ARC Book Review | Last Stop Klindenspiel

Format: e-ARC
Source: Author via Goodreads
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 
Publication Date: November 25, 2014
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Combining the survival instincts made famous in The Hunger Games with the intensity of The Book Thief, Last Stop Klindenspiel is a tightrope of horrors that will make anyone think twice about running away to join the circus…

It’s been eight years since the Second World War has ended – long enough for people to forgive and forget – but feelings of hate run deep in Norway against people like fifteen-year-old Katya Holberg and her family. Separated from her father when the Allies liberated Poland, Katya and the rest of her family are sent to an internment camp in Oslo where they’re eventually rescued by a Norwegian war hero.

After four tumultuous years together, he brutally murders her sister, forcing Katya and her mother to seek refuge with her grandmother in faraway Droeback where Katya’s mother is murdered by villagers soon after their arrival. Fearing for her safety, Katya’s grandmother sends her to Klindenspiel, the only circus of its kind in Europe, where all of the performers are children.

Once there, Katya quickly learns that all of the young performers share her terrible secret, making them more like her than she could ever have imagined. Things become complicated when Klindenspiel’s artistic director pairs Katya with Aleks, a good-looking but secretive seventeen-year-old, who’s skilled in acrobatics and dance.

Curious about, and attracted to her new partner, Katya secretly follows him one night and learns the horrible truth behind Klindenspiel’s magic. With the curtains about to rise on Klindenspiel’s newest show, Katya and Aleks must give the performance of a lifetime – both on and off the stage – because their lives, and those of their fellow performers, are depending on it.

My Thoughts:

*I received this book for an honest review from the author.*

Where do I begin? I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was nervous at first reading this because I was thinking it would be a lot more history oriented, but the amount of history in the book was perfect.  I enjoyed Marta Tandori's writing style so very much. Everything flowed together so well and it kept me intrigued as I turned each page (well as I my Kindle turned the page). 

Each and every paragraph added more and more into the book. I do not think there was a paragraph that was there and had no importance. You know how in some books there are pages/chapters that are there just for fillers - not in Last Stop Klindenspiel. Each paragraph was perfect and I think that's why I enjoyed this book so much. I learned so much throughout the first few chapters and I liked that. I didn't have to wait for it to get good...it started off that way.

The book had me on my toes - I never knew where it was going to go. Surprise after surprise hidden among many of the pages (although I predicted one of them). There is loads of heart-break, struggle, angst, and death...but there is also love, desire, happiness, and relief. I loved how there were so many emotions throughout the book and it kept my heart going on so many roller-coasters. 

I was on the fence about whether to rate the book with just 4.5 or move it on up to a five. The only read I wanted to bring it down is because I wanted more and the other books that go along with this book do not seem to give me the more that I want. But, then I thought, I am judging on this book and this book alone and I immediately chose the 5 stars. 

Book Review | Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

Series: Born of Illusion #1

Format: ARC

Source: Won

Publisher: Balzer & Bray

Publication Date: June 11, 2013

Pages: 384

Goodreads | Amazon

Anna Van Housen helps her medium mother Margeurite do stage shows and seances in 1920s New York. Possibly Houdini's daughter, she can sense feelings and see the future. Frightening visions show her mother in peril. New downstairs neighbor Cole introduces her to a society that studies people with gifts like hers. Sorting truth from illusion yields her destiny.

To be perfectly honest, if I hadn’t won Born of Illusion I probably never would have picked it up, not because the blurb didn’t sound interesting but because 99% of the time Historical Fiction and I do not get along.  But surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book.  I adored the mystical and mysterious world of magic and mediums that is Born of Illusion.  

Anna Van Housen has always assisted her mother in her mentalist stage show and séances.  Not only is Anna a great magician, but unlike her sham of a mother, Anna actually has physic abliitles.  She’s able to sense what people around her are feeling and she can also see the future.  Anna has always tried to hide her abilities, because if her power hungry mother found out she would use Anna in any way that she could in order to increase her own status and wealth.  

I thought Anna was a very easy character to like; she smart, nice, determined and extremely talented. However, I really hated  diskliked Anna’s mother.  She’s domineering, controlling and not to mention the fact that she’s a scam artist.  I also didn’t like the way that she would sabotage Anna’s magic act whenever she was mad at her or when she felt like Anna was outshining her, although at the end of this book she redeems herself a little.  I loved Mr. Darby and I really wish that he could have been a bigger part of this book.

There is a little bit of a love triangle in Born of Illusion, but it was easy enough to choose who to root for because one of them I did not trust at all and as it turns out I was right not to trust him.  

Although Born of Illusion is a historical fiction and a little obvious on who the ‘bad guys’ are, I still really enjoyed reading it.  Would I have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t historical fiction? Probably, but I would still recommend this book to those of you who enjoy the historical fiction genre.

Book Review | The Beautiful and The Cursed by Page Morgan

Series: The Dispossed #1

Format: Hardcover

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: May 14, 2013

Pages: 352

Goodreads | Amazon

 

After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbing, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all.  It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

 And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead-she can feel it deep in her soul-but she knows he’s in grave danger.  It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths.  And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, the can never again be buried.

 

I must admit that I was hesitant to read The Beautiful and The Cursed because Historical Fiction is usually a hit or miss with me, miss being the most likely but the cover is absolutely gorgeous and I was really interesting in the whole Gargoyle thing so I had to give it a try.

After a strange and disgraceful accident leaves Ingrid Waverly’s reputation shattered and her heart broken, she is forced to leave her home in London and move to the mysterious city of Paris with her mother and sister, Gabby.  Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, went ahead to Paris to find the perfect place for their mother’s gallery.  But the Waverly women aren’t expecting the disturbing news that Grayson hasn’t been seen or heard from in four days when they get to Paris. 

 Ingrid feels deep in her soul that Grayson is not dead so she and Gabby go on a quest to find Grayson and they will stop at nothing to locate him.  Along the way they learn about a secret world full of Demons, Hellhounds and Gargoyles.  Ingrid and Gabby quickly learn that not everyone is as they seem. 

 I really enjoyed Gabby’s outspoken personality and Ingrid’s stubbornness but I really didn’t have a deep connection with any of the characters in this book.

 I hate having to say this because I have heard NOTHING but amazing things about The Beautiful and The Cursed and I really wanted to be like everyone else and LOVE this book.  Unfortunately, I just could not get into the story.  I don’t know if it’s because this book was told in four different POVs and I had a hard time making a connection with the characters or if it’s because historical books and I just don’t get along, but whatever the reason, it wasn’t for me.

 If you are looking for a new species to fall in love with or you love historical fiction then I believe you should give this book a try.  Or even if you are like me and most of the time you don’t like the historical setting then you should still give it a try because not everyone has the same tastes and just because I didn’t care for a book doesn’t mean it won’t become someone else’s favorite.