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Carnivalesque
It looked like any other carnival, but of course it wasn't. The boy saw it from the car window, the tops of the large trailer rides over the parked trains by the railway tracks. His parents were driving towards the new mall and he was looking forward to that too, but the tracery of lights above the gloomy trains caught his imagination...Andy walks into Burleigh's Amazing Hall of Mirrors, and then he walks right into the mirror, becomes a reflection. Another boy, a boy who is not Andy, goes home with Andy's parents. And the boy who was once Andy is pulled - literally pulled, by the hands, by a girl named Mona - into another world, a carnival world where anything might happen. Master storyteller Neil Jordan creates his most commercial novel in years in this crackling, filmic fantasy - which is also a parable of adolescence, how children become changelings, and how they find their own way.
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First published February 23, 2017
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July 10, 2025
To escape, on a raft of hopes and dreams, on a river of the unknown.
Image from audiotool.com
Step right this way ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, and magical beings, and be amazed!Let’s go back to the top of that list, as Burleigh’s Amazing Hall of Mirrors is where it all begins. When Andy Rackard, en route with his parents to a new shopping centre, spots a roadside carnival, he asks if they can stop in. Sure. A welcome break from the long-drive tension of their strained marriage. After making the rounds of the place, Andy spots the special house and wanders in. These are not, however, your usual fun-house reflections. Andy is promptly drawn into one, and is unable to find his way back out. He can see out, however, and watches in horror as a doppelganger Andy has been stripped from him, and leaves the carnival with Andy’s parents. No fun.
See a house of mirrors that cleaves a boy in half. Which version is the real one? Is it you? How about you?
Meet the unnerving Captain Mildew, or, maybe stay back
See thousands of rats scurrying like refugees from a vampire ghost ship
See circus performers defying the laws of gravity on high
See an ancient race slipping into and out of the shadows of the real world, in plain sight
See a magic substance from a surprising source and marvel at its powers
See a peripatetic fortune teller promising the gift of fertility to a desperate wanna-be mom
See a boy coming of age in the midst of his parents’ failing marriage
See characters in a story becoming self-aware
See adults be invaded by dark spirited body snatchers hell-bent on carnage
See a boy go too far with a girl and kill the buzz
See a spook house with actual spooks
Step right this way.
Before he is stuck behind the glass forever, a carnie, Mona, spots him and manages to pull him out. Not the usual way that unhappy boys join the circus, but it will do. After all, life with the battling mum and dad had become rather tiresome, and he succumbs to a Huckleberry urge.
Neil Jordan - image from BBC
If you suspect this is a coming of age tale, we have a winner!
It’s weird to see now how close the book is to my own young life, the place it’s set, the world it’s set in. Boys change so much when they get to 14. You look at your teenage son and think, where did he come from? What could he have to do with me? Then when he’s older, unless there’s some severe damage, he’ll come back to you. - from the BigIssue interviewBut the journey from this end of the midway to that is fraught with peril, and a bit of magic.
Image from PicClicking.com
The world can seem inexplicable, in ways both exciting and horrifying, when you lack the experience and maturity needed to judge. But how is a lad to gain the experience and the maturity without being challenged?
He felt a shiver, and wondered did others of his age feel that. As if they were someone else, someone they didn’t know; they were growing towards a shape, a definition of themselves that they would only recognize when they met it, in some distant future. And the future is always distant…Mona, and the rest of the carnies, are members of an ancient race who have survived in the normal world by flying under the radar. (even before there was radar). There are codes they live by, a fascinating history, and some of their abilities rise above the usual sorts of prestidigitation and extreme athleticism one expects at such venues. Andy, renamed Dany by Mona, must learn to adapt to his new world.
It stopped at traffic lights and level crossings, but anyone who had seen it pass would have no memory of it. It was happiest in the shadows, belonged to them and only retreated from them when it has set up its next, public reiteration.We follow the adventures of not-Andy as well. He is a decidedly strange sort, is sullen, does not sleep normally, takes pleasure in bizarre activities, and begins to gain a reputation. So, a teenager, right? We see not-Andy primarily through the eyes of his mom, Eileen, and consider the power (and fluidity?) of allegiances between children and this or that parent.
It was the communal virus, she realized, that came upon beloved children suddenly, removed them from whatever emotional realm they inhabited, with no hint that they might ever return.And we are led to wonder if there might be something more than what meets the eye to one’s parents.
So, we have two primary streams here, Dany and not-Andy. But there is more. The layer by layer revelation of carnie history feels like so much more than mere backstory.
Image from creative Photography Tips
Jordan does not settle for a bildungsroman with some fantastical elements, although there are plenty of those. He builds in reflections on religion, duality in life, the need for a home, any home, and he offers nods to classical literature as well, The Tempest being the strongest of these. Arabian Nights, among others, gets a mention. There is a bit of metafiction as well, in which Dany rises, or is pushed to rise, above the page and look down on himself as a character in a story, becoming self-aware. Do you think that Rumpelstiltskin, for example, or Snow White knew they were in a fairy tale? He also brings in a brief look at the power of illusion that arrived with the moving picture. Seems inevitable.
image from DP Vintage Posters
If you are not familiar with Jordan, here are a few items of note. He is a product of the Emerald Isle, a film director, screenwriter, and conjuror of multiple novels and short stories. He has directed such films as Mona Lisa, The Company of Wolves, Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game, for which he won an Academy Award for best screenplay, and a slew more. He has a cinematic perspective, for sure, and it is on full display here. He is able to make you see the fabulous scenery, and recoil at the horrors when they appear.
Despite the sometimes quite grimm (sorry) events that take place in this story, there is also a very fairy-tale feel to it (not that fairy tales are not also pretty bloody). The mixing of the innocent sounding F-T tone and the darker events was a bit jarring, but that may have been the intent.
There are many strengths to Carnivalesque. It is a triumph of creativity, both thematically and visually. So many interesting, gripping ideas. So much to see. One can feel for Dany (the supposedly mostly real Andy) and his struggle to find his true self, to face up to adult challenges, to come of age. There is much less attachment to the other characters. We can certainly feel Mona’s need for Dany, and one can certainly relate to Eileen, not only for her desire to become a parent, but for her chagrin at how it all turned out. I suppose I would have liked the book more if there had been more focus on connecting with characters and less on the carnivalesque fireworks. Still, a definitely engaging and thought-provoking read, with images that will stick with you, a caution not to fall asleep in the woods, and plenty of notions on which to reflect.
Published June 6, 2017
Review first posted – July 14, 2017
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Jordan does not appear to maintain an on-line presence
Interview on The Big Issue - Letter To My Younger Self - by Jane Graham - March 13, 2017
Apparently 2017 internet rumors of jordan’s demise were not true
June 16, 2017
With an intriguing premise about a mysterious carnival and a boy that gets body swapped after looking into a carnival mirror, I was hooked from the start.
