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The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus
Chelsea is determined to make it to her brother’s wedding. And she’s not going to let the fact that she’s been dead for two years stop her.
Best New Fiction, 2019 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards (Silver Winner) 2019 MIPA Midwest Book Awards
Joining with her mime friend from a New York City park and her ghostly mentor with forty years of afterlife under her belt, the three women set out on foot for San Francisco. Along the way, they are faced with joy, sorrow, and the haunting surprises of the open road. This humorous and lightly macabre journey explores relationships, personal burdens, and what it means to keep moving, even when your heartbeat has stopped.
Best New Fiction, 2019 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards (Silver Winner) 2019 MIPA Midwest Book Awards
Joining with her mime friend from a New York City park and her ghostly mentor with forty years of afterlife under her belt, the three women set out on foot for San Francisco. Along the way, they are faced with joy, sorrow, and the haunting surprises of the open road. This humorous and lightly macabre journey explores relationships, personal burdens, and what it means to keep moving, even when your heartbeat has stopped.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2019
12 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Alanna McFall
9 books22 followersAlanna McFall is a writer who specializes in science fiction and fantasy. She has written across several mediums, from novels to short stories to scripts for plays, podcasts and comic strips.
She has traveled across the US for the past few years, working on a variety of projects in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York. She is now working out of the Bay Area in California, and getting a taste of what the west coast can offer an artist. As well as a novelist, she is a resident playwright with PlayGround San Francisco.
Her debut novel, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, is available now with Atthis Arts.
She has traveled across the US for the past few years, working on a variety of projects in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York. She is now working out of the Bay Area in California, and getting a taste of what the west coast can offer an artist. As well as a novelist, she is a resident playwright with PlayGround San Francisco.
Her debut novel, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, is available now with Atthis Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
September 21, 2019
4.25 Stars. This was really good! I have to admit that this book surprised me. I was hoping to enjoy this but I sure did not expect it to be so good. I knew nothing about the book ahead of time. From now until November I’m going to be reading as many paranormal type books as I can. I love this time of year. While I had no expectations about this book, it ended up being a real treat to read.
Chelsea wants to go to her brother’s wedding. She was excited about it when she was alive, and it’s even more important to her now that she is dead. Unfortunately, ghosts can’t ride in planes or cars so Chelsea has to make it from NYC to California by walking. Her ghostly mentor and her human friend (who can see ghosts) decide to make the long cross country trip with Chelsea. Can the three friends make it in time for the wedding?
The premise seems a little out there, and it is, but this story is so well done. The diverse cast includes a wonderful mix of LGBTQ and het characters. Each character is fully fleshed out, even the dead ones, and you feel such a connection to them all. The human friend who is a mime is also mute. This is the third book I have read in maybe 45 days that has used American Sign Language. It’s so nice to see in books and I hope this becomes more the norm.
This book was much more introspective that I expected. And I think the heart of the book is about the strong friendship of these three women. This book has all the feels. From scary moments with the dangers of being on the road, to exciting moments with other ghosts, to happy and sad moments that make you cry and laugh in equal measure. This book even had the cutest damn cat of all time.
This is not an easy book to explain because it is so different but it’s well written and just well done period. I have been complaining about not being wowed too much lately in books, this book wowed and absolutely impressed me. If you want a book that will make you think, will make you laugh and cry and want to go hug your loved ones, this is that book. I hope more people will give this read a chance; it’s too good not to.
A copy was given to me for a honest review.
Chelsea wants to go to her brother’s wedding. She was excited about it when she was alive, and it’s even more important to her now that she is dead. Unfortunately, ghosts can’t ride in planes or cars so Chelsea has to make it from NYC to California by walking. Her ghostly mentor and her human friend (who can see ghosts) decide to make the long cross country trip with Chelsea. Can the three friends make it in time for the wedding?
The premise seems a little out there, and it is, but this story is so well done. The diverse cast includes a wonderful mix of LGBTQ and het characters. Each character is fully fleshed out, even the dead ones, and you feel such a connection to them all. The human friend who is a mime is also mute. This is the third book I have read in maybe 45 days that has used American Sign Language. It’s so nice to see in books and I hope this becomes more the norm.
This book was much more introspective that I expected. And I think the heart of the book is about the strong friendship of these three women. This book has all the feels. From scary moments with the dangers of being on the road, to exciting moments with other ghosts, to happy and sad moments that make you cry and laugh in equal measure. This book even had the cutest damn cat of all time.
This is not an easy book to explain because it is so different but it’s well written and just well done period. I have been complaining about not being wowed too much lately in books, this book wowed and absolutely impressed me. If you want a book that will make you think, will make you laugh and cry and want to go hug your loved ones, this is that book. I hope more people will give this read a chance; it’s too good not to.
A copy was given to me for a honest review.
December 28, 2019
High heels, a patch of ice, a train… Chelsea’s life ended abruptly and not in a pretty way. But she won’t let death stop her from attending her brother’s wedding. Which means she needs to get from New York (an interesting place to be a ghost in, fyi) to San Francisco.
Being a spirit, she can’t take a plane nor a car, which go right through her, so she’ll have to walk (hover?) there. Two friends join her on her trip: Carmen, who died decades earlier and is sort of mentoring her into ghosthood, and Cyndricka, a homeless mute Black mime who, for some reason, can see and communicate with ghosts even though she’s not dead.
The relationship between the three travelers is both incredibly unusual and plausible. On their way to California, they also meet the cutest cat, other ghosts and living people, some good, some bad, or even dangerous. I loved Jamie, who sounds like the sweetest ghost ever even without a face. That’s one of the things I loved best about this novel, how the undead keep the appearance they had when they died and are not all ethereally perfect beings.
