Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Circus Summer Tour! Review!

Ladies and Gentlemen feast your eyes on the next act! My 5 star review on this summer's death defying new series sure to be the next big thing. Like the young adults in Circus Summer this book must compete to the death to get to the top too. Ha just kidding it already won my heart. Anyway read up on all my thoughts of Circus Summer.

Title- Circus Summer (Circus of Curiosities #1)
Author-Kailin Gow
Source- ARC paperback 
Pages- 270
Publisher- theEdgebooks
Publication Date- June 5th, 2012

Goodreads Summary-

In post-apocalypse America, every season, the Circus of Curiosities visits the city, bringing with it the most fantastic circus acts that are beautiful, majestic, curious, and death-defying. Every season performers for these acts are chosen from the young men and women in each town, trained, and sent to perform in a live grand performance, performed literally to the death. Two performers from Sea Cliff, a beach town at the outskirts of The Center find themselves chosen to be in this Summer's Circus Act. Both must win at any cost, but could they ignore their feelings for each other? Leela Sinclair needs to win in order to get to The Center where she can get medical help from the best physicians for her ailing mother, plague with a condition no one have heard of. For Zachary Nile, his reasons for becoming a performer at the Circus is more mysterious.  Only the ringmaster and the Circus of Curiosities owner Dex Hightower (Dr. Dex) knows what the touring Circus is really about amidst the magic and splendor.  Despite the Great War and the poverty surrounding the land except for the towns fortunate enough to be near the Center, Dr. Dex and the Circus performers all know, "The show must go on."


~Review~

Cover Thoughts-
I like it. :) It has the circus feel to it with the horse rearing and the girl possibly Leela looking calm, collected, and determined.  

First Thought-
I have never heard of anything like this! A dystopian with killer circuses! This has got to be the next big thing in the book world. Secrets, romance, betrayal, and adventure await in this book.

What I liked-
The Show must go on! I see this whole book through a kaleidoscope of color and music for every action scene. Everything is so vividly detailed that I feel like I am there at every performance feeling Leela's fear and determination. My favorite scene was the one where Leela and Zachary know there true feelings for each other. I felt so entirely sad for Thomas, Leela's longtime friend. Leela has to get to the Center of The United. She believes they may have the cure for her mother. Her mother and brother only have Leele to take care of them so the circus might be exactly what she needs. Of course she heard rumors but she doesn't know what she got into until the first performer dies. It is then that she knows its a competition to the death. And only the top survivor makes it to the finals. Every death defying knife thrower, trapeze, fire eater, and animal tamer scene was awesome. Leela finds herself in the middle of a war between humans and the invaders who take over peoples bodies. Somehow they made into the Center. Now it isn't just about her mother anymore its about saving the entire United now. The end just blew me away. I wanted to know what was on the note the ringmaster gave Zachary the entire time and finally I figure out what was said. This is my next favorite dystopian series!
Here's a Quote:
What ifs. So many what ifs, and most of them are bad. There are so many ways my life can go wrong from here, and not very many it can work out well.


What I disliked-
I think it was too short. I felt like things were happening too fast. I wish I could have read a few more scenes with Leela and her mother. It seemed like she hardly saw her. The story would have been way better if there was more to it. Maybe a scene in Thomas's point of view or something. I also was reminded of The Hunger Games a lot. A love triangle, the girl and guy is part of the "games" one guy wishes he could take her place and the girl chooses the guy with her. The mother is sick and doesn't do much. There is a younger sibling. The girl does most of the work to keep the family going. I bet I could go on and on with similarities but I could also go on and on with differences. Circus Summer does have its own originality even if it is similar to The Hunger Games.

Overall Readability-
Very suspenseful and an all in one sitter. I wanted to stay up all night finishing it and I was very sad to know the second book won't be out for a while. :( I strongly recommend this book to The Hunger Games lovers or to people who just love reading dystopians (books set in the future with societies that fail).

My Final Thought-
If you want to live, protect the champion. *goosebumps*

5 out of 5 Haunted Roses


There is a $100 Amazon Gift Card contest! It is found within the pages of the Kindle edition of Circus Summer! 

~Author Information~
Kailin Gow uses her author platform to bring awareness to issues affecting young adult and women. She has appeared on national radio as a regular guest on topics such as body image, self-esteem, dating and sexual relationships, bullying, and more; often brought up in her fiction books for young adults and women. She has won multiple awards from the International Book Awards and the Green Book Festival. Selling over half a million books, Kailin Gow has been a bestselling author of over 100 distinct books which includes the Desire Series, PULSE, Wicked Woods, and the Frost Series. She has been professionally published since 2001. She was one of the first authors for young readers to write books for girls with supernatural elements. Her first book series about extraordinary girls guided by an angel in 2001, was a success, selling thousands of print copies in days, and inspiring girl book clubs around the U.S. In 2003, she came out with more series, including The Fairy Rose Chronicles, about fairies in Feyland. Her books have been recommended by PBS Kids, US Mental Health Association, the PTA, and homeschooling associations in the United States. 

Her Bitter Frost Series, PULSE Series, and other book series are being developed into MMO Games by SEE GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT, one of the foremost entertainment developers in the world, known for developing world-reknown blockbuster films into games. The Frost Series and PULSE MMO Games are set to release late 2013 or early 2014. 


She is a graduate of the Annenberg School for Communications Masters in Management program in journalism, marketing and publishing at the University of Southern California.


You can find her here:


Twitter: @kailingow


Her Publisher's Site: http://www.theedgebooks.com

Official website and blog: http://www.kailingow.wordpress.com