However after this initial adrenaline rush, the story wanders further and further away from the answers we are seeking. Instead of focusing on Andy, the new boy and his mother, we hear from multiple carnies who are each questionable in terms of their relevance to the story. I struggled with the overly descriptive prose that seemed to be telling me nothing in so many words and stopped enjoying the story that seemed to be going nowhere.
Sadly, pushing through the story only increased my frustration as some random horror elements came through, with the ending as obscure as the rest of the book. A frustrating read that I didn't enjoy, unfortunately.
However after this initial adrenaline rush, the story wanders further and further away from the answers we are seeking. Instead of focusing on Andy, the new boy and his mother, we hear from multiple carnies who are each questionable in terms of their relevance to the story. I struggled with the overly descriptive prose that seemed to be telling me nothing in so many words and stopped enjoying the story that seemed to be going nowhere.
Sadly, pushing through the story only increased my frustration as some random horror elements came through, with the ending as obscure as the rest of the book. A frustrating read that I didn't enjoy, unfortunately.
April 21, 2017
This book had me at the title, not even the entire title, just the Carnival part. I'm completely and utterly intrigued by any and all things to do with circuses, carnivals, etc. Cover's nice too. The fact that I appreciate Neil Jordan as a director helped. So really, easy choice and I was really excited to read it. And yet something of a disappointment. It did indeed feature a carnival with a legendary (quite literally in this case) backstory and a terrific premise of a body switch via some tricky (tricked out really) reflective surfaces. Yes, a changeling story too, which I'm also partial to. And yet...something just didn't sing. Having never before experienced Jordan as a fiction writer, I can't be sure if this is his specific style, but there is an overall moody sleepy muted quality to it. Not sure if I'm describing it right, but it's more than just descriptions overwhelming actions. It somehow doesn't shine quite as bright as the story ought to. It's subdued, reserved, slowed down. In retrospect, much like some of Jordan's films, but in this instance I really wanted something other than stylishly understated and wanting it did leave me. It didn't veer into the YA territory as books with teenage protagonists tend to do, but did toe the line. Still entertaining and well written, just not magical. And one does wish for magic now and again, especially at a carnival show. Thanks Netgalley.
June 27, 2017
When asked "what's it about?" over the last four days, the only way I could think to describe it was, "a fever dream of a changeling story". The prose is breathless and magical and dark, dragging you through the odd, completely absorbing story for chapters at a time without noticing that you have yet to come up for air. Carnivalesque has a mythical quality to it, both beautifully described and frequently bare bones, providing fuel for the reader's imagination but also leaving an incredible amount of space for that same imagination to run wild in.
January 30, 2019
I kept reading because this novel reminded me in a direct, visceral, uncanny way of the stories my mother used to tell me at bedtime until I was 7 or so...my mother would start her story with a vivid character and describe them in great detail, and then some small, nearly inconsequential event would happen to this character, and then some other character would enter the story, and be described in turn with great detail, and this character too would experience some small event, and on and on, where the person I was supposed to care about as a protagonist kept changing every night or two, and the story never went anywhere.
The great nostalgia I felt while reading Carnivalesque, for precisely this meander of a storytelling style, kept me reading, because I had forgotten all about those times with my mother every night in those early years of my life.
But if you have no such fond memory of your mother telling you endless stories with no real story attached to them, then you may want to give it a skip.
The great nostalgia I felt while reading Carnivalesque, for precisely this meander of a storytelling style, kept me reading, because I had forgotten all about those times with my mother every night in those early years of my life.
But if you have no such fond memory of your mother telling you endless stories with no real story attached to them, then you may want to give it a skip.
March 26, 2017
I struggled with what to rate this book. On one hand it is so lush, the world within it so beautifully described and clever, on the other hand it felt sometimes so over described that I got bogged down. I adored the idea of losing yourself in a mirror and a different version of you stepping out. Someone who looks like you but isn't you steps out as you slide in. Weirdly good.
The beginning of the novel where this takes place is just so good. Andy has been taken to the circus by his parents, he slips away and enters the weird magical world of the carnies behind the mirror, the ageless magical people who exist on a kind of mould which is scraped off the circus and placed into vials. As Andy enters the mirror another version of Andy exits, a sinister version. This Andy is cold and uncommunicative, his mum knows there is something amiss but cannot figure out what it is. Eileen, Andy's mum was my favourite character. I desperately wanted her to get her Andy back, for things to work out for her. Meanwhile behind the mirror Andy becomes known as Dany and is embraced by the carnies and learns the job of a hauler, the person who pulls the rope for the aerialists. He also takes part in all the rituals of the circus, the magical and odd world they inhabit.
There is that same feeling that you get reading David Mitchell about this book. I wanted to love it to bits and at the beginning I thought that might be going to be the case, and while I enjoyed the experience of reading it, I felt that it could have been a little less flowery.
Thanks to Netgalley for giving me access to this book.
The beginning of the novel where this takes place is just so good. Andy has been taken to the circus by his parents, he slips away and enters the weird magical world of the carnies behind the mirror, the ageless magical people who exist on a kind of mould which is scraped off the circus and placed into vials. As Andy enters the mirror another version of Andy exits, a sinister version. This Andy is cold and uncommunicative, his mum knows there is something amiss but cannot figure out what it is. Eileen, Andy's mum was my favourite character. I desperately wanted her to get her Andy back, for things to work out for her. Meanwhile behind the mirror Andy becomes known as Dany and is embraced by the carnies and learns the job of a hauler, the person who pulls the rope for the aerialists. He also takes part in all the rituals of the circus, the magical and odd world they inhabit.
There is that same feeling that you get reading David Mitchell about this book. I wanted to love it to bits and at the beginning I thought that might be going to be the case, and while I enjoyed the experience of reading it, I felt that it could have been a little less flowery.
Thanks to Netgalley for giving me access to this book.
May 25, 2017
I don't even know what happened in the first half of this book. I picked up this book about three times and I ended up getting bored at around 22%. But I knew that I had to write this review, so that meant that I had to try and get through as much of this book as possible, so I started it again and forced my way through it... And finally, I finished it, and this is my verdict.
It looked like any other carnival, but of course it wasn’t. The boy saw it from the car window, the tops of the large trailer rides over the parked trains by the railway tracks. His parents were driving towards the new mall and he was looking forward to that too, but the tracery of lights above the gloomy trains caught his imagination . . .
Andy walks into Burleigh’s Amazing Hall of Mirrors, and then he walks right into the mirror, becomes a reflection. Another boy, a boy who is not Andy, goes home with Andy’s parents. And the boy who was once Andy is pulled—literally pulled, by the hands, by a girl named Mona—into another world, a carnival world where anything might happen.