Despite the subject, there’s nothing heavy about the story, it’s more subtle and penetrating. I don’t think I can explain why I loved this book (yet another excellent debut) so much without giving too much away. It’s not about twists and surprises, it’s all about the way the feelings are built up, how they grow. Like most road trips (at least in books and movies), this one is both a journey cross-country and to themselves.
I took forever to get to this novel (dead people, anxiety, sadness…) and that was stupid of me since it’s made it straight to my favourite-books-of-the-year list. It’s one of the most poetic and charming novels I’ve read. It’s tender and bittersweet, it made me cry and smile at the same time.
The author mentions “the blessing of small miracles” at one point, and that’s exactly what this novel is.
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Being a spirit, she can’t take a plane nor a car, which go right through her, so she’ll have to walk (hover?) there. Two friends join her on her trip: Carmen, who died decades earlier and is sort of mentoring her into ghosthood, and Cyndricka, a homeless mute Black mime who, for some reason, can see and communicate with ghosts even though she’s not dead.
The relationship between the three travelers is both incredibly unusual and plausible. On their way to California, they also meet the cutest cat, other ghosts and living people, some good, some bad, or even dangerous. I loved Jamie, who sounds like the sweetest ghost ever even without a face. That’s one of the things I loved best about this novel, how the undead keep the appearance they had when they died and are not all ethereally perfect beings.
Despite the subject, there’s nothing heavy about the story, it’s more subtle and penetrating. I don’t think I can explain why I loved this book (yet another excellent debut) so much without giving too much away. It’s not about twists and surprises, it’s all about the way the feelings are built up, how they grow. Like most road trips (at least in books and movies), this one is both a journey cross-country and to themselves.
I took forever to get to this novel (dead people, anxiety, sadness…) and that was stupid of me since it’s made it straight to my favourite-books-of-the-year list. It’s one of the most poetic and charming novels I’ve read. It’s tender and bittersweet, it made me cry and smile at the same time.
The author mentions “the blessing of small miracles” at one point, and that’s exactly what this novel is.
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 17, 2019
The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall was a deeply moving experience and it will stay with me for quite a while. The story of two ghosts and a mute black homeless woman who team up and make the long trek on foot from New York to San Francisco to attend a wedding. It's a journey with hardship and absurd adventures that happen along the way and how their friendship grows and deepens as they spend more time on the road.
The story is told from the pov of a fairly young ghost, Chelsea Shu, who died 2 years ago in a stupid accident. Carmen, who has been a ghost for 40 years keeps an eye on Chelsea and mentors her in all things dead and haunting. Cyndricka is a homeless mute mime who can see and speak to ghosts (as long as they understand sign language or can read what’s on her notepad).
I loved it all. The three female characters are wonderfully written. Two of them may be non-corporeal but they are well fleshed out on the page (so to say). Good pacing. This is an author to remember. I highly recommend.
f/f but no romance
Themes: unfinished business, a wedding to attend, a 6 month trek across the USA, a mute mime, wailers, poltergeists, Charlie the cat, a stop in Reno, available on Scribd.
5 Stars
The story is told from the pov of a fairly young ghost, Chelsea Shu, who died 2 years ago in a stupid accident. Carmen, who has been a ghost for 40 years keeps an eye on Chelsea and mentors her in all things dead and haunting. Cyndricka is a homeless mute mime who can see and speak to ghosts (as long as they understand sign language or can read what’s on her notepad).
I loved it all. The three female characters are wonderfully written. Two of them may be non-corporeal but they are well fleshed out on the page (so to say). Good pacing. This is an author to remember. I highly recommend.
f/f but no romance
Themes: unfinished business, a wedding to attend, a 6 month trek across the USA, a mute mime, wailers, poltergeists, Charlie the cat, a stop in Reno, available on Scribd.
5 Stars
March 16, 2021
Outstanding!
A road trip through the US with two ghosts, a mime and a kitten. A road trip about love, loss and friendship. This story is weird, a little bit macabre, funny, sad, heartwarming and it has some intense moments. During this journey, you’re going to love the characters more and more. The story is well constructed, well written and it keeps your attention from the beginning. The ending was beautiful and very satisfying. I can highly recommend it.
A road trip through the US with two ghosts, a mime and a kitten. A road trip about love, loss and friendship. This story is weird, a little bit macabre, funny, sad, heartwarming and it has some intense moments. During this journey, you’re going to love the characters more and more. The story is well constructed, well written and it keeps your attention from the beginning. The ending was beautiful and very satisfying. I can highly recommend it.
February 23, 2019
"The languages between them could not have meant less just then, gone in the face of shared experience and shared pain"
I. Love. This. Book.
"The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus" moved me deeply, in a lot of different ways. I'm certain that this is a book that I'll come back to and read over and over again, because that's how much I loved it. It has so many important topics and beautiful quotes that I found it really hard to choose one quote in the beginning of this review.
Chelsea Shu dies at 27 and becomes a ghost. A ghost who mourns her own death and the fact that she can see her family and be by their side, without them noticing her. Luckily she meets Carmen that when the story begins already is her mentor in this undead world of theirs.
The story takes place two years after Chelsea's death when she finds out that her little brother Osric is about to get married to the love of his life. Together the ghostly companions Chelsea and Carmen decide to go there...and with go I literally mean go because ghosts can't travel in cars, airplanes or by train. Homeless, human mime (that both can see and communicate with ghosts) Cyndricka decides to come with her friends...and so the journey of their undead and very alive lives begins.
This book both made me cry, laugh and feel an incredible amount of feelings. All three females stories moved me and their growing friendship makes my heart so full. The characters are very different from one another and I believe that, that is what makes them so great together.
McFalls writing is fenomenal, her characters are beautifully portrayed and the amount of details, action, sadness, happiness and comedy is woven together perfectly. There's simply nothing not to like about this book.
