I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

Actual review closer to 2.5 stars. I struggled with this. The story and the characters didn't grab me and keep my attention. It felt like something was missing for me.

Circus of Wonders is a fantastic Historical Fiction from Elizabeth Macneal. It perfectly captures the feel of the Victorian Era, and Victorian Era storytelling.

The story features Nell, a girl covered in birthmarks and Toby and Jaspar who run a circus. Jaspar is the alpha, he is ringmaster for the circus. Toby who idolizes Jaspar is a bit dumpy and socially clumsy. Due to circumstances in their past, Toby feels beholden to Jaspar, and Jaspar takes great advantage of his power over Toby. Nell who a social outcast feels both resentful and thankful of the circus brothers. Along with these three, Ms. McNeal provides a fantastic secondary cast of “circus freaks”. This eccentric group forms a supportive family of sorts where Nell not only finds acceptance but flourishes with her growing fame.

There are beautifully crafted messages of family relationships, the evils of power and the effects of exploitation. The quality of the storytelling captured me from the start and the plight of the characters grabbed hold of my heart and squeezed tight.

At the heart of this story is Nell, whose birthmarks brought her to the Circus of Wonders. Jasper is the overly ambitious and cruel ringmaster and Toby is the brother who has always lived in his shadow. Love, loyalty, betrayal, greed, loneliness, jealousy and belonging are all explored. The writing made me feel like I got to know these characters well and the tension made this book difficult to put down.

Note: This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I was really excited for this Victorian historical fiction book about a 'Circus of wonders," sadly though it fell a little flat for me. Set in 1860s England at the height of the popularity of all things different and macabre. Jasper Jupiter and his brother Toby aspire to create a circus to rival that of Barnum and Bailey's. The stars seem to align for the brothers when they come across Nell, a young woman with mottled skin, whose father sells her to the circus for a pittance.

Told in alternating perspectives from Jasper, Toby and Nell we get to see the rise of the circus, Jasper's growing ambition, Toby's growing love for Nell and Nell finding a confidence and self-acceptance she never would have had in her tiny village home. Overall it was interesting and if you enjoyed books like The night circus, Water for Elephants or The museum of extraordinary things by Alice Hoffman, this might be right up your alley. For me, it was hard not to make comparisons and this story just wasn't quite on the same level as the others. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

There are times when I find myself wishing for something other than the standard 1-5 star book rating system. Do I save the five-star ratings for a read that's truly transformative? Or can I give five-star ratings to works that aren't utterly remarkable, but that are really solid and satisfying exemplars of their genre?

Case in point: Circus of Wonders, which was a thoroughly engaging read, one that left me up past midnight because I simply *had* to finish it before I could go to bed. Even though I can think of five-star books that seemed five-starrier to me than Circus of Wonders, I can't see lumping it in with the four-stars. So, five stars it is.

Circus of Wonders is a title that's predictable on some levels: Victorian circus; overbearing, temperamental ringmaster; girl sold by her father as a "freak"; conflicted loyalties between brothers; a love that is both intense and incomplete. In Circus of Wonders these elements really work, even if they don't always feel utterly new.

Circus of Wonders is well worth reading for the characters it introduces, the complex relationships it explores, the moments when the writing become truly radiant. And, if you're me, the whole Victorian circus thing doesn't hurt, even if it's familiar ground. Circus of Wonders is a book any reader of historical fiction can pick up feeling certain that hours of enjoyment are in store.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

As sad as it is beautiful this is a story of circus life in Victorian England. Curiosities, freaks and oddities, young women were bought and sold to be publicly displayed. Not a glamorous life as some movies tend to show but there is a deep level of community that takes place among people who do not fit into everyday life. Nell, a leopard girl finds love and family after being sold by her father to a treacherous circus owner. As she grows into her fame she learns her worth and achieves a measure of happiness. My heart still aches yet glad to have read this. Thanks to netgalley to read and review.

Looking at a Victorian circus of freaks, this book does an amazing job of showing the juxtaposition of vanity and ego with self-esteem issues and questioning one's belonging. In ring one we have Jaspar who is good looking, confident, and seems to know exactly who to befriend to get ahead. In ring two we have his brother Toby who is unrefined, a bit oversized, and has been told time and time again he isn't worth much. In ring three we have Nell who has a skin disease that has resulted in discoloration in the shapes of celestial bodies. Considered a freak in her home town, she is still astonished when her father sells her to Jaspar. But that is where the magic happens! I loved the sense of family within the circus, how Nell comes to see the value in herself, and how she and Toby are able to pull each other from the darkness. Of course things aren't perfect, but that is what keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. A great book to make you wonder really what it might be like to run away to the circus!