I thought I would use the hour that I had on the train to push through the novel and by the time and I come back from my trip, I had gotten to 67% - I was pretty proud of myself. And I will be 100% honest, some of it, I just had to skim read because there was just too much description that I could genuinely feel my eyes closing.
One of the things that I just really didn't like were the characters. They were flat, boring, I didn't connect with them at all and I just couldn't really care less. And that makes me so sad! Because I love connecting with characters and enjoying reading about the journeys that they go on... But alas, it just wasn't meant to be for this book.
I also thought that the carnival element wasn't very interesting which is a massive shame because well... the whole book is about a carnival, so if the actual carnival isn't interesting, then what's the point? When I got to the 67% point of the book, the carnival still didn't interest me, there were secrets that I just had no effort or motivation to find out by continuing to read Carnivalesque, but again, I knew that I had to finish it to see if the ending was all worth it.
It wasn't. It wasn't worth it at all. I spent two weeks trying to push through this book , stopping and starting and forcing myself to finish it. I turned the last page, shut the book and I just had no clue what I had just read. The ending didn't really clarify anything for me, only a couple of the secrets were revealed (but even then, they were revealed in a long-winded, confusing way). The only thing that was going through my head when I had finished the book was 'thank God that I didn't have to pay for that', because if I actually bought it myself, I would be kicking myself at how much money I would have wasted.
Like I said before though, some people really enjoyed this book and I'm jealous of that. I wish I had. Albeit, SOME of the description was beautiful and I can see where some reviewers come from when they talk about how brilliant Neil Jordan is at describing the settings, but for me, the beautiful descriptions didn't happen enough for me to bump this book up to two stars.
Personally, I really don't recommend Carnivalesque, but read it and see what you think and let me know your thoughts on it... I would love to hear what you took away from the book.
Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review
It looked like any other carnival, but of course it wasn’t. The boy saw it from the car window, the tops of the large trailer rides over the parked trains by the railway tracks. His parents were driving towards the new mall and he was looking forward to that too, but the tracery of lights above the gloomy trains caught his imagination . . .
Andy walks into Burleigh’s Amazing Hall of Mirrors, and then he walks right into the mirror, becomes a reflection. Another boy, a boy who is not Andy, goes home with Andy’s parents. And the boy who was once Andy is pulled—literally pulled, by the hands, by a girl named Mona—into another world, a carnival world where anything might happen.
I thought I would use the hour that I had on the train to push through the novel and by the time and I come back from my trip, I had gotten to 67% - I was pretty proud of myself. And I will be 100% honest, some of it, I just had to skim read because there was just too much description that I could genuinely feel my eyes closing.
One of the things that I just really didn't like were the characters. They were flat, boring, I didn't connect with them at all and I just couldn't really care less. And that makes me so sad! Because I love connecting with characters and enjoying reading about the journeys that they go on... But alas, it just wasn't meant to be for this book.
I also thought that the carnival element wasn't very interesting which is a massive shame because well... the whole book is about a carnival, so if the actual carnival isn't interesting, then what's the point? When I got to the 67% point of the book, the carnival still didn't interest me, there were secrets that I just had no effort or motivation to find out by continuing to read Carnivalesque, but again, I knew that I had to finish it to see if the ending was all worth it.
It wasn't. It wasn't worth it at all. I spent two weeks trying to push through this book , stopping and starting and forcing myself to finish it. I turned the last page, shut the book and I just had no clue what I had just read. The ending didn't really clarify anything for me, only a couple of the secrets were revealed (but even then, they were revealed in a long-winded, confusing way). The only thing that was going through my head when I had finished the book was 'thank God that I didn't have to pay for that', because if I actually bought it myself, I would be kicking myself at how much money I would have wasted.
Like I said before though, some people really enjoyed this book and I'm jealous of that. I wish I had. Albeit, SOME of the description was beautiful and I can see where some reviewers come from when they talk about how brilliant Neil Jordan is at describing the settings, but for me, the beautiful descriptions didn't happen enough for me to bump this book up to two stars.
Personally, I really don't recommend Carnivalesque, but read it and see what you think and let me know your thoughts on it... I would love to hear what you took away from the book.
Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review
November 14, 2016
A magical world that felt like a cross between The Night Circus and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I was pulled in right from the beginning in this enchanting story with a cinematic feel. Just like certain characters in the book who experienced time in a different way, I would sit down for just a few minutes to read and before I knew it an hour or more had passed in what seemed the blink of an eye. Mythology, folklore, coming of age, and a dash of love all expertly crafted into a story that will captivate and delight. You will not look at carnivals the same way again.
December 22, 2016
***I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
I wanted to like this book, I really did. It sounded so promising from my initial reading of the blurb, but it just didn't live up to it.
First of all, I didn't feel like I connected with any of the characters. They felt a little too bland and they didn't develop much throughout the narrative. I found I got confused by the switching of POV between Andy and his mother, as they lacked a more distinctive voice.
The plot itself moved slowly, with only a few moments where the pace quickened. There was a bit of intrigue when we were trying to work out the background of the carnival and the people/beings who worked there. There was some potential in that and in the general world-building aspect of the story. However, it felt like there was always something lacking which I couldn't quite put my finger on.
I found the writing style was often long-winded and somewhat repetitive. There were long sentences which sometimes took me a couple of read-throughs to parse, affecting the overall fluency of the prose. I was unable to escape into the world of wonder the author was attempting to create.
The overall concept was intriguing, and it is a world I would be interested in learning more about. This book, however, fell flat.
Perhaps it was just me. Maybe I would have enjoyed this book had I read it at another time. But I doubt I will be giving it another try.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. It sounded so promising from my initial reading of the blurb, but it just didn't live up to it.
First of all, I didn't feel like I connected with any of the characters. They felt a little too bland and they didn't develop much throughout the narrative. I found I got confused by the switching of POV between Andy and his mother, as they lacked a more distinctive voice.
The plot itself moved slowly, with only a few moments where the pace quickened. There was a bit of intrigue when we were trying to work out the background of the carnival and the people/beings who worked there. There was some potential in that and in the general world-building aspect of the story. However, it felt like there was always something lacking which I couldn't quite put my finger on.
I found the writing style was often long-winded and somewhat repetitive. There were long sentences which sometimes took me a couple of read-throughs to parse, affecting the overall fluency of the prose. I was unable to escape into the world of wonder the author was attempting to create.
The overall concept was intriguing, and it is a world I would be interested in learning more about. This book, however, fell flat.
Perhaps it was just me. Maybe I would have enjoyed this book had I read it at another time. But I doubt I will be giving it another try.
December 11, 2016
All I shall say is "A definite must read"
It's a landscape of dreams
It's a landscape of dreams
May 28, 2017
The concept of this book was what really grabbed me and made this a must read for me. Andy visits a carnival with his parents (who seem stuck in an almost loveless marriage. I say almost because it's more like they are married just because neither of them can think of anything else to do) When Andy goes into Burleigh's Hall of Mirrors, a different boy walks out and Andy is claimed by the Carnival. THIS SOUNDS AWESOME, YEAH?