The characters varies a lot both when it comes to sexual orientations and ethnicity which I find absolutely lovely. Like that isn't enough McFall also brings up periods (which might sound like nothing( but the fact that Cyndricka has to see to her menstrual hygiene while on the road is just great. Because how often do we actually get to read about the characters getting their period when they are on their adventures?
As a person who believes in a life after this, this book really meant something for me. I don't know if this book describes what McFall believes happens after death or if it's simply a fantasy story. But this story really made me feel a lot of feelings after losing people close to me and believing that they are still out there somewhere.
Thank you NetGalley and Atthis Arts for the e-ARC of "The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, I absolutely adore it...and the biggest thanks to Alanna McFall for writing a new favorite book of mine, this really is something different. I loved it. ❤️
❤️You can find this review + a creative picture with the book included over at my Instagram: @sannareads
I. Love. This. Book.
"The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus" moved me deeply, in a lot of different ways. I'm certain that this is a book that I'll come back to and read over and over again, because that's how much I loved it. It has so many important topics and beautiful quotes that I found it really hard to choose one quote in the beginning of this review.
Chelsea Shu dies at 27 and becomes a ghost. A ghost who mourns her own death and the fact that she can see her family and be by their side, without them noticing her. Luckily she meets Carmen that when the story begins already is her mentor in this undead world of theirs.
The story takes place two years after Chelsea's death when she finds out that her little brother Osric is about to get married to the love of his life. Together the ghostly companions Chelsea and Carmen decide to go there...and with go I literally mean go because ghosts can't travel in cars, airplanes or by train. Homeless, human mime (that both can see and communicate with ghosts) Cyndricka decides to come with her friends...and so the journey of their undead and very alive lives begins.
This book both made me cry, laugh and feel an incredible amount of feelings. All three females stories moved me and their growing friendship makes my heart so full. The characters are very different from one another and I believe that, that is what makes them so great together.
McFalls writing is fenomenal, her characters are beautifully portrayed and the amount of details, action, sadness, happiness and comedy is woven together perfectly. There's simply nothing not to like about this book.
The characters varies a lot both when it comes to sexual orientations and ethnicity which I find absolutely lovely. Like that isn't enough McFall also brings up periods (which might sound like nothing( but the fact that Cyndricka has to see to her menstrual hygiene while on the road is just great. Because how often do we actually get to read about the characters getting their period when they are on their adventures?
As a person who believes in a life after this, this book really meant something for me. I don't know if this book describes what McFall believes happens after death or if it's simply a fantasy story. But this story really made me feel a lot of feelings after losing people close to me and believing that they are still out there somewhere.
Thank you NetGalley and Atthis Arts for the e-ARC of "The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, I absolutely adore it...and the biggest thanks to Alanna McFall for writing a new favorite book of mine, this really is something different. I loved it. ❤️
❤️You can find this review + a creative picture with the book included over at my Instagram: @sannareads
October 13, 2019
Sometimes you come across a story that just takes you by surprise. This is one such story. It’s a ghostly tale from the point of view of the ghost. Chelsea’s brother has finally set a date for his wedding and Chelsea wants to be there. Unfortunate though, that she’s been dead for two years. It’s a long journey by foot from New York to San Francisco but she’s got five months before the wedding. Her friend, Carmen, doesn’t really want her to do the trip but if she’s going to insist then Carmen is going along too. The mime, Cyndrika, who sees ghosts decides she’s going too.
It’s a lovely story with lots of humour and absurdity but also, as you would expect with stories about the dead, quite a bit of pathos. Their lives and deaths are woven together into a powerful journey of sisterhood.
I loved the speculation and it is presented in a way that makes it totally plausible and engaging. The characters are easy to become invested in and, even though some of them lack physical substance, they are wonderfully present on the pages.
Book received from Netgalley and Atthis Arts for an honest review.
It’s a lovely story with lots of humour and absurdity but also, as you would expect with stories about the dead, quite a bit of pathos. Their lives and deaths are woven together into a powerful journey of sisterhood.
I loved the speculation and it is presented in a way that makes it totally plausible and engaging. The characters are easy to become invested in and, even though some of them lack physical substance, they are wonderfully present on the pages.
Book received from Netgalley and Atthis Arts for an honest review.
October 2, 2019
WAS EXPECTING FUN AND QUIRKY, BUT IT ONLY FELT FLAT 😞
A traveling circus consisting of two ghosts and a mute mime. Sounds like the perfect, quirky read to get that laughter flowing. Or so I thought. Reality was a far cry from what I was expecting. Not fun or quirky but silly (in the wrong way) and flat...
👎 WHAT I DISLIKED 👎
Flat: Yeah, that really is the best word to describe this reading experience, which sounded like it was going to be anything but flat.
Silly: The second best word to describe this book... I cannot take it seriously when
Jamie: The character Jamie was one I had a hard time with. I just don't understand how a ghost with no head can both see, listen and talk...
Plot: Thin and, essentially, uninteresting.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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A traveling circus consisting of two ghosts and a mute mime. Sounds like the perfect, quirky read to get that laughter flowing. Or so I thought. Reality was a far cry from what I was expecting. Not fun or quirky but silly (in the wrong way) and flat...
👎 WHAT I DISLIKED 👎
Flat: Yeah, that really is the best word to describe this reading experience, which sounded like it was going to be anything but flat.
Silly: The second best word to describe this book... I cannot take it seriously when
Jamie: The character Jamie was one I had a hard time with. I just don't understand how a ghost with no head can both see, listen and talk...
Plot: Thin and, essentially, uninteresting.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Follow me for more book goodness: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
November 24, 2019
This book... this book! What a joy to read. It's clever, sensible, fresh... it's simply everything and I wish it would get more limelight.