Thanks to Atria Book /Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, for their download, allowing me to read and review this ARC. Kindle edition published February 1, 2022.
3 stars

I had some trouble getting into this book. I felt as if ideas were not well completed and it moved from topic to topic within a short sentence, making it feel fragmented and incohesive. Luckily after the first couple chapters it seems to flow much better.

This is the story of a circus in the mid 1800's. Two brothers own the circus - Jasper the overbearing dominant brother and Toby the gentle quiet giant. After being bought from her father, Nell becomes the main attraction. After being summoned by the Queen of England for a meeting, Nell becomes the enemy - Jasper is jealous. What is Jasper capable of? What does his temper, his illusions, his insecurities, make Jasper do and who's life does it destroy? Is it Nell's? Is it Toby's? Is it his own?

This was my first book by Macneal. It took me a little time to settle into her writing style. As I mentioned, it seemed choppy and disconnected in the beginning, however it smoothed out within the first chapter or two. I was able to enjoy her characters and the story plot. I will read Macneal again.

OMG. For my own mental health, I had to quit this book. Never have I had such a depressing 10% of a book. I was really looking forward to this read, but ultimately, this is not the book for me.

Set in Victorian England, this one is all about the behind-the-scenes of a circus. Circus of Wonders is about Jasper Jupiter and his brother Toby running a circus that provide “freak” shows. Jasper’s dream is of making it big in a large city. Toby, the shy, feels he owes his brother for always protecting him in different situations. He helps with getting the flyers put up before a show and fixing anything that needs repair. During a show in a small village, a man approaches Jasper with an offer of selling his daughter, who is no ordinary girl. Nelly was born with birthmarks throughout her bottom that makes her look like a leopard. Jasper sees a great opportunity.

19-year-old Nell is a quiet girl ashamed of her body because of the bullying she has endured about her birthmarks until she accepts that she is part of the circus. Wings made of metal lift her up in the air, sending her flying like butterfly. For the first time in her life, she feels alive.

The story kept me intrigued but it felt monotoned. It needed more excitement.
Thank you to NetGalley, Author and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not going to lie, I struggled with this one, but also enjoyed it.

I absolutely love the premise of the book and the plot, and the characters, and their emotions, motivations, inner thoughts - it all felt very real, disturbingly real in some cases, especially Jasper's. Not all main characters are good and kind and heroic. Sometimes our insides are dark and conflicting and borderline monstrous in times of crisis.

This book was very, very well done, although I did feel like the plot moved very slowly at times, and I felt like things with the Jackal just kind of dropped off with no real resolution after all a great deal of build-up to a finale that never quite came - although the finale of the circus itself was quite the spectacle and I did enjoy that, along with Nellie's rise with Pearl and Stella in a show of their own making.

The relationships and stories of the characters in this book were often more than they seemed at first glance. The ties of friends and family were respected and earned.

When Nell is just a child, she is unwillingly sold to the circus by her family, and spends days devastated that no one is following or trying to rescue her. Soon, she decides that she must be on her own, and the rest of the performers really don’t look too miserable. With a change of heart, success is at her fingertips. While whole books have been built around this part of the circus, this book had even more.

All the handbills gush about the fabulous circus as Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders, but Nell wonders about Jasper’s quiet brother, who she first noticed before she was even sold to the circus. Jasper and Toby apparently had a whole life before the circus. They were part of a family with its own issues, and then they were part of the Crimean War. These events perhaps made up more of their personalities and loyalties than their lives with the circus.

While the circus was the first feature that made this book intriguing, as the family drama is revealed more and more, the book becomes much more complex. Overall, I’d give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It told of the whole lives of the brothers, and then the lives they inspired in others. The characters had interesting stories of being true to themselves, and the responsibilities of how one persons’ choices may change the life of someone else. I’d recommend this book for those who like circus stories or late-1800s family dramas.

