Reviews and Comments

Lost its way a little towards the end but an enjoyable read overall.

I agonised over this a bit and would say 3.5 stars verging on 4.

This to be honest is not the sort of book that I would normally pick up but I had read a lot of good things and saw it on sale.

The prose was really lovely at times, the circus itself was wonderfully imagined.

I didn't really warm to any of the characters to be honest. The contest didn't provide any tension. The central romance didn't feel real to me either and in fact there wasn't, in a lot of ways, much of a tale told.

I thoroughly enjoyed Golden Hill.

The dialogue is very sharp and the fencing between Mr Smith and Tabitha in particular is great reading.

Historical New York is very well drawn and realised.

The mystery of Mr Smith's intentions is quite gripping for most of the book.

The ending I found slightly disappointing but it can't take the shine off the book for me.

Highly recommended.

A wonderful word and engrossing characters but sadly let down by a weak almost disinterested finish.

Think I would give this 3.5 given the choice.

I really enjoyed the first 2 thirds of the book and it was a very solid 4 at that point.

The world building in particular, the 2 cities really came to life for me. I could really feel the tension between them.

The characters were well crafted and believable. The dynamics between them interesting.

The central mystery itself was absorbing.

The final book just doesn't stick any sort of landing for me. It feels incredibly rushed, almost like the author just had to get the book behind him and move on to another project.

Still gets 4 stars for me the ending is very weak but the journey towards it was engrossing and the world will stick with me for a while I think.