I cried a few tears at the end, which hasn't happened to me for a long time - the ending was just so perfect.
This one I will absolutely re-read and enjoy again.
I cried a few tears at the end, which hasn't happened to me for a long time - the ending was just so perfect.
This one I will absolutely re-read and enjoy again.
May 13, 2021
I laughed, I cried. An emotionally full tale of incredibly difference but still so much heart.
Chelsea is dead. Yep a ghost. Existing in some form on earth, 2 years after her accidental and untimely death. She has a great friend in a motherly Ghost called Carmen, who has helped her keep her sanity during this time. She is also able to be seen by one young human woman, Cyndricka, who is homeless and mute, but puts on mime shows for a living and talks via Sign Language.
We really get to know the ghost community in New York City, before Chelsea decides to go on the road to San Francisco for her brothers wedding. Carmen in her motherly wisdom decides to come along to help keep Chelsea on task, and Cyn also wants to tag along, with a goal of her own in mind.
The three womens bond and interactions are heart-warming and beautiful. As is the grief and loss they feel. Even the living woman, Cyndricka, is an outcast in many ways, preferring the company of ghosts to humans and having her own sad backstory. Their adventures along the way, and their hardships and yet complete support for each other is so touching. It's really like a road trip 'coming of age' adventure type story - but with far more emotion attached, and y'know dealing in the afterlife.
We meet other ghosts and humans along the way, some nice, some not so nice. Also a kitty cat, that stole my heart! I can really say every character is fully fleshed out, and unique, and you care for each of them so well.
We even meet ghosts who have slipped into some thing different from their original ghost form, either because of grief or anger - and I found that fascinating.
Chelsea is very much the main character who we see everything through the eyes of, her trying to come to terms with her death, her family moving on without her, and a girlfriend she wants to also see move on, despite it paining her. As I said it's an emotionally compelling story which had me using half the box of tissues in my sobbing. But it was fulfilling and just something different from the norm.
This isn't a romance, our MC Chelsea is a lesbian who had a relationship with another woman before she passed - but when and where we meet her she is clearly trying to let go and allow her lover to move on, too. There is another lesbian ghost we meet, and her story was also compelling, as was the connection Chelsea has with her. But it's more platonic. But the story absolutely didn't need the entanglements of romance to really make you care about everyone here, and see the story through to the end. I'm glad to have experienced such a special and unique story with wonderful colourful characters.
Chelsea is dead. Yep a ghost. Existing in some form on earth, 2 years after her accidental and untimely death. She has a great friend in a motherly Ghost called Carmen, who has helped her keep her sanity during this time. She is also able to be seen by one young human woman, Cyndricka, who is homeless and mute, but puts on mime shows for a living and talks via Sign Language.
We really get to know the ghost community in New York City, before Chelsea decides to go on the road to San Francisco for her brothers wedding. Carmen in her motherly wisdom decides to come along to help keep Chelsea on task, and Cyn also wants to tag along, with a goal of her own in mind.
The three womens bond and interactions are heart-warming and beautiful. As is the grief and loss they feel. Even the living woman, Cyndricka, is an outcast in many ways, preferring the company of ghosts to humans and having her own sad backstory. Their adventures along the way, and their hardships and yet complete support for each other is so touching. It's really like a road trip 'coming of age' adventure type story - but with far more emotion attached, and y'know dealing in the afterlife.
We meet other ghosts and humans along the way, some nice, some not so nice. Also a kitty cat, that stole my heart! I can really say every character is fully fleshed out, and unique, and you care for each of them so well.
We even meet ghosts who have slipped into some thing different from their original ghost form, either because of grief or anger - and I found that fascinating.
Chelsea is very much the main character who we see everything through the eyes of, her trying to come to terms with her death, her family moving on without her, and a girlfriend she wants to also see move on, despite it paining her. As I said it's an emotionally compelling story which had me using half the box of tissues in my sobbing. But it was fulfilling and just something different from the norm.
This isn't a romance, our MC Chelsea is a lesbian who had a relationship with another woman before she passed - but when and where we meet her she is clearly trying to let go and allow her lover to move on, too. There is another lesbian ghost we meet, and her story was also compelling, as was the connection Chelsea has with her. But it's more platonic. But the story absolutely didn't need the entanglements of romance to really make you care about everyone here, and see the story through to the end. I'm glad to have experienced such a special and unique story with wonderful colourful characters.
August 6, 2019
I probably would have never picked this book up for myself. Thankfully it arrived in my Callisto Crate book box and I felt obligated to read it. Man, what a book! I can see this being in my top five for the year. I loved everything about it. A completely different twist on the bonding road trip story. This book gave me all the feels and I have not been this pleased with an ending in a while. I can't wait to read more from Alanna McFall.
March 4, 2019
I received a copy from Atthis Arts through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Excited about her brother’s upcoming wedding, Chelsea accidentally fell to her death and tried to save the invitation over herself. She is very close to her family, so she mourns her own death as well as shadows her family in addition to her girlfriend for some time, almost losing herself in the process. When her brother’s wedding is finally back on track two years later, Chelsea’s certainly not going to let her ghostly form keep her from attending his big day. Armed with two friends, one living and one dead, she embarks on a long journey to get from New York City to California on foot.
We mainly follow Chelsea, our protagonist, but it quickly becomes more than her story. As the chapters fly by, it becomes clear that it’s also Carmen and Cyndricka’s story in addition to the ghosts they meet as they travel. They each have their own story and have yet to figure out why they became ghosts in addition to completing their unfinished business that’s holding them here. So many of these characters are relatable in different ways and I think that any reader can easily find a character that they see a part of themselves in.
