I did like this book as a fun, fast read. It did feel a little bit like I had read it somewhere before. Circu themed fantasy seems to be a trending genre. That being said I thought it was suspenseful and I liked the ending where Cat finally stood up for herself with the help of her best friend.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I thought it was a great start to a series.

A spectacle of souls is apparently a book #1 . There were some things I would of liked to know more about but maybe those things will be in a continuing book. It's a decent read about people with powers that work in a circus. A normal girl gets dragged into it unwillingly because her migraines are actually her psychic powers Trapped. The ringmaster wants her power so makes her join by threats then takes parts of her memory to control her while waiting for her powers to fully manifest so he can steal them. All the while he himself is being used and damaged by his painful past so while he's the criminal he's also a victim. There is also love & friendships in this book. A bit of the wording came across to me as kinda cheesy and not what you'd expect. towards the end particularly "vanessa speaking to cat" interaction in the soul realm. the wording just seemed too young & love-y like 10 yr old speaking not a 18-20ish person. I don't know maybe I just read to much YA with more emotions coming from one character that went thru what vanessa did than just "I love you" so its all ok kinda vibe. Even though it says it's a book #1 it was written and ends that you could only read this book and be fine, no cliffhanger or anything. Just some character development I'd like to see more of hopefully in the continuing story.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Magic and a circus. Those two words were all I needed. And it didn't dissapoint! I loved reading this book!

*DNF AND 30%

I´m sorry but i just couldn´t. I really wanted to read it but the has no sense and the character are annoying.
I love books that has circus vibes like the night circus so i was excited to read this one but i just couldn't. I was forcing myself to read it and it cost me a reading slump.

i love circus books so very freaking much. i hope you like this one. this book is a definite read and i will totally read anything they write. so please do.

<b><i>Thank you Netgalley and Bleeding Ink Publishing for sharing this book in exchange for an honest review.</i></b>

<b>DNF @ 31%</b>
Ahhhhh I'm sorry but I just can't continue. I feel really bad. I wanted to love this book—especially when you look at that cover and description, but........I just couldn't get into the book. To me, it felt really dragged out and boring. The main character also came off bland and flat to me. I wanted to love <b>A Spectacle of Souls</b> but I just couldn't force my way through the book—though this may be because I'm in a reading slump.😅
<img src="https://media1.tenor.com/images/803a382b8e43eba12cd44b9d4cc516cd/tenor.gif?itemid=11997939"/>
I recommend to those who loved <b>The Night Cirus</b> to try this book out, though! Who knows.....you might like it.😉

I was unable to finish reading this book. I never really found a real interest in it, as the characters didn’t seem fleshed out or have authentic dialogue and interactions. I really liked the blurb and think the premise has promise, but this just felt very flat and uninspired.

This is an interesting Carnival themed story that just missed the target for me. While I can appreciate the characters and the world that was created I found myself struggling to get into the story. I did eventually end up really getting pulled into the story in the second have . Despite my struggle to engage in the story I would still recommend it. Just because the story wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it isn’t for someone else. If you like carnivals, magic and deception give this book a read.

« We could offer you a whole new life - a better one. One that is filled with adventures and people who understand you and what you’re going through, » he offered.⁣
« But I have a life here- friends, work, my parents. » She shook her head steadying the room.⁣
He lifted an eyebrow. « And if you didn’t »⁣
⁣
Caitlyn feels trapped in the daily grind of a life without adventures.⁣
So when a circus comes to town, she couldn't help but be tempted to visit.⁣
What she thought was entertainment was going to turn out to be far more dangerous than it seemed. ⁣
Who is this mysterious Ringmaster and why is he so suddenly interested in her?⁣
⁣
A SPECTACLE OF SOULS by Jessica Julien was quite a show (pun intended).⁣
The characters are well structured : especially the Ringmaster, that eccentric circus owner with dark secrets.⁣
The passages about the visions and those about the memories were a bit messy for me but I've been tired and I had a slight difficulty concentrating lately : my lack of sleep is probably to blame, not the author's writing.⁣
We've only had a glimpse of the spirit realm, but I have reason to believe that we're not done hearing about Lost Souls and Wanderers yet, and I'm looking forward to it.⁣
⁣
Thank you Bleeding Ink Publishing and Netgalley for sending me this ARC book.⁣

This book had a slow start but if you stick it out it is worth it. I gave it 3 stars because of the slow beginning but the story over all was good.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for a Chinese review!