Truth be told, I almost abandoned this book as it wasn’t grabbing me initially. But I’m really glad I stuck it through to hear the tale of Nellie Moon. This is a story about finding hope in the face of abandonment and acceptance of one’s identity. It is about controlling one’s destiny.
The story is very dark about a young village girl born with skin afflictions that make her an oddity although beloved by her brother. Her leopard-like spots make her a perfect candidate for Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders. Jasper Brown is a tragic character who has dreamed, along with his brother Toby, to be the greatest showman on Earth. After being sold by her drunk father, she is whisked away into a new life. As Stella the Songbird tells her, she will be able to control her life better in this new world. Nell finds her home amongst the wonders, some romance, and for the first time an acceptance of herself.
Set as a gothic historical fiction, this story gives you the background of the Victorian circuses that held the attention of the people back then. I appreciated seeing the persons beyond the oddity reminding us to know that while these wonders were different, they were people, with human feelings. I appreciate the characters are complex and that this story celebrates the strength of the women to live life on their terms. While slow to begin and repetitive in the recount of the affects and actions of the Crimean War and their friend Dash, I encourage you to stick with it to the end because he ending is worth the wait.

Many thanks to #netgalley #circusofwonders #elizabethmacneal for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book caught me unaware. The reasons I wanted to read it were probably the same as most people who are drawn to a book like this: the time period (Victorian era) and the word “circus”. I can’t help that I’m a sucker for fiction set in that time period and with that setting. But I thought I was getting a whole lot less angst and a little more romance than what this book offers.

Just because this book wasn’t what I expected doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. Do I enjoy book blurbs that don’t let you know what almost half the book is about? No, not entirely, but this book is really good, despite the fact that a good 20% of this book is spent in flashbacks either the ringmaster (Jasper Jupiter) or his little brother Toby (a photographer) have of their childhood and then the Crimean War.

Yeah, the book blurb says nothing at all about the triple-switching, third-person POV narrative or the Crimean War. I was surprised, but not entirely put off, because Macneal writes it all so effortlessly and with a great deal of knowledge of the war and of the grim reality of the circus industry in the 19th century.

I would’ve liked to rate this book higher, but I had a really hard time with the end of this book. It seemed to me as if the ending didn’t match the book. I would go into that part more, but it would be a mess of spoilers no matter how I tried to disguise it, so I will leave it at that. The ending feels rushed, mismatched, and unpolished.

On the whole, it’s a solid read for fans of Victorian fiction and circus settings. I truly enjoyed it.

Set in Victorian England, “Circus of Wonders” by Elizabeth Macneal follows a cast of characters all trying to find a place to belong. Nell, ostracized by the people in her village, struggles to make a happy life in Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders after she is sold by her father to the showman. Toby longs for the acceptance of his brother Jasper, and for his forgiveness of a terrible tragedy in their past. Jasper wants to take his place among the greatest showmen and perform before the queen herself. The other members of the circus, who are all special in their own ways, dream of peace and safety.

This is a wonderful novel. The author skillfully weaves an atmosphere of magic and emotion. The reader comes to genuinely care about the characters and hopes that they each find what they’re looking for. This is a dark novel, however, and is filled with descriptions of human pain and suffering. Behind the glittering illusion of the circus, dwell danger and lies. There is always a sense that all will go horribly wrong. It’s a reminder that all that glitters isn’t gold and that greed, corruption, and cruelty often lurk just under the surface.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this captivating book in exchange for my honest review.

CIRCUS OF WONDERS by Elizabeth Macneal was a perfect escape into a time and place I have never been, flying beside remarkable Nell as she comes into her own power as extraordinary talent and exceptional human being. Macneal conjures a sensually lush story with villains and heroes in a time when unthinkable horrors were everyday occurrences on the world stage and in the individual making their way in a tough, brutal world with moments of stunning beauty. I was captivated by the brothers Toby and Jasper, the circus troupe including the unforgettable Stella. Macneal's story kept me reading way too late into the night -- in the best of all possible ways. I received an early reader copy of the novel and the opinions expressed here are my own unbiased thoughts.

CW for this book: Emotional abuse, manipulation, sexual assault.

I feel like this book wrung me out and left me exhausted, but in a good one. On the one hand, it's a cautionary tale about reaching too far to be someone, but on the other about the freedom when you do that. The real difference, the book suggests, is if you choose to bully and belittle others to get ahead, or if you do so by building community and taking others up with you.

On the more basic scale, this book is about a circus and its workers. There are the "freaks," who band together to build community, and the ring master, Jasper, who thinks he controls the whole thing. In the middle, is his brother, Toby, whom Jasper has controlled his whole life. This novel's characters are obsessed with stories, from Nell who hates that fairy tales end with a character becoming whole and normal, instead of embracing their difference, to Jasper planning how he learn from Victor Frankenstein and Daedalus, to Toby, whose trauma and interest in novels brings him to believe he will be punished for his small accidents throughout his life. Jasper himself creates stories around all his marvels, and believes he can somehow control the whole narrative, not allowing others their own freedom and agency.