Chelsea almost loses herself when she meets her mentor, Carmen, who saves her from falling off the edge and becoming a wailer in addition to becoming a friend and source of comfort. Part of her ghostly program is to stay busy and not visit the people she knew during her life, which is difficult for Chelsea to stick to because she misses her family. When she learns that her brother is finally getting married, Carmen disagrees with her decision to attend the wedding but decides to tag along. Once the journey begins, it quickly becomes a sad but funny and heartwarming story following these three characters across the states and watching their ups and downs along the way.
I love that Cyndricka is the sole living member of the incorporeal circus. As a living and breathing person, she’s the one member of the group who must take care of herself and has needs that need to be met for her survival. And as a woman living on the streets, she also relies on the help of her ghostly pals to alert her of any danger that tries to find her. Cyndricka is such a wonderful character and I’m so glad that she has a whole world of ghosts that know and understand her when the living world doesn’t.
There are so many funny, touching, sad, and straight up happy moments in this book that it was truly a wonderful ride to be on. I was sad when I made it to the final chapter because I knew the story was about to end. If there is ever a sequel, which I don’t think there will be because it felt and read like a standalone novel, I will one hundred percent be there for it. It’s truly a story of love and loss as well as finding oneself even when one thinks it’s too late. I found myself hoping that we would revisit This is also the first book that I’ve seen a menstruation cycle dealt with during the story rather than forgotten or barely mentioned, so that was a big plus as well.
Excited about her brother’s upcoming wedding, Chelsea accidentally fell to her death and tried to save the invitation over herself. She is very close to her family, so she mourns her own death as well as shadows her family in addition to her girlfriend for some time, almost losing herself in the process. When her brother’s wedding is finally back on track two years later, Chelsea’s certainly not going to let her ghostly form keep her from attending his big day. Armed with two friends, one living and one dead, she embarks on a long journey to get from New York City to California on foot.
We mainly follow Chelsea, our protagonist, but it quickly becomes more than her story. As the chapters fly by, it becomes clear that it’s also Carmen and Cyndricka’s story in addition to the ghosts they meet as they travel. They each have their own story and have yet to figure out why they became ghosts in addition to completing their unfinished business that’s holding them here. So many of these characters are relatable in different ways and I think that any reader can easily find a character that they see a part of themselves in.
Chelsea almost loses herself when she meets her mentor, Carmen, who saves her from falling off the edge and becoming a wailer in addition to becoming a friend and source of comfort. Part of her ghostly program is to stay busy and not visit the people she knew during her life, which is difficult for Chelsea to stick to because she misses her family. When she learns that her brother is finally getting married, Carmen disagrees with her decision to attend the wedding but decides to tag along. Once the journey begins, it quickly becomes a sad but funny and heartwarming story following these three characters across the states and watching their ups and downs along the way.
I love that Cyndricka is the sole living member of the incorporeal circus. As a living and breathing person, she’s the one member of the group who must take care of herself and has needs that need to be met for her survival. And as a woman living on the streets, she also relies on the help of her ghostly pals to alert her of any danger that tries to find her. Cyndricka is such a wonderful character and I’m so glad that she has a whole world of ghosts that know and understand her when the living world doesn’t.
There are so many funny, touching, sad, and straight up happy moments in this book that it was truly a wonderful ride to be on. I was sad when I made it to the final chapter because I knew the story was about to end. If there is ever a sequel, which I don’t think there will be because it felt and read like a standalone novel, I will one hundred percent be there for it. It’s truly a story of love and loss as well as finding oneself even when one thinks it’s too late. I found myself hoping that we would revisit This is also the first book that I’ve seen a menstruation cycle dealt with during the story rather than forgotten or barely mentioned, so that was a big plus as well.
May 31, 2019
Well, if there's one thing you should know about my experience reading this book, it's that I devoured 70% of it in one sitting, and I didn't even notice, I only stopped because it was 4AM. Yep. That's a TL;DR for you.
The one very important thing I want to point out before anything else is that all the characters in this book, main and supporting characters alike, all have a different "voice". This is is INCREDIBLY important when you read a lot. It is so, so common for characters to speak alike, same vocabulary, same syntax, same everything, and it is so common because many writers don't even think about it, the characters are almost an extension of them, so of course they all speak like that, and after all "What do you even care HOW they speak, it's what they say that matters"
No, it's not. How a character speaks is very, very important, because it shows that the author went the extra mile when they made them and wrote them. No person you know in real life speaks exactly like someone else, so why should your book characters do the same? Having distinct dialogue also helps getting to know the character, and getting attached to the character, it's not just an Extra No.457, it's that character, the one you can imagine in your head what they'd say to an x scenario.
Related to the above is that the book is effortlessly diverse. Apart from the identical "voices", another common mistake in books is diversion just for the sake of diversion, shoe-horning in queer characters and POC characters like the author is trying to fulfill a quota and trying to fit in with the "new trends" (see: Derek Landy's new Skulduggery Pleasant books) One very simple way to tell is that the author of the shoe-horns can't write diverse characters to save their life, they're usually both stereotypical and very in-your-face about it, because they're looking for Brownie points for including anything other than vanilla white straight characters.
That's not the case in The Traveling Triple-C at all. The book is incredibly diverse and it is so natural and effortless, it's astounding. I could not respect Alanna McFall more for that. The main characters are a lesbian Chinese-American woman, a mute African-American woman who speaks in sign language, and a Hispanic straight mother, and none of them is written stereotypically, or talked vaguely about (because that's another sign of shoe-horns; the author wants the Brownie points but is too chickenshit about it, never describing the character clearly, saying vague crap like "She had caramel skin"), their characteristics are described to the reader clearly. It was so, so refreshing.
