The circus and magic?! YES PLEASE!! This story flowed so well and the characters were so alive. I really enjoyed all of the characters in this one which normally doesn't happen. This was a great escape book and could see those who love magic and or the circus loving this one!!

A Spectacle of Souls by Jessica Julien
Genre: New Adult, Teens & YA
Publisher: Bleeding Ink Publishing
Publish Date: 7 July 2020

Having finished a heavy academic book I was looking for something easy, light, and magical to get lost in and A Spectacle of Souls ticked all the boxes. Not only that, it's about the circus, a topic in fantasy I can't resist. The story follows Caitlyn, a small-town girl with not much going on apart from horrendous headaches...or is it that simple... The circus rolls into town bringing with it a troupe of psychics as the performers, making this a 'no ordinary' circus to the unsuspecting audiences. Caitlyn's world is about to change forever because the suffering evil Ringmaster has decided that Caitlyn is the one that will cure him of his hunger, and he's willing to cause as much pain as possible to make sure Caitlyn joins the troupe. Add into the mix a ruggedly handsome magician/illusionist and the stage is set for an adventure.

I liked this book a lot, Caitlyn's adventures of wondering into the Spirit Realm was unique in its landscape and I loved the Ringmaster's back story. What I didn't like too much was the ending, without saying too much after all that happened it seems unlikely. Also, there was an uncomfortable cringe at certain parts of the book. I love humor cringe but this wasn't that kind of cringe. Regardless as I said I did like the story and when the next book comes out I would be tempted to pick it up.

If you're into a light, good storybook about a circus filled with psychics you should give this book a go!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A spectacle of Souls by Jessica Julien is amazing book. It starts out with Caitlyn Stoker who is a waitress in a small town at Pop's one stop soda shop diner along with her Bestie Vanessa Clark. When Cirque des Voles comes into town and Caitlyn stoker who has never seen a circus wants to see what the experience is her Bestie Vanessa takes her. Although this isn't your normal circus its a very unusual circus which relies on people with other powers and strong auras. Soon Caitlyn learns With Cirque des Voles nothing is what it seems. Also This book had me tearing up then crying slightly, towards the end.

The life of Caitlyn will change forever when a mysterious circus arrives in town and a seer predicts a very dangerous future for her, warning her to stay away from it. The magic of the circus is however to charming for her and soon she found herself bounded to it.
Everyone in the circus has some kind of power and Caitlyn will start to discover hers while fighting the ruthless Ringmaster.

I really liked the writing style of the author of this book as she seems really a master of making you feel the thrill of the various moments of tension of this book. I swear that sometimes I had to remember me to breath as I was too captured by the narration.

I also really appreciated the author’s descriptive abilities; I was totally able to visualize in my mind all the magical phenomenon and illusion of the circle’s spectacles and I think you need to be really good at writing to give such vivid images.

The story is clearly divisible in two different parts: one before and the other after she joins the circus. I felt the “after” part as a bit too rushed, while the “before” one was almost too slow; I would have preferred a more linear rhythm through all the book.
Some parenthesis in the first part seemed unnecessary and that were there only to give more drama to the next scene and the book would have totally been the same even without it.
I would have preferred to have more of the circus’s everyday life instead of packing the second part with events; maybe this would have add more meaning to some particular parts of the story.

I would have liked to have a bit of focus on all the member of the company and not only on few of them, but I hope this would be handled in the following books of the series.

This book is the first of the series of the Circus of the Stolen but don’t be scared by this thing because it can be totally read it as a stand-alone one.
You can totally enjoy the book even without having the worry of having to buy the next one to have a “complete product” but, at the same time, trust me that you would want to know more about Caitlyn and her adventures with the Circus.

From the very first page this book reminded me of something, it felt like I had read this before,I couldn't quite remember if it reminded me of "the vampires assistant, I never read that book but watched the film, I can't quite out my finger on it, but it really felt like I had read this before.
I did like it from the beginning, but I felt myself losing interest the more I got into it.

Welcome to the Cirque des Volés! You may quite literally don't believe your eyes... And maybe you shouldn't.

Caitlyn suffers from headaches and strange visions which she believes to be the effects of chronic migraines. But can that really explain the voice that sometimes speaks to her in her mind? When a circus comes to town Caitlyn marvels at the impossible wonders with the rest of the audience. What she doesn't know is that The Ringmaster himself is watching her. When he shows up at her doorstep, offering her a new life, she's not quite sure what to believe. Others, like the handsome magician Daniel, try to warn her that nothing is what it's seems when it comes to the Ringmaster. Soon she will find herself trapped in a battle of wills with more than her own life at stake.