Like there is so much potential, and then nothing at all happens for the next two hundred pages. His mother bleakly wonders if Andy had something sexual happen in the hours he was missing, and Andy is unnaturally good at Carnival life. There is some back story that flounders under the weight of flowery writing and tapers off into an almost comical end of the history writer, because it ends up being so unexpected. Mona wonders about things. Changeling Andy stares at rats and molests a teenage girl with hares that burrow up from the ground (Yes, you read that right)
Finally around page two hundred the dreaded nemesis appears, only to suffer a quick death that ends the story.
I guess I'm so annoyed with this book because OF the potential. This could have had plot and substance, and instead relies on over the top writing. It honestly felt like every second word was looked up in a thesaurus and substituted with something ~fancy~ just for the sake of being ~fancy~ you know? And then Andy, who starts out as an interesting character, becomes this bleak adult voice that just did absolutely nothing for me; in fact I preferred Eileen's thoughts and actions to the Carnival story.
All in all, I didn't get it. I like my stories with plot and character building, and well, a point. I felt like there was no real point to this one. Pretty cover though, great idea. Just not for me.
Like there is so much potential, and then nothing at all happens for the next two hundred pages. His mother bleakly wonders if Andy had something sexual happen in the hours he was missing, and Andy is unnaturally good at Carnival life. There is some back story that flounders under the weight of flowery writing and tapers off into an almost comical end of the history writer, because it ends up being so unexpected. Mona wonders about things. Changeling Andy stares at rats and molests a teenage girl with hares that burrow up from the ground (Yes, you read that right)
Finally around page two hundred the dreaded nemesis appears, only to suffer a quick death that ends the story.
I guess I'm so annoyed with this book because OF the potential. This could have had plot and substance, and instead relies on over the top writing. It honestly felt like every second word was looked up in a thesaurus and substituted with something ~fancy~ just for the sake of being ~fancy~ you know? And then Andy, who starts out as an interesting character, becomes this bleak adult voice that just did absolutely nothing for me; in fact I preferred Eileen's thoughts and actions to the Carnival story.
All in all, I didn't get it. I like my stories with plot and character building, and well, a point. I felt like there was no real point to this one. Pretty cover though, great idea. Just not for me.
April 28, 2017
I dnf-ed this book at 46%. Why, you ask? Well, at first I was sooo in love and so excited because Jordans''s prose is so magical and so lyrical - he had this way with words that gave his subject a distinct dreamlike quality that I have never read elsewhere. The premise itself was also very intriguing even though at times it felt like The Night Circus met Neil Gaiman, if Neil Gaiman fell asleep while writing it. However, as pages and time went by, I found myself constantly putting it down and turning my attention to other books. I conservatively estimate that I had about 6 to 7 attempts at reading this book until I finally was honest with myself and put it down.
For me, books have to have great and compelling words in them to make me keep on reading, and yes Carnivalesque did have it. But sadly, there was no plot and no characters. I did not feel their presences a bit in the entirety of 46 percent and I believe that says a lot about the book. What I hated most about this book was that every single paragraph had a long and winding backstory of any of those invisible characters. They were unnecessary, to be honest, and only served to bore the reader more. Nothing happened except characters remembering something or other. There were also jarring changes between POVs that I had to go back a couple of times because I was confused as to who was talking at the moment.
I really, really, wanted to love this book but it let me down so hard.
Do not be tempted by the cover.
For me, books have to have great and compelling words in them to make me keep on reading, and yes Carnivalesque did have it. But sadly, there was no plot and no characters. I did not feel their presences a bit in the entirety of 46 percent and I believe that says a lot about the book. What I hated most about this book was that every single paragraph had a long and winding backstory of any of those invisible characters. They were unnecessary, to be honest, and only served to bore the reader more. Nothing happened except characters remembering something or other. There were also jarring changes between POVs that I had to go back a couple of times because I was confused as to who was talking at the moment.
I really, really, wanted to love this book but it let me down so hard.
Do not be tempted by the cover.
December 19, 2016
https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2016/1...
Carnivalesque is a very special book. I was surprised at the depth of it.
It awakened in me unexpected feelings such as sadness, loss, wonder, hope... Even though the book was told in an almost fairy tale manner, I felt connected to Andy, and wanted the boy to find happiness, wherever that might be.
And then there is the parallel narrative with Andy's doppelganger and especially his mother, and I felt for her as well.
At times Carnivalesque lost me. It did wander quite a bit a bit and the prose was not particularly easy to follow now and then. I didn't even know what was going on, one time or another. Also, I wish certain concepts were more explored, although the ephemeral and whimsical nature of the story almost made it slip my mind.
If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be magical.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Carnivalesque is a very special book. I was surprised at the depth of it.
It awakened in me unexpected feelings such as sadness, loss, wonder, hope... Even though the book was told in an almost fairy tale manner, I felt connected to Andy, and wanted the boy to find happiness, wherever that might be.
And then there is the parallel narrative with Andy's doppelganger and especially his mother, and I felt for her as well.
At times Carnivalesque lost me. It did wander quite a bit a bit and the prose was not particularly easy to follow now and then. I didn't even know what was going on, one time or another. Also, I wish certain concepts were more explored, although the ephemeral and whimsical nature of the story almost made it slip my mind.
If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be magical.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
April 9, 2017
An intriguing plot but unfortunately it was bogged down in wordy sentences that sometimes seem to meander too far from the main plot. I felt like the author attempted to include too many ideas and overused descriptive vocabulary, some of which reoccurred throughout the novel.
This novel feels like The Night Circus (setting, descriptive language and magical realism. The magical realism was well thought out but the plot needed to move a little quicker.
This novel feels like The Night Circus (setting, descriptive language and magical realism. The magical realism was well thought out but the plot needed to move a little quicker.
April 16, 2023
—1 star—
“Because this is a story of losing and finding, amongst other things. How a child gets lost, and quite another finds himself; how memory gets lost, how a whole race managed to lose itself, then found itself again in the great dreamy corridors of the mythical lost and found.”
————about the book————
Age: who the fuck knows?
Genres: ^^^see above
Type of ending: I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, LET ALONE THE ENDING!!!
Writing: 1/10
Quotes: 2/10
World building: 1/10
Characters: 1/10
Romance: 1/10
My rating: 2/10
‼️SPOILERS BELOW‼️
———my thoughts———
To Andy and his parents, it looks just like any old carnival: creaking ghost train, rusty rollercoaster, and circus performers.
But it isn’t.
When Andy is drawn into the hall of mirror, he gets sucked in, and his reflection walks away in his place...
The concept of this SOUNDED amazing—or at least interesting!
But I just could not get into it.
The writing was so weird—all descriptions and clunky sentences, odd similes and creepy thoughts.