Early on, I thought all the foreshadowing was annoying, but found myself tense for the last several hours of the book, waiting for the events that had to happen to actually occur. I didn't expect to suddenly be so invested in the book; it's a mark of incredible story telling. None of the foreshadowed events were exactly what I expected, either, so the ending still left me surprised.

I don't want to give everything away, but I do highly recommend this book. The female "freaks" live happily ever after without becoming normal humans, and the bad man is punished. There's no LGBTQ rep in the book, but there is disability representation. I'd recommend it to fans of Nina LaCour and Erin Morgenstern.

In 1860s England, circus mania is sweeping the nation. Crowds jostle for a glimpse of the lion-tamers, the dazzling trapeze artists and, most thrilling of all, the so-called “human wonders.” Jasper Jupiter is eager to cash in on all of that with his Circus of Wonders. When they go through a small town on the coast, a man sells his grown daughter who has birthmarks that cover her body to Jasper, and she becomes known as "Queen of the Moon and Stars"". Soon her name and picture is worth more than Jasper's on the keepsakes they sell. Once Nell fnally sees her worth and finds her place in the world, she won't let anyone bring her back down again.
I really enjoyed the author's previous book, "The Doll Factory", but unfortunately, I did not care for this one as much. It was just too depressing for me. It started with them roasting a zebra and it went downhill from there.....at least for me anyway. Too much mistreatment of women, exploiting people for their deformities, buying people..... I know things like that went on, so I guess this just wasn't the book for me.

I have always been a fan of circus-type stories. I remember watching a few Circus-themed movies on the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights as a child and loved the whole "running away to join the circus" theme with all the different performers: trapeze artists, tight-rope walkers, the acrobats and the whole cast of characters often performing thrilling acts.

Given this, I was excited to read this book. It's a historical fiction novel set in 1886 England -- but was not quite the "feel good" circus story I loved as a child.

This tale is about Nell, a young woman who was born with birthmarks that cover her body. She is shunned by almost everyone she knows in her small village - with the exception of her beloved brother Charlie .

After she is sold to Jasper Jupiter's Circus of Wonders -- a circus made up of performers who have physical deformities or differences -- by her own father, Nell eventually becomes the star attraction. She finds not only wide-spread fame, but also love, acceptance and a community amongst her new circus family.

But she is owned and controlled by Jasper with his ambition and ego rampant as he tries to be the greatest showman, always wanting more and threatening to destroy everything around him. And there is Toby, Jasper's brother who is gentle and kind but tied to his brother as they are both haunted by the past.

At times, I found it to be a difficult read as it delves into the world of Circus and "Freak Shows" that were popular at this time in history. The story is told by Nell, Jasper and Toby and includes themes of power, control, family issues, jealousy, circus life and exploitation. You learn about the attitudes of people in Victorian England, how people were gawked at and put on display because they were different for entertainment purposes. I found this to be disturbing and it makes me sad to know that people at this time viewed this to be ok.

I truly loved the character of Nell - her strength, determination, and courage -- and the other cast of women who performed with her in the circus. I would have loved to know more about their backgrounds and wish that would have been developed a bit more.

Overall, Elizabeth MacNeal did such a good job with this book and giving the reader a sense of how things were at the time. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

1866

Nell was born and raised in a coastal village in southern England. Her family grows flowers for a living. It's an ordinary job. Nell; however, is not ordinary. She has birthmarks that speckle her skin. While others in her village are pairing up and making lives, Nell stands apart - on her own, different.

One day, The Circus of Wonders arrives in their coastal village. Jasper Jupiter and his brother, Toby are the proprietors, and their circus is full of oddities, the exotic, and those who stand out from society. People gather around to see what the circus has to offer. Nell's father goes to the circus as well, but it is to sell Nell to Jasper while his brother, Toby, tells him not to do it. But Jasper views Nell as his very own Leopard Girl and has dollar signs in his eyes. He is going to make Nell a star!

Poor Nell is taken and after the devastation and horror of being sold by her father wears off, Nell begins to feel that the circus might be the right place for her. She gains notoriety and friends, she feels a sense of belonging, she has an identity.

This was a highly original, unique, and engrossing novel. What does it mean to fit it? What does it mean to be accepted? What would you do for family? Where does your allegiance lay?

Wonder no more, Circus of Wonders was a wonderful book. I enjoyed the themes and Nell's story. Jasper and Toby had stories to tell as well. Of course, Nell's takes center stage.

Well written, well researched and well told.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.