The plot is intriguing right from the beginning. It's that kind of plot that unfolds as you read, giving you more background information little by little that explain how you got to the current situation. It does have some weaker parts were it kind of get stuck, but then you also have a romance to enjoy.

The thing I liked best was the different take on psychic abilities. The power is described as an conscious entity that sometimes has a will of it's own. And it's closely connected to a place called the spirit realm, a place both beautiful and terrifying. Unfortunately it's not as developed as I would have liked. It was kind of hard for me to grasp how it all fit together sometimes and I would have liked to just have a bit more. I also would have liked to know more about the other characters' abilities that seemed to be powerful in their own right but was rarely used. Since so much of the story was focused on these powers it felt like some pieces was missing.

Obviously I have good things to say about A Spectacle of Souls but when it comes down to my personal reading experience, we didn't quite get along. I think the main reason was the writing style. It just never managed to convince or immerse me in the story even though I mostly liked the plot and magic setting. I just need a bit more tension and motives behind the characters's choices for me to really believe in them and get engaged. We also got off to a bad start because the introduction of some of the characters felt very stereotypical, like the best friend who is really into makeup and give our main character a makeover in the beginning of the story. I read a lot of YA and usually enjoy it but maybe this book should be targeted at the younger part of YA? On the other hand, the characters themselves seemed to be a bit older than your typical YA and the book does have some darker scenes even though it's never graphic or detailed, so you don't have to worry about that.

So, in the end I think you should give this book a chance if you;
- don't mind a more simplistic writing style that may be suited for a younger audience,
- would like a sweet and fluffy romance,
- want a magical circus setting,
- enjoy a story centered around psychic abilities.

A mesmerizing circus paired with magical abilities. What more can we want?
This book follows Caitlyn, a young waitress that always suffered from migraines and how her life drastically changes when she meets Daniel and his circus world.
I really liked both protagonists, which doesn't happen very often. I'd say that most characters are actually very well developed and felt real. The story flowed seamlessly and had me very intrigued.
I am very partial to any story with magic, a cruel dictator, and improbable saviors. This had all of that. I honestly loved it and would recommend it to everyone that likes a little magic in their life.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and the published for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#ASpectacleofSouls #NetGalley

A really exciting and full with action fantasy book, which absolutely hard to resist and always wanting to read more and more. After receiving this book from NetGalley for reviewing I started to read, and couldn’t put it down till I finished the whole book.

On one hand the book took me back to my childhood, when I read Cirque du Freak. The excitment, the vibe of the circus and the hunger to read and get to know about the characters and what will happen in the next Chapter. Other hand it’s a perfectly charming, adult fantasy book, which pulls the reader in it very quickly.

Through Caitlyn’s story we get to know more about her, her ability and the fantastic characters of this magical world. Starting with Caitlyn’s ordinary life, she gets deeper and deeper into a mesmerizing new world which started with just a visit in the circus but then turns into exploring her true self. A completly well-written fantasy book, with great characters, entertaining storyline with so much feelings and really detailed description which makes the reader feel like they are part of the book. I really hope there will be more books for this amazing world and characters from the author.

What will happen with Caitlyn? Will she need to leave behind her old life? Will she agree to the Ringmaster to join to the Troupe? And what will happen then? I truly recommend this book to everyone who just a little bit into fantasy or magic as this book will make them mind busy till the very last sentence of the story.

I've read a lot of YA about shady magical circuses, but for some reason I feel like I rarely see that in a realistic-fic so that was really fun! I really liked the first act of a Spectacle of Souls. It does an excellent job of introducing us to its characters and mysteries. My interest dwindled more as the plot continued but that was mainly because of a shifting focus towards the protagonist's relationship with a love interest who never really sparked my interest. The plot was still good, but since it was framed around how it would effect them and their relationship that I didn't care for I became less invested.

My nitpick-y main issue with this book is how the character attempts to gain leverage. To try and get the books antagonist to give her what she wants, Caitlyn threatens to kill herself and it's treated as a clever move on her part which yeah, I get he's the villain, but I wasn't a fan of a character using suicide threats to manipulate being framed as a good decision. I feel like there were a lot of other ways she could have gotten what she wanted and what the plot needed to continue that are a lot less problematic.