I kept getting lost and forgetting things—this might be my fault, but I just think that it was written in an odd dense way,
and I did not like it at all.
A sensible person (ie. NOT ME) might have dnfed at this point—but by then I was already two-thirds of the way in, and I might as well just finish it.
And thank the gods that this book was short.
Honestly, it was it’s only saving grace—that it didn’t go on longer.
I honestly couldn’t bear more pages of RIDICULOUS, DISTURBING DRIVEL.
Honestly, it started off badly when I thought Andy was like 7 or 8—
apparently he’s at least 16ish. Oops...
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHO. THE. FUCK. CARES.
NO MORE NICE LYRA.
I HATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.
THIS BOOK DESERVES THAT ONE STAR.
I HATED IT.
HATED. IT.
also what is the author’s obsession with boobs?!? istg it was all “her breasts” this, and “her breasts” that...creepy much?
I just could NOT stand this book—but at least the cover’s kind of pretty😌
———random extra thoughts———
shdhdhjf I need to choose better books for myself😭😭😭
Thanks for reading❤️
“Because this is a story of losing and finding, amongst other things. How a child gets lost, and quite another finds himself; how memory gets lost, how a whole race managed to lose itself, then found itself again in the great dreamy corridors of the mythical lost and found.”
————about the book————
Age: who the fuck knows?
Genres: ^^^see above
Type of ending: I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, LET ALONE THE ENDING!!!
Writing: 1/10
Quotes: 2/10
World building: 1/10
Characters: 1/10
Romance: 1/10
My rating: 2/10
‼️SPOILERS BELOW‼️
———my thoughts———
To Andy and his parents, it looks just like any old carnival: creaking ghost train, rusty rollercoaster, and circus performers.
But it isn’t.
When Andy is drawn into the hall of mirror, he gets sucked in, and his reflection walks away in his place...
The concept of this SOUNDED amazing—or at least interesting!
But I just could not get into it.
The writing was so weird—all descriptions and clunky sentences, odd similes and creepy thoughts.
I kept getting lost and forgetting things—this might be my fault, but I just think that it was written in an odd dense way,
and I did not like it at all.
A sensible person (ie. NOT ME) might have dnfed at this point—but by then I was already two-thirds of the way in, and I might as well just finish it.
And thank the gods that this book was short.
Honestly, it was it’s only saving grace—that it didn’t go on longer.
I honestly couldn’t bear more pages of RIDICULOUS, DISTURBING DRIVEL.
Honestly, it started off badly when I thought Andy was like 7 or 8—
apparently he’s at least 16ish. Oops...
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHO. THE. FUCK. CARES.
NO MORE NICE LYRA.
I HATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.
THIS BOOK DESERVES THAT ONE STAR.
I HATED IT.
HATED. IT.
also what is the author’s obsession with boobs?!? istg it was all “her breasts” this, and “her breasts” that...creepy much?
I just could NOT stand this book—but at least the cover’s kind of pretty😌
———random extra thoughts———
shdhdhjf I need to choose better books for myself😭😭😭
Thanks for reading❤️
April 28, 2017
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“And the thing that was not Andy walked outside to be swept up into his mother’s arms, and he was in the mirror now.”
This is a bizarre story. When Andy walks into Burleigh’s Amazing Hall of Mirrors, his reflection steps out, going home to live his life with his parents and poor Andy is trapped inside of the the mirrors, a silent reflection of his former self. A girl (Mona) finds him in the mirrors and pulls him out, into a strange carnival world. He is hers to keep, she found him, no one else! Her hands… though she looks young, ‘There was something either very old, that should have died a long time ago, or something very new, that had not yet been born, about those hands.” She doesn’t have a true age, she is a talented trapeze artist yet not the sort his world is familiar with. Everything is different here, even time itself. He will come to understand the eerie truth about her and all the inhabitants of this mysterious world. They are myths, stories… Is this where all the changelings go, or is it where the come from entering our own world? Andy’s mother feels something is different about her son on their way home, his father imagines the boy is just growing up. It made me feel terribly sad, because teenagers can feel like changelings, as they shake off the skin of their youth, no longer needing you quite in the same way. Naturally here, it’s more fantastical and Andy isn’t Andy, not really. Deep in her being, his mother knows it- but will she ever be reunited with the true Andy? And just how does his father play into everything? Is this a story about growing up, is the ‘changeling’ aspect simply a splitting of sorts- to represent the moment Andy departs his boyhood and steps onto the path of adulthood? Everything exists as is, and questions aren’t really meant to be answered. It’s a story you can take away meaning or simply enjoy the fantasy of it.
The real Andy is living in a strange world transforming into a carny himself, becoming strong and capable until he almost feels that other life never existed, as if it were a dream. He is privy to the secrets, the strange mysteries of the people and their seemingly endless lives. There is a mysterious mold they scrape, vital to their survival… And what of Burleigh, the creator of ‘mirrors’- the man Andy’s mother had a strange encounter with? Just why isn’t he a part of the carnival anymore? When Andy has the chance to go back, does he? Can we ever go back to being a beloved little child?
There is a fairy-tale quality, even though most carnival or ‘freak show’ stories are usually magical realism, this one has an ancient feel to it, not magical and not fairy-tale but sort of both, I didn’t feel like I was in modern times, which was nice. But I didn’t expect to feel heavy and sad, I know- how many genuine, original fairy-tales have happy endings? How many characters go on to capture their butterflies of happiness? Not many. Andy wants to know what ‘the Land of Spices’ they talk about it is, now that he is ‘part of the story’. ‘You can be part of the story.’ Mona was saying, and never know the whole of it.’ Just what is his part? How did he stumble into this place? Is he meant to remain in the carnival where instead of memories, which living people like him carry inside of them, they have stories. Stories are the places they come from. Is this a lifeless place?
It was a strange read, and there were times I had to push myself through, but I am curious and wanted to know how it would end. It’s a uniquely written novel, not like anything I’ve read before. I love, love LOVE “The Company of Wolves”- I own the DVD! I’ve made my kids watch it, and this novel has a similar feel. You don’t really know what ‘you know’. It’s a strange film, if you haven’t seen it- I urge you too, if you have weird taste like me. The famous Angela Lansbury was in it, and it was written by Angela Carter-I mention it because this author, Neil Jordan directed it. With that said, I can feel a similar oddness in Carnival. Much like the film I mentioned, with this novel I walked away picking it apart and losing threads of meaning, because you can’t quite pin it down. Maybe that’s the point.
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Bloomsbury USA
“And the thing that was not Andy walked outside to be swept up into his mother’s arms, and he was in the mirror now.”
