The blurb makes the book out to be an entertaining and compelling read.

The negatives: The story starts really slow and once the plot really starts the plot becomes convoluted and difficult to follow. The synopsis is not an accurate reflection of the story itself. The characters mentioned are barely in a paragraph apart from Daniel who had no character development he is pretty much one-dimensional. This is not a book I would recommend.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Marketed to capitalise on the trend of books such as 'The Night Circus' and 'Caraval' which I enjoyed, but 'A Spectacle of Souls' was very juvenile and I struggled with it. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title ~

I am not a big fan of insta-romance, and the characters felt a bit flat. I love a circus setting, but this did not meet my expectations.

DNF'ed at 50%. I really wanted to like this. I love books with a circus setting but this was bad. The characters were flat and it came off as a ripoff of Sookie from True Blood and the Night Circus. Not worth the time
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review

I was so excited for this one. There is nothing I enjoy more than a dark, mysterious, circus setting. I really wish I liked this one more than I did.
So lets start with the things I liked: the overall storyline, and some of the characters. The premise of the story was enough to keep me reading. The circus is comprised of people who have special powers. Some are psychics, can enhance your senses, commune with animals, and things like never missing their target. It's a lovely variety of powers. They perform elaborate shows, and those are well written and really set the tone of a magical yet unsettling circus.
The characters, I liked some of them but honestly never really connected or cared about them unfortunately. Our main character Caitlyn is, annoying to me. She's slightly OCD, yet also damsel in distress, and really never grows out of that. Ya know until its necessary for the plot, because she is oh so special powerful. Then we have Daniel. He is the magician of the show. I didn't hate him, although the insta-love/lust was a bit much. The Ringmaster was so close to being a complex character, but unfortunately was a typical villain.

So the main issue I had with this book: the writing. I, do not DNF books, but I was almost ready to give up on this one in the first 15 pages. The sentences were so, so clunky in the beginning. Everything is overly described, and repetitive. If you end a sentence in a question mark, it doesn't then need to be stated that it was said like a question as the question mark implies that. We also got reminded at least 6 times in around as many pages that Caitlyn has blue eyes. It gets mentioned at least 6 more times throughout the book. Is this information that important? No not really. The writing does, thankfully, get slightly more tolerable as the book goes on. However, it doesn't get that much better. This is supposed to be YA, and based on some content I think it was intended for more upper YA, yet the writing screams younger YA. Then we get to the ending. It's a slight cliffhanger if you find yourself actually caring about the characters, but it just feels like a cheap shot for book 2.