I'm placing so much emphasis on the characters because this is a character-driven story, not plot-driven. If anything, the plot is a little predictable (more on that later), but the true heart of the story is never placed in it, it's always about the characters. You know, the cliche "It's about the trip, not the destination", but it works beautifully here. You're truly invested in the characters' trip and relationships, you feel for them, you're equally frustrated when Chelsea is trying to touch someone, anyone, and she can't (another great part of the book: the ghosts really are incorporeal, they can't interact with the physical world at all)
Oh, and not to mention that this is a very much feminist story, so that's a huge extra plus for me.
The reasons why the book isn't getting a full 5 stars from me, despite all the praising above, are:
1. The plot was, as I mentioned above, sorta predictable (of course )
2. The women finally arriving to San Fran was abrupt (chapter ends, they still have 2 weeks to go after a major event in the story, chapter begins, they're already there)
3. I wasn't a fan of the poltergeist scene, so it felt like a bit of an anticlimax.
BUT, concerning that last scene, I should also mention that I absolutely loved the foreshadowing There were enough clues and dots for you to connect before the big reveal, and it was delightful.
And, of course, I should mention that I cried at least two times while reading, and I also got the sudden urge to get a baseball bat and kick the shit out of some cowards in a truck. If you've read the book, you'll know.
So yeah, I definitely recommend this book. Remember it the next time you're at the bookstore.
**I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**
The one very important thing I want to point out before anything else is that all the characters in this book, main and supporting characters alike, all have a different "voice". This is is INCREDIBLY important when you read a lot. It is so, so common for characters to speak alike, same vocabulary, same syntax, same everything, and it is so common because many writers don't even think about it, the characters are almost an extension of them, so of course they all speak like that, and after all "What do you even care HOW they speak, it's what they say that matters"
No, it's not. How a character speaks is very, very important, because it shows that the author went the extra mile when they made them and wrote them. No person you know in real life speaks exactly like someone else, so why should your book characters do the same? Having distinct dialogue also helps getting to know the character, and getting attached to the character, it's not just an Extra No.457, it's that character, the one you can imagine in your head what they'd say to an x scenario.
Related to the above is that the book is effortlessly diverse. Apart from the identical "voices", another common mistake in books is diversion just for the sake of diversion, shoe-horning in queer characters and POC characters like the author is trying to fulfill a quota and trying to fit in with the "new trends" (see: Derek Landy's new Skulduggery Pleasant books) One very simple way to tell is that the author of the shoe-horns can't write diverse characters to save their life, they're usually both stereotypical and very in-your-face about it, because they're looking for Brownie points for including anything other than vanilla white straight characters.
That's not the case in The Traveling Triple-C at all. The book is incredibly diverse and it is so natural and effortless, it's astounding. I could not respect Alanna McFall more for that. The main characters are a lesbian Chinese-American woman, a mute African-American woman who speaks in sign language, and a Hispanic straight mother, and none of them is written stereotypically, or talked vaguely about (because that's another sign of shoe-horns; the author wants the Brownie points but is too chickenshit about it, never describing the character clearly, saying vague crap like "She had caramel skin"), their characteristics are described to the reader clearly. It was so, so refreshing.
I'm placing so much emphasis on the characters because this is a character-driven story, not plot-driven. If anything, the plot is a little predictable (more on that later), but the true heart of the story is never placed in it, it's always about the characters. You know, the cliche "It's about the trip, not the destination", but it works beautifully here. You're truly invested in the characters' trip and relationships, you feel for them, you're equally frustrated when Chelsea is trying to touch someone, anyone, and she can't (another great part of the book: the ghosts really are incorporeal, they can't interact with the physical world at all)
Oh, and not to mention that this is a very much feminist story, so that's a huge extra plus for me.
The reasons why the book isn't getting a full 5 stars from me, despite all the praising above, are:
1. The plot was, as I mentioned above, sorta predictable (of course )
2. The women finally arriving to San Fran was abrupt (chapter ends, they still have 2 weeks to go after a major event in the story, chapter begins, they're already there)
3. I wasn't a fan of the poltergeist scene, so it felt like a bit of an anticlimax.
BUT, concerning that last scene, I should also mention that I absolutely loved the foreshadowing There were enough clues and dots for you to connect before the big reveal, and it was delightful.
And, of course, I should mention that I cried at least two times while reading, and I also got the sudden urge to get a baseball bat and kick the shit out of some cowards in a truck. If you've read the book, you'll know.
So yeah, I definitely recommend this book. Remember it the next time you're at the bookstore.
**I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**
July 11, 2019
I loved, loved, loved this book!
This is the story of Chelsea -- who is newly dead -- who wants to go to her brother's wedding.
She lives in New York, her brother's wedding is in San Francisco.
Chelsea's friend, Carmen, also deceased, agrees to go with her. Carmen is afraid that if Chelsea goes alone, she'll become a "wailer," someone so absorbed in their own grief that they go mad (yes, ghosts can go mad).
Cyndricka -- not dead -- has the unusual ability of being able to see the dead, and the unfortunate condition of being mute.
She is friends with Carmen & Chelsea and asks if she can go, too.
So the 3 of them start the trek from New York to San Francisco, and this is their journey.
The story is told in first person from Chelsea's point of view.
It's creative, funny, and poignant.
This is the story of Chelsea -- who is newly dead -- who wants to go to her brother's wedding.
She lives in New York, her brother's wedding is in San Francisco.
Chelsea's friend, Carmen, also deceased, agrees to go with her. Carmen is afraid that if Chelsea goes alone, she'll become a "wailer," someone so absorbed in their own grief that they go mad (yes, ghosts can go mad).
Cyndricka -- not dead -- has the unusual ability of being able to see the dead, and the unfortunate condition of being mute.
She is friends with Carmen & Chelsea and asks if she can go, too.
So the 3 of them start the trek from New York to San Francisco, and this is their journey.
The story is told in first person from Chelsea's point of view.