This is a bizarre story. When Andy walks into Burleigh’s Amazing Hall of Mirrors, his reflection steps out, going home to live his life with his parents and poor Andy is trapped inside of the the mirrors, a silent reflection of his former self. A girl (Mona) finds him in the mirrors and pulls him out, into a strange carnival world. He is hers to keep, she found him, no one else! Her hands… though she looks young, ‘There was something either very old, that should have died a long time ago, or something very new, that had not yet been born, about those hands.” She doesn’t have a true age, she is a talented trapeze artist yet not the sort his world is familiar with. Everything is different here, even time itself. He will come to understand the eerie truth about her and all the inhabitants of this mysterious world. They are myths, stories… Is this where all the changelings go, or is it where the come from entering our own world? Andy’s mother feels something is different about her son on their way home, his father imagines the boy is just growing up. It made me feel terribly sad, because teenagers can feel like changelings, as they shake off the skin of their youth, no longer needing you quite in the same way. Naturally here, it’s more fantastical and Andy isn’t Andy, not really. Deep in her being, his mother knows it- but will she ever be reunited with the true Andy? And just how does his father play into everything? Is this a story about growing up, is the ‘changeling’ aspect simply a splitting of sorts- to represent the moment Andy departs his boyhood and steps onto the path of adulthood? Everything exists as is, and questions aren’t really meant to be answered. It’s a story you can take away meaning or simply enjoy the fantasy of it.
The real Andy is living in a strange world transforming into a carny himself, becoming strong and capable until he almost feels that other life never existed, as if it were a dream. He is privy to the secrets, the strange mysteries of the people and their seemingly endless lives. There is a mysterious mold they scrape, vital to their survival… And what of Burleigh, the creator of ‘mirrors’- the man Andy’s mother had a strange encounter with? Just why isn’t he a part of the carnival anymore? When Andy has the chance to go back, does he? Can we ever go back to being a beloved little child?
There is a fairy-tale quality, even though most carnival or ‘freak show’ stories are usually magical realism, this one has an ancient feel to it, not magical and not fairy-tale but sort of both, I didn’t feel like I was in modern times, which was nice. But I didn’t expect to feel heavy and sad, I know- how many genuine, original fairy-tales have happy endings? How many characters go on to capture their butterflies of happiness? Not many. Andy wants to know what ‘the Land of Spices’ they talk about it is, now that he is ‘part of the story’. ‘You can be part of the story.’ Mona was saying, and never know the whole of it.’ Just what is his part? How did he stumble into this place? Is he meant to remain in the carnival where instead of memories, which living people like him carry inside of them, they have stories. Stories are the places they come from. Is this a lifeless place?
It was a strange read, and there were times I had to push myself through, but I am curious and wanted to know how it would end. It’s a uniquely written novel, not like anything I’ve read before. I love, love LOVE “The Company of Wolves”- I own the DVD! I’ve made my kids watch it, and this novel has a similar feel. You don’t really know what ‘you know’. It’s a strange film, if you haven’t seen it- I urge you too, if you have weird taste like me. The famous Angela Lansbury was in it, and it was written by Angela Carter-I mention it because this author, Neil Jordan directed it. With that said, I can feel a similar oddness in Carnival. Much like the film I mentioned, with this novel I walked away picking it apart and losing threads of meaning, because you can’t quite pin it down. Maybe that’s the point.
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Bloomsbury USA
June 8, 2017
This one is a little difficult to rate. It started off reading like an old classic. Think Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland. "The boy did this and then he went to wherever and the boy was sad. But the boy's mother held his hand and entered the carnival where the air smelled of caramel and candy." bla bla bla. We literally do not find out "the boy's name" until about page 75. Then the writing style completely changes.
The middle part of the book has some interesting action. In the middle of the action, there is a ton of written word. Most of it is history, and some of it seems slow, and some of it seems a little irrelevant or maybe just out of order. I enjoyed hearing a new perspective on carney mythology and most of all, this legend of 'Burleigh's Amazing Hall of Mirrors,' which is really how the whole Andy/Dany duology originates to begin with. Some parts of the book are fun and fantastical, while others are freakish and almost scary. I like the polar opposites and think that every fantasy needs some of that. It gave the book depth, whereas the wordiness robbed it right back.
So for these reasons, I had to go with a middle of the road rating for this book. Loved the cover and the concept, but several things fell short. I like a good carnival book but this does not come close to the top for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review
The middle part of the book has some interesting action. In the middle of the action, there is a ton of written word. Most of it is history, and some of it seems slow, and some of it seems a little irrelevant or maybe just out of order. I enjoyed hearing a new perspective on carney mythology and most of all, this legend of 'Burleigh's Amazing Hall of Mirrors,' which is really how the whole Andy/Dany duology originates to begin with. Some parts of the book are fun and fantastical, while others are freakish and almost scary. I like the polar opposites and think that every fantasy needs some of that. It gave the book depth, whereas the wordiness robbed it right back.
So for these reasons, I had to go with a middle of the road rating for this book. Loved the cover and the concept, but several things fell short. I like a good carnival book but this does not come close to the top for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review
June 20, 2017
I think we can all agree that the author starts out with a great premise. At a rundown carnival, a boy walks alone into a hall of mirrors, and a different (but identical) boy walks outs. That's cool. But that's just the beginning, and, for me, the rest of the book did not deliver on that early promise. I do have to add, though, that near the end, one of the characters kept reminding me of Vincent D'Onofrio in "Men in Black". Know what I mean?
August 16, 2022
When I read the premise of this book it looked really good.
In reading it though I found it quite confusing.
In reading it though I found it quite confusing.
January 6, 2022
I didn’t enjoy The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, so perhaps that should’ve been a clue, but I don’t think these books are comparable either. I certainly preferred this book; it didn’t feel like a chore to read & I’ve felt entirely conflicted as to how to rate it. The premise, ideas & themes are highly compelling. Much of the writing is exquisite, albeit overly descriptive & cliche at times. I wanted so much more from this book, but somehow it sadly missed the mark. Captain Mildew, the ‘Dewman’, was intriguing but arrives too late in the narrative. The ending felt hurried, unfinished & not satisfactorily explained; many of the characters like ghosts in their own ethereal stories. The plot could’ve taken many different directions, such was the strength of the ideas. Perhaps that was the point though. Carnivalesque was an interesting read, but has not enthused me to seek another work by the same author.
March 6, 2017
I'm very grateful for an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.
This was a strange book to read and review. At times I liked it a lot. At other times - especially in the final quarter - I felt I was reading a different book, still excellent but taking a different direction. It was though a rewarding and different book that took me to new places and combined the fantastic and the personal in a fresh and engaging way.
The carny world - fairgrounds, carnivals, circuses - is always a good setting for a novel: the self-containedness of the travelling show, the shifts in scene as it moves across a country, a continent, the garishness, the front, the glimpses behind the scenes. Above all the contrasts between what you're meant to see and what's really going on.
