*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy* (review of the 2025 re-write editions)

If you know me, my favourite author is L.R. Lam, right beside Elizabeth May. My favourite book of all time is Seven Devils by L.R. Lam and Elizabeth May. When I saw the news that Lam was rewriting their first trilogy, I was so excited! Elizabeth May did something similar, but aged her series up (The Falconer).

The first Micah Grey trilogy, I only read Pantomime and Shadowplay. I never read Masquerade even though I wanted to! I was so excited to read this edition of Pantomime, and I’m so glad it lived up to my expectations. Lam’s writing is one of my favourites, and this is no different.

In the authors note at the beginning of this book, Lam mentioned that multiple readers have reached out to them to say they named themself Micah after Micah Grey, and I love that. If I read this series when I was first figuring out my name, Micah definitely would’ve been up there in options!

Micah’s character growth in this book is one of my favourites, and I’m so excited to see how this series continues with the re-writes, and also how it ends! Funnily enough, when Lam announced they were releasing re-writes of this trilogy, that was around the time I was looking at finally finishing it! It was like fate telling me to wait lol.

An astonishingly beautiful revision. Reading this felt let coming home. The worldbuilding is delicious, the characters are so loveable, and the pacing is perfect. This book is filled with queer joy and whimsical magic, everything I love in a book and more. L has smashed it out the park, I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the trilogy

I've been meaning to read this for years, ever since I saw Jacqueline Carey put it on her to-read list, and I'm glad I waited if only because I think the wait allowed me to appreciate it more.

On the surface, Pantomime is a dual narrative, shared between Micah Grey and Gene.

Micah is a runaway who has entered into the circus and, by sheer bravado alone, has pretty much secured himself a place as one of the acrobats. This also allowed me to enjoy some of my favourite scenes of trust and intimacy that you just don't see written a lot in narratives because there just isn't any cause in the majority of books. I am happy to say, this is a good exception.

Gene is a well bred though boyish young woman, whose closest friends are all males, including her brother, and struggles with the social restraints that continue to be put upon her by her mother, predominantly.

As things go further, we see that there are very good reasons why Gene is not as feminine as her mother thinks perhaps she should be and, ultimately, it turns out that Micah and Gene are the past and present versions of the same character.

This is a very clever narrative technique that keeps things interesting the whole way through, as well as giving us a broad scope of Gene/Micah's whole life, where they come from and the reasons why they are living the way they are now.

Drystan, the white clown, is I think the circus character who knows the truth about Micah's identity for the longest, certainly he is the only one who speaks to Micah about it in any clear way. Drystan also has his own secrets, some of which are explicitly stated, and some are only alluded to and which we can only hope get further explored in the next book, Shadowplay.

Aenea was the surprisingly beautifully realised young woman who falls in love with Micah and leads Micah into such wonderings as to whether he's fallen in love with her as a man or as a woman.

The breadth of gender and sexuality diversity just within these pages, and how it does not detract at all from story, is breathtaking and just another example of the fantastic fiction that has been coming out in young adult throughout the past decade or so.

Pantomime was one of the best reads I had this month alone! Omg L. R. Lam is a genious! The characters are perfectly built, the story is so well written.. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.

This is an ARC review of the updated 2025 version. This review is my honest opinion of the book.

Micah's story drew me in from the get-go. I planned on reading for just 10 minutes before bed yesterday, but ended up reading 50% of the story in one go. My heart broke for Micah so many times throughout this story, and got glued together again too. It's not easy to live in a world that wants you to choose to be one thing, when you are and cannot be one of those things. Micah's struggles around that are portrayed so realistically and respectfully. You feel his pain, his joy, his doubts, as he tries to find where he fits in.

The descriptiveness of tbe writing is just right. It painted a vivid picture, but we never got lost in flowery descriptions of everything in this world.

The flashbacks worked really well. Through them the understanding of our main character is very much enhanced, and they don't take you out of the story at all - when we switched back to the here-and-now I was engaged immediately.

There's so much mystery in this story - what is Penglass? What does Vestige do exactly? What happened in this world to make it the way it is - and what changes are coming? We've got our characters build up and the stage is set - I'm very curious to see what happens next.

Pantomime follows the story of Micah Grey, and his life both before and after joining the circus. The story is told form duel timelines, so we can understand how Micah came to be in the position he is in as well as following his progress with the circus.

Micah is a fantastic character, and I absolutely loved how he was portrayed. The fact that he is intersex is treated respectfully, and his sadness at having to hide who he truly is conveyed beautifully - I could feel how much it hurt him to keep his secret and feel that he will never be accepted. His interactions with other characters - particularly Aenea - are a wonderful platform for showing how he is both cherished but also separate, never being able to fully open up.

The world building is wonderful - I especially liked the 'quotes' at the beginning of each chapter that give more depth and understanding to the places Micah inhabits. I would like to learn more though, so I am hoping that more will be explained in the rest of the trilogy.

The magical element - including the 'ghost' really intrigued me - I want to know more! What is Vestige? What are the Penglass globes scattered around the island? What happened to the Alder and the Chimera? The story left me with so many questions and I am looking forward to having them answered in the next books.

Overall, I really loved this book. Micah is wonderful, and I have never read another character like him - he is truly unique. I loved the author's descriptions and settings - the author doesn't shy away from both the beauty of the world Micah lives in and the ugliness that often comes with being different and being new. I found Pantomime to be both whimsical and magical, with incredible writing about gender identity and intersex people that is handled with respect and sensitivity. I can't wait to read the next book!