It's creative, funny, and poignant.
November 2, 2019
A road trip with a mute mime, some ghosts and a cute cat. An unexpected gem, quirky characters, a book with real heart and an utterly satisfying ending.
September 28, 2019
I’m fascinated with NaNoWriMo. The fact that someone can come up with an entire novel in a month is pretty mind boggling. No, actually what’s really mind boggling is that someone can come up with a really good novel in a month…yes, that is a nod to Elin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. Although, obviously, it isn’t an easy task, Morgenstern, after all, did take 8 years to produce her next book. So anyway, the reason I’m mentioning this is because this book was also a NaNoWriMo baby, at least it was conceived and conceptualized during it. But the thing is, I can kind of imagine this book being written in a month’s time. Not because it isn’t good, but it does have a sort of, I’m not sure, simplicity maybe, although in an ok way. Maybe straight forwardness is a more apt descriptor, although this book is so far from straight, it’s one of those queer quirky very politically correct things that are immediately associated with millennials. Everyone in the book is of varied ethnicities and many are somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella. Which is fine and great and I’m all for diversity in literature, but this one seems studiedly precociously so. It’s all about acceptance, friendship, standing up for yourself, following the beat of your own drum, love and so on. Very message y. Very well meaning well intentioned sort of book. And oh so cute, so whimsically cute, it’s like a certain actress name Zooey (in her prime) of books. You can just imagine it knitting you a rainbow sweater out of a sustainably sourced yarn while softly yodeling or something. Anyway, that was my main impression of the book. But there’s more to, there’s an actual plot, it features ghosts. It’s actually a very good ghost story and I very much enjoyed the ghost world building aspects of it. There are three kinds of ghosts, the regular ones (like our traveling protagonists), the very sad ones (wailers) and the very angry ones (poltergeists). And all of them are distinctly different with distinct abilities and powers. But out main ghost is Chelsea, happy 27 year old gay girl in love who can’t negotiate high heeled shoes and slippery subways and ends up struck by a train. Instead of moving on immediately, she gets to linger on and pal around with an older Latina ghost lady and a living homeless mute black girl who performs as a mime in Central park and can see and interact with ghosts. When Chelsea finds out that her bisexual (of course) brother Osric is going to be tying the knot with his lady love Tamika (yeah, those names, cause it’s so whee whee whimsical), she decides to travel all the way across the country to be there. Mind you, ghosts can only travel via actual ambulation, no cars, planes, trains, etc. This is well explained in the book, because, yeah, the world building is good. So Carmen the ghost and Cyndricka the living girl decide to join Chelsea and off they go…at a considerably slower pace now, because of all the real person considerations, but still, they’ve got months to walk and it’s…road trip. Quintessential road trip story, really. You know, the one where everyone has new experiences, meets interesting characters and eventually matures. And it’s cute, it really is, in fact one can fault it for being too cute. It’s also very young, at least energy wise. And it’s very sincere. You’re meant to like these characters and care for them, everyone’s inner goodness shines through like…I don’t know…like shiny things through ghosts. And I suppose in the end it was just too cute for me. I liked it, it was very likeable, but (and this probably says more about personal preferences than the book itself) for me to really get into the book, it has to be darker, heavier, more…something. Definitely less millennial giddy. And that name, either way you spin it, it just reads like Sisterhood of Traveling Bras. Although apparently according to the characters only double C is reminiscent of bras. Really? Oh ok then. I mean, the name is essentially very descriptively accurate, they travel, they are fleshless (mostly), they entertain, all of their names begin with (oh how cute is that) with the letter C, but really wouldn’t just The Traveling Incorporeal Circus be a more respectable laugh proof title. Well, either way, that’s the title and that’s the book. And if cute (ghosts) is your bag, go for it. Either way, entertaining enough. Read fairly quickly too. Decent for a debut. Turns out not first time reading the author though, she also contributed a story to an absolute delight of an anthology As Told By Things. That one I recommend without reservations. This one, I’m not sure. I suppose it’s original enough (almost) and offbeat enough to merit a read. Thanks Netgalley.
February 22, 2019
I absolutely loved this book. It was so different, but in a wonderful way. The characters are fully developed and really tug on your heartstrings. I was rooting for all of them the whole way through. I’m sure the more I think about it, the more I will adore it.
A special thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this one. It was excellent.
A special thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this one. It was excellent.
September 12, 2019
I loved this entire book, but one of my favorite things was the opening chapter. It might be the best opening chapter I’ve ever read, and while I don’t want to give away spoilers, I will say that I was caught totally off guard and never saw it coming. The story just got better and better after that, though. I found the main characters extremely charming. In particular, the character of Cyndricka, a mute young homeless woman who survives life on the streets of New York City by being a mime. She was just awesome and I loved her whole storyline. I also really liked the storyline of the protagonist, Chelsea, and was interested to see how it all came out in the end.
Overall, I just felt that the characterization throughout the story was very well done. There is a whole cast of characters coming from different backgrounds, and sometimes different eras, but I got attached to all of them and drawn into their personal struggles, and also, how they fit together as a cast. There were really nice little light-hearted humorous moments, but also serious turns to the story that left me sad and grimacing for what the characters were going through. The book as a whole contained a lot of these interesting twists and turns, and I never knew what to expect or how I would feel about it. I really love it when an author is able to pull something like that off, and this author pulled it off very well.
And the ending was beautiful. I got a great sense of closure and felt deeply satisfied that each of the characters, in turn, found what they were looking for, even if they actually got the thing they had no idea they were looking for. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves urban fantasy, contemporary fiction, supernatural stories, comedic literature or just a really great read.