Jordan combines all this with a good dollop of creepiness: there's an ancient mystery at work in this carnival, which has become home to... let's say unusual performers, who draw with them unusual enemies. All this is told allusively, through hints and guess: even the carnies, we understand, have forgotten the details, such is their age and so scrambled have their origins become. But certain terms are avoided - and when a boy starts asking questions about them - well, he'd have been better off not.
It works really well, as we explore the carnival through the eyes of Andy, an Irish teenager who persuades his parents to stop at the carnival one day. Then he walks into the Hall of Mirrors... and comes out again. Only it's not him, not exactly. Everyone has a reflection, after all - so part of Andy remains in the carnival and part rejoins his parents. Are they two different sides of him, like Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde? or has the mirror made a new Andy? If so, which is it - the boy in the carnival or the one who returns home?
This part of the novel works well for me as a metaphor made real - the essence of science fiction - for Andy's, Dany's growth into adolescence. This is a central theme of the book (later we meet Andy's mother surveying the teenage girls who have blossomed over a summer, reappearing in fake tan, high heels and short skirts). We see, as it were, two sides to the boy: on the one hand a sullen young man, on the other a person filed with wonder at the sights and events and mysteries of the carnival and of its performers - especially Mona the acrobat who finds him in the Hall of Mirrors. This Andy - rearranged as Dany - grows in the fertile soil of the carnival, becoming a different sort of man. Growing up. The other takes up with one of those girls, getting up ton who-knows-what in the sand dunes ands setting the rumour mills whirring. Growing up.
Flitting back and forth between the carnival and Andy's home, we see and can compare the two men/ boys, as well as learning about Andy's parents who had already grown chilly with, distant from one another. It's never clear why but there are flashbacks to their attempts to conceive and strange events around that, as well as hints of myth - Irish as well as classical. Indeed the whole book is suffused with a mythological atmosphere, drawing on Milton and abounding in symbols such as hawthorn trees, mounds, changelings and, of course, all those mirrors, which are another central theme.
In a sense the history of the carnival is a jagged, mirrored, shattered history, touching on emigration from Ireland to America, the development of the moving picture - an improvement on the mirror, surely? - and the encroachment of the modern world on the ancient. The carnival is at the centre of all this, but for how long? Whatever the origin of the carnies, they can't reproduce and in the end they succumb to the Fatigue. So they have traditionally snatched children, unwanted children from families struggling to support them, and taken them into the business, as it were. But this is now barred by modern watchfulness. And with an ancient enemy waking, how long can the carnival carry on?
All of this is gradually teased out alongside Andy's story, the picture slowly forming as though a mirror were being cleaned. Then we come to the final part of the book which suddenly shifts into something much more like horror. And that was where, I felt, the delicate way that Jordan had built his structure and slipped it into the gaps of our world, suddenly came adrift. The carnival had been painted as something elusive, something you'd come across by accident and forget afterwards. Then, suddenly, it can be tracked on the Internet, and events there take a turn that can't, surely, be forgotten - though we're not told, in the end, exactly what does happen. Indeed a crucial scene is almost completely missing: Andy plays a key role in events but, a role he seems to have been preparing for right through the book but - unless I've missed something - we never learn exactly what he does.
I debated with myself whether this actually matters. Andy's role in things is signposted and by the time we reach that point, we know what to expect of him. Isn't that enough? I couldn't decide in the end whether this is very clever of Jordan or simply annoying. Perhaps it depends what genre you think you're reading: the ending is possibly more in keeping with the early, allusive part of the book than the later parts. I'm just not sure.
Overall, then, a fascinating if rather frustrating book. Perhaps the mirror metaphor is appropriate here, too? Which is the reflection - and which the reality?
This was a strange book to read and review. At times I liked it a lot. At other times - especially in the final quarter - I felt I was reading a different book, still excellent but taking a different direction. It was though a rewarding and different book that took me to new places and combined the fantastic and the personal in a fresh and engaging way.
The carny world - fairgrounds, carnivals, circuses - is always a good setting for a novel: the self-containedness of the travelling show, the shifts in scene as it moves across a country, a continent, the garishness, the front, the glimpses behind the scenes. Above all the contrasts between what you're meant to see and what's really going on.
Jordan combines all this with a good dollop of creepiness: there's an ancient mystery at work in this carnival, which has become home to... let's say unusual performers, who draw with them unusual enemies. All this is told allusively, through hints and guess: even the carnies, we understand, have forgotten the details, such is their age and so scrambled have their origins become. But certain terms are avoided - and when a boy starts asking questions about them - well, he'd have been better off not.
It works really well, as we explore the carnival through the eyes of Andy, an Irish teenager who persuades his parents to stop at the carnival one day. Then he walks into the Hall of Mirrors... and comes out again. Only it's not him, not exactly. Everyone has a reflection, after all - so part of Andy remains in the carnival and part rejoins his parents. Are they two different sides of him, like Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde? or has the mirror made a new Andy? If so, which is it - the boy in the carnival or the one who returns home?
This part of the novel works well for me as a metaphor made real - the essence of science fiction - for Andy's, Dany's growth into adolescence. This is a central theme of the book (later we meet Andy's mother surveying the teenage girls who have blossomed over a summer, reappearing in fake tan, high heels and short skirts). We see, as it were, two sides to the boy: on the one hand a sullen young man, on the other a person filed with wonder at the sights and events and mysteries of the carnival and of its performers - especially Mona the acrobat who finds him in the Hall of Mirrors. This Andy - rearranged as Dany - grows in the fertile soil of the carnival, becoming a different sort of man. Growing up. The other takes up with one of those girls, getting up ton who-knows-what in the sand dunes ands setting the rumour mills whirring. Growing up.
Flitting back and forth between the carnival and Andy's home, we see and can compare the two men/ boys, as well as learning about Andy's parents who had already grown chilly with, distant from one another. It's never clear why but there are flashbacks to their attempts to conceive and strange events around that, as well as hints of myth - Irish as well as classical. Indeed the whole book is suffused with a mythological atmosphere, drawing on Milton and abounding in symbols such as hawthorn trees, mounds, changelings and, of course, all those mirrors, which are another central theme.
In a sense the history of the carnival is a jagged, mirrored, shattered history, touching on emigration from Ireland to America, the development of the moving picture - an improvement on the mirror, surely? - and the encroachment of the modern world on the ancient. The carnival is at the centre of all this, but for how long? Whatever the origin of the carnies, they can't reproduce and in the end they succumb to the Fatigue. So they have traditionally snatched children, unwanted children from families struggling to support them, and taken them into the business, as it were. But this is now barred by modern watchfulness. And with an ancient enemy waking, how long can the carnival carry on?