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this but somehow the outcome wasn't pleasant at all. I wanted to experience a good mystery story set in a circus world, something close to the Night Circus, but somehow it felt too flat and childish
The dialogue was mostly unnecessary and the plot was somehow easily predictable. The characters felt more like ghosts than real persons with their one-dimensional personalities.
Unfortunately, I am not entirely pleased by this book.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and I really appreciated it!

With that being said, this was a DNF for me. I found it difficult to connect with the characters, the story didn't keep me engaged and I thought I would really enjoy it. The premise is promising but not completely fleshed out.

This book was so disappointing to read. The premise was perfect and spot on with some of my favorite fictional elements, but then it utterly failed in execution. The characters were stereotyped instead of being fully developed, and I was shocked to realize the protagonist wasn't 15 but around ~20 years old. I expected so much more from this book than I actually got.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review. If I could give half stars this would only be receiving 1.5 stars.

I was so very excited for this novel as it was likened to Caraval and it started out quite interesting and then....quickly dwindled. Descriptively, in some scenes in this novel it was just amazing and beautiful, however, most of the novel had so many holes and things just did not add up. The writing was intensely confusing as one minute the narration is from the main character and then, with no explanation, the narration is from another characters point of view. The magic or powers or whatever they were are never entirely explained and so it's terribly confusing the whole time throughout the novel. Then the ending, I mean really? It was climactic and dramatic and....completely unbelievable. This started out really strong and quickly spiraled down and ended being a terribly disappointment.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book sounded so great when I read the description, but with books out there that are so hugely popular that revolve around circuses, it’s hard to top some of them. This one was good, but I feel like there was SO MUCH going on... and yet not enough happened.

The pacing was weird at times and it jumped between characters too often without the “voice” of the character changing- nothing was really in first person, but parts of the chapters were another character’s POV and it was awkward at times.

The ability aspect of this was interesting but I would’ve liked more extensive background on these abilities and why they exist and just so much of the world itself that I feel like wasn’t covered. It was a good book, it held my interest enough, but it wasn’t a favorite.

Reading this book was a pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed the writing style, tone, and voice of our characters! I thought the pacing was great and I definitely felt as though I was immersed in this world with every page that I read.

I will start off my review by saying that I wasn't able to finish this book. It just wasn't for me. It felt more like fanfiction then an actual novel. Based on the synopsis, I thought this book would be a twisted and mysterious fantasy, that was more New Adult than Young Adult, and landed somewhere between 'The Night Circus' and 'Caraval'. Instead, I ended up being very disappointed.

The cover is pretty, but as soon as I started reading, I could tell something wasn't working. The writing is very wordy, and over explains and describes things in a stilted manner that doesn't feel natural. Because of this aspect, I never felt immersed in the book I was reading.

I wasn't a huge fan of the characters. They mostly seemed like teenage soap opera stereotypes. There was the best friend, that's beautiful, rich, shallow and vain, but still a good friend to the protagonist for some reason. She serves as a measuring stick by which the main character's "natural" beauty is compared to, as to not so subtlety, give us (the readers) the very obvious impression that Caitlyn "isn't like other girls". The girls appearances were mentioned way too often in too little time, to merit anything. It did nothing to drive the plot forward, and instead, slowed things down.

I didn't find myself in any way invested in this story, or entertained by it. 'A Spectacle of Souls' was hard to follow, when it should have been investing in plot twists, mystery, or suspense. And it was lagging with overly wordy and awkward detail, when it should have been world building or fleshing out characters.

I have no personal problem with this book, and like I said, I didn't manage to finish it. However, these are my thoughts.

As per requested by the author, I will not be posting this review, because it has a rating lower than three stars.


1.5 stars (one and a half stars out of ten)

I really wanted to love this book. The cover is amazing, the blurb and description are fantastic but the writing was a little too dull for me and the plot was not fully imagined and amazing as I was hoping this to be.

Unfortunately this is not the book for me.

I received this book as a ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

Spectral of souls follows a girl, Caitlin who experiences headaches . Her headaches are her magic powers that have been kept hidden for too long trying to come to the surface. When her and her best friend Vanessa go to the local circus show, the ringmaster senses her power and wants it for himself. With his own magic he warps her memories and forces her to work in the circus with the intent on coaxing our her power in order to steal them.

While the book was one that I finished in one sitting it did leave a bit to be desired. It was quite slow in parts and there was more about the magic that needed to be explained. There were also a lot of odd events (like disappearances and murders) that were glossed over or barely acknowledged by other characters. The love story also felt a bit forced to me. All in all it was a decent novel but I don’t see the need to continue with the series .