This was my first L R Lam novel and I absolutely loved. Perfect mix of fantasy and vibes. The circus is an untapped trope/genre for me. And I had a great time!

Even more perfect than I remember it being, PANTOMIME is a piece of art that has stuck with me since I first read it and is now even better with the author's preferred changes.

Um…yes!
Pantomime was fantastic! I absolutely loved the first book in this series about Micah Grey!
The world building was phenomenal! I love a circus setting and this did not disappoint! The world Pantomime is based in sounds incredibly interesting and I can’t wait to read more about it and explore more of it.
The characters are wonderful! Micah is especially well written and their development is fantastic. Their relationship with Aeana felt a little rushed, but it had its place in the story. I am so intrigued by Drystan and I’m glad we’ll get more of him as the series continues!
The pacing of this book was excellent, the length was perfect, the world building fabulous and the character development spot on!

Rating: 4.25 stars

"Come one, come all. Ladies and gentlemen, and those who are both, between, or neither. Friends and foes, curs and skags, folks from near and far."

This book was SUCH a delight to read! It came at the perfect time when I was just itching for a circus-based, whimsical fantasy read, and boy did it deliver. The book follows our protagonist Micah Grey, a young intersex fellow who's escaped his old life to join the circus, and that's really only the start of his troubles. At R.H. Ragona's Circus of magic, Micah finds new purpose, friends, lovers, and a mysterious magic that seems to be following him. What happens when centuries-old mysteries and fairytales start to unravel before him?

I loved so much about this book - the world was vibrant and mysterious, the characters lovable and interesting, and of course the circus itself was as lively and whimsical as I'd hoped. I also really loved the way the book was structured so that we could slowly put together Micah's past while still seeing him move forward in the present - honestly, this was probably my favorite part of the book. This is also my first time reading a book with an intersex protagonist, which was incredibly interesting and eye-opening!

I will say that at times the worldbuilding was a little clunky/exposition heavy, and the magic system is still incredibly unclear to the point where it was sometimes difficult to fully understand the stakes of certain scenes. However, I do believe that this is part of the mystery that will continue to unfold over the next two books, and I cannot wait to read the rest of this series!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you so much to NetGalley and DAW publishing for the opportunity, and I look forward to the rest of my time with Micah Grey!

Yeh no… it looked a good premis based on the book blurb. Didn’t gel for me, not enough depth of characters nor action and twists and turns. Others have really liked it. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This was an excellent, enjoyable and empowering read. The plot flowed well and kept me eager to read. Micah's character was extremely likeable and I loved to see the journey around gender authenticity.

It was a feel-good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A really strong start to the trilogy! A kind of coming of age story where our main character runs away from home and starts a new life in a circus with secrets to hide.
The circus atmosphere was very unique and interesting, a few more characters could have been more fleshed out those we got all felt very different from each other.
Loved seeing the different aspects of circus life and showing how Micah dealt with all the challenges.
Lots of queer characters as well as some other perspectives we don't see in fantasy (I'll keep it vague for a minor spoiler sake)
Some hints of romance with a tension plot in the background I'm very excited to read more of this series!!

Could be good for fans of Pinocchio retellings in my opinion, or just a fans of circuses!

There is something inherently magical to me about running away to join the circus. Perhaps it was too many readings of The Runaway Bunny as a child? Either way, entering the Circus of Magic with Micah was as magical as it was intriguing.

All I wanted to do was give Micah a hug and tell him that everything was going to be okay. I loved the little interactions we got between him and the other performers, loved watching him learn who -and what - he was.

A few things do drop this from a solid 5/5 to a 4/5. There was an attempt at a found family trope I felt, but only really two of them were fleshed out enough to feel real. I also wanted more tie ins of the overarching plot - more places for Micah to use his magic - to make it feel less like a deus ex machina at pivotal moments.

Overall, a 4/5, and I will 100% be looking for the sequels.

I read this back in 2016 and loved the series then. I don't remember the plot though, so it's like rereading a new book! From my past review to my new review, I think L.R. Lam in the rewriting, did a great job smoothing out the kinks that were in the original book! Delighted to see this series republished.

Holy crap- I almost felt like too much of a peasant for getting to read this. It’s- amazinggggggg.

From the start, I was aghast with the way the author writes. It truly felt like I was getting thrown into a whole Time Capsule and world. So much respect for the author, the way they write is just so so good

What a whimsical, incredible, unique story with a main character who felt real and complex and well rounded. Lam's writing absolutely soars off the page and brings you in to such a lush and colourful world you cannot wait to explore more of.

A brilliant revision to the original story. Beautifully written, perfectly paced, and is absolutely my favourite book of the year.

So much of life takes place in grey areas, and so the surname that Micah chooses for himself is most apropos. Pantomime is very much a character driven story , which is not to say that the world and magic aren't vibrant and interesting, but the central character and their relationships and experiences guide the plot. We are treated to an interesting central character who runs away from an upper crust family to join the circus. Joining a traveling show may not be a unique plot device, but this character's story is quite original. I have read few books with an intersex central character and this adds a dimension, but this aspect does not wholly define Micah. In fact, what I enjoyed about this story is that Micah is still working on defining Micah. I know this story was previously published and is being reissues with some revision , and though I can see the perspective that some say that authors should move on and create new stories rather than rewriting the ones they have already written, I think this story brings to light some ideas that are being pushed into darkness in our times. The other advantage to this being a revised reissue is that the entire trilogy will be released in the space of a few months so anyone new to the series won't have long to wait to find out what comes next and those who were already fans of the series, perhaps waiting for the first publications with the usual delays between sequels can have a reread binge.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, DAW) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.