All of this is gradually teased out alongside Andy's story, the picture slowly forming as though a mirror were being cleaned. Then we come to the final part of the book which suddenly shifts into something much more like horror. And that was where, I felt, the delicate way that Jordan had built his structure and slipped it into the gaps of our world, suddenly came adrift. The carnival had been painted as something elusive, something you'd come across by accident and forget afterwards. Then, suddenly, it can be tracked on the Internet, and events there take a turn that can't, surely, be forgotten - though we're not told, in the end, exactly what does happen. Indeed a crucial scene is almost completely missing: Andy plays a key role in events but, a role he seems to have been preparing for right through the book but - unless I've missed something - we never learn exactly what he does.
I debated with myself whether this actually matters. Andy's role in things is signposted and by the time we reach that point, we know what to expect of him. Isn't that enough? I couldn't decide in the end whether this is very clever of Jordan or simply annoying. Perhaps it depends what genre you think you're reading: the ending is possibly more in keeping with the early, allusive part of the book than the later parts. I'm just not sure.
Overall, then, a fascinating if rather frustrating book. Perhaps the mirror metaphor is appropriate here, too? Which is the reflection - and which the reality?
April 7, 2018
2,5 Sterne
Ich hatte dieses Buch spontan in der Bücherei entdeckt und mir ein atmosphärisch-magisches Zirkusabenteuer erhofft. Leider wurde ich enttäuscht. Dieses Buch hat kaum nennenswerten Plot, durch die häufigen Perspektivwechsel weckt keine der Figuren Sympathie und das Setting bleibt blass.
Ich hatte dieses Buch spontan in der Bücherei entdeckt und mir ein atmosphärisch-magisches Zirkusabenteuer erhofft. Leider wurde ich enttäuscht. Dieses Buch hat kaum nennenswerten Plot, durch die häufigen Perspektivwechsel weckt keine der Figuren Sympathie und das Setting bleibt blass.
September 29, 2020
Full review to come!
July 13, 2017
Via my blog https://daydreammeadow.wordpress.com/
Imagine getting on a cool-looking rollercoaster and feeling your excitement build as you go up the steep incline before that first exhilarating drop, but as soon as you turn the hill expecting a thrilling sensation, the rollercoaster slows to a crawl and torpidly creeps down the slope instead. That’s how it felt reading Carnivalesque. The only difference is that you can’t hop off of a rollercoaster midway, whereas you can put a book down anytime, which is what I did.
It started off with a lot of potential, then it became dry real fast. The characters had backstory but still had little dimension, the dialogue was unnecessarily cryptic, and it felt like the important questions were being purposefully avoided. I also thought that the carnival setting would make for an amusing and luminous backdrop, but it was actually sort of boring. Every time I wanted to hear from Andy and see his amusement, confusion, or anything at all, I had to hear from the other carnies or his mother. On top of that, the whole doppelgänger thing left much to be desired.
It had me, then it lost me. I'm giving it 2 stars because I did enjoy the first couple chapters.
Imagine getting on a cool-looking rollercoaster and feeling your excitement build as you go up the steep incline before that first exhilarating drop, but as soon as you turn the hill expecting a thrilling sensation, the rollercoaster slows to a crawl and torpidly creeps down the slope instead. That’s how it felt reading Carnivalesque. The only difference is that you can’t hop off of a rollercoaster midway, whereas you can put a book down anytime, which is what I did.
It started off with a lot of potential, then it became dry real fast. The characters had backstory but still had little dimension, the dialogue was unnecessarily cryptic, and it felt like the important questions were being purposefully avoided. I also thought that the carnival setting would make for an amusing and luminous backdrop, but it was actually sort of boring. Every time I wanted to hear from Andy and see his amusement, confusion, or anything at all, I had to hear from the other carnies or his mother. On top of that, the whole doppelgänger thing left much to be desired.
It had me, then it lost me. I'm giving it 2 stars because I did enjoy the first couple chapters.
July 3, 2017
This book oozed promise... The premise, the synopsis... even the cover art.
Consequently, I was genuinely excited to hook into Carnivalesque; but when the final page was turned, all I was left with was a general sense of disappointment.
The book drifts along before rapidly building into what promises to be an exciting conclusion... but then the conclusion has happened, and you're told what happened in a few, cheap sentences, after the fact. (I even went back to check I hadn't turned multiple pages at once!)
To cap it off, the author is the kind of writer who would use the word "febrile" when they could've simply written "fever"...
I wouldn't, but you might, call him an asshole for that.
TLDR; Definitely read this if your list of likes includes "persevering" and "feeling let down".
Consequently, I was genuinely excited to hook into Carnivalesque; but when the final page was turned, all I was left with was a general sense of disappointment.
The book drifts along before rapidly building into what promises to be an exciting conclusion... but then the conclusion has happened, and you're told what happened in a few, cheap sentences, after the fact. (I even went back to check I hadn't turned multiple pages at once!)
To cap it off, the author is the kind of writer who would use the word "febrile" when they could've simply written "fever"...
I wouldn't, but you might, call him an asshole for that.
TLDR; Definitely read this if your list of likes includes "persevering" and "feeling let down".
June 17, 2018
an awkward/weird boy on the cusp of puberty gets swapped for a changeling at a carnival and is just naturally good at it. Pretty much a different character entirely. The changeling is frustrated at finding out the boy he took the identity of, and life in their small town, is super boring. There is an incident involving rabbits.
The boy's mother muses on her son and husbands various kinds of unknowable masculinity as one enters and one leaves their manhood.
The boy's mother muses on her son and husbands various kinds of unknowable masculinity as one enters and one leaves their manhood.
April 16, 2020
The start was inspiring, stunning, with hints of unease speckled throughout.
Toward the middle I was distracted and not giving the book the attention it deserves, but in hindseight, it was just becoming tedious. Finally sped read through to the end, and I do not feel guilt for skimming so.
Ends in a kind of a plop.
The prositives:
expressive language, magical realism, something different, sort of edgy
Toward the middle I was distracted and not giving the book the attention it deserves, but in hindseight, it was just becoming tedious. Finally sped read through to the end, and I do not feel guilt for skimming so.
Ends in a kind of a plop.
The prositives:
expressive language, magical realism, something different, sort of edgy
November 12, 2020
Dudes I am so glad I am done with this book, and sadly not in a good way at all. I know there were definitely some other circumstance, like the fact that my life got so busy, I took three and a half months to read this, but this just wasn't good! :( I really wanted to love this book, but there were TOO many things going on and not enough cohesion. I thought the initial idea was good, but executed very poorly!
February 25, 2017
I really wanted to love this book but I just didn't connect with it. The language was beautiful at times and the story could have been great but I felt at a remove. I didn't feel invested in the characters or what happened to them. But I can imagine other people loving it.
*** ARC received from netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review ***
*** ARC received from netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review ***
April 29, 2018
An intricately crafted book whose prose is as chimerical as its subject. Reflection and fragments of even cloudier reflections reveal spaces where even fairy tales have fairy tales. It is constantly tantalizing the reader to squint and lean in for a better view.
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