Overall, I just felt that the characterization throughout the story was very well done. There is a whole cast of characters coming from different backgrounds, and sometimes different eras, but I got attached to all of them and drawn into their personal struggles, and also, how they fit together as a cast. There were really nice little light-hearted humorous moments, but also serious turns to the story that left me sad and grimacing for what the characters were going through. The book as a whole contained a lot of these interesting twists and turns, and I never knew what to expect or how I would feel about it. I really love it when an author is able to pull something like that off, and this author pulled it off very well.
And the ending was beautiful. I got a great sense of closure and felt deeply satisfied that each of the characters, in turn, found what they were looking for, even if they actually got the thing they had no idea they were looking for. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves urban fantasy, contemporary fiction, supernatural stories, comedic literature or just a really great read.
August 12, 2019
(This review originally appeared at Mad Scientist Journal.)
The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall is the story of a road trip unlike any other road trip you’ve ever experienced. As two ghosts and a mute woman who can communicate with ghosts travel from New York City to San Francisco, they learn about each other and themselves, all while dealing with other ghosts and the darker side of the spirit realm.
Chelsea was looking forward to her brother’s wedding before she died, and her desire to see him married continues with her into the afterlife. Since she can’t take conventional transportation as a ghost (which is cleverly explained within the novel), she decided to walk across the country to be there, even if her brother and her family won’t realize she’s there. Her friends, Carmen and Cyndricka, don’t want her to go alone, so they make the walk with her–Carmen as her mentor, and Cyndricka so she can visit family in Reno.
What follows is a rollercoaster of friendship and peril, bonding and the unknown. As the three women make their way across the country, each of them changes and grows, perhaps none more than the protagonist, Chelsea. Their adventures will keep you reading more than you might have planned in a single sitting, so be forewarned!
A clever juxtaposition of the absurd and the everyday, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall will take you from laughter to the verge of tears and have you rooting for her incredible and unconventional heroines all along the way.
The publisher provided us with a free copy of this novel in exchange for review consideration.
The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall is the story of a road trip unlike any other road trip you’ve ever experienced. As two ghosts and a mute woman who can communicate with ghosts travel from New York City to San Francisco, they learn about each other and themselves, all while dealing with other ghosts and the darker side of the spirit realm.
Chelsea was looking forward to her brother’s wedding before she died, and her desire to see him married continues with her into the afterlife. Since she can’t take conventional transportation as a ghost (which is cleverly explained within the novel), she decided to walk across the country to be there, even if her brother and her family won’t realize she’s there. Her friends, Carmen and Cyndricka, don’t want her to go alone, so they make the walk with her–Carmen as her mentor, and Cyndricka so she can visit family in Reno.
What follows is a rollercoaster of friendship and peril, bonding and the unknown. As the three women make their way across the country, each of them changes and grows, perhaps none more than the protagonist, Chelsea. Their adventures will keep you reading more than you might have planned in a single sitting, so be forewarned!
A clever juxtaposition of the absurd and the everyday, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall will take you from laughter to the verge of tears and have you rooting for her incredible and unconventional heroines all along the way.
The publisher provided us with a free copy of this novel in exchange for review consideration.
June 24, 2019
I loved this book. It was such a fun, interesting, and unique read.
Chelsea is a ghost and is friends with other ghosts in New York City, but has a ghostly best friend and mentor called Carmen. There is one woman, Cyndricka, who can see ghosts, but is a mute mime who communicates with sign language. The 3 decide to walk to San Francisco so that Chelsea can attend her brother's wedding.
There is so much that happens along the way that bring out issues of relationship and family, forgiveness, life purpose, and what stops us. All 3 women need to learn to come to terms with issues from their past in order to move on. There are also tense moments involving both human and supernatural predators that the 3 women need to overcome.
The character development was great and felt authentic. I felt so much for all 3 women and wanted the best for them so badly. And the writing and descriptions were terrific and engaging, keeping me turning the pages.
I love how McFall dealt with big issues, but in a sensitive way. There is a lesbian character, but she is simply gay and it is one part of her character. Homelessness and how people are treated is also tackled, as is racism. Binding all of these big issues together is friendship and loyalty and purpose. It was interesting to explore these women looking back on their lives and deciding what was important and what wasn't, and what paths to take in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.
Chelsea is a ghost and is friends with other ghosts in New York City, but has a ghostly best friend and mentor called Carmen. There is one woman, Cyndricka, who can see ghosts, but is a mute mime who communicates with sign language. The 3 decide to walk to San Francisco so that Chelsea can attend her brother's wedding.
There is so much that happens along the way that bring out issues of relationship and family, forgiveness, life purpose, and what stops us. All 3 women need to learn to come to terms with issues from their past in order to move on. There are also tense moments involving both human and supernatural predators that the 3 women need to overcome.
The character development was great and felt authentic. I felt so much for all 3 women and wanted the best for them so badly. And the writing and descriptions were terrific and engaging, keeping me turning the pages.
I love how McFall dealt with big issues, but in a sensitive way. There is a lesbian character, but she is simply gay and it is one part of her character. Homelessness and how people are treated is also tackled, as is racism. Binding all of these big issues together is friendship and loyalty and purpose. It was interesting to explore these women looking back on their lives and deciding what was important and what wasn't, and what paths to take in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.
May 26, 2023
4.5*
I definitely recommend listening to the audiobook read by C.S.E. Cooney, as I think the joyful, beautiful reading upped my rating with yet another quarter star. It was just so much fun!
As the "Traveling" in the title already indicates, this book really takes you on a trip. Not just in the literal sense, because the characters make a long journey, but also emotionally. I met so many beautiful characters, not the least of all little Charlie the cat, and behind every turn there was another small adventure.
Queer ghosts, sign language, a mime and other circus acts (sometimes involving the cat), a scary haunted house from ghost perspective, a wedding, and so much more - this book packs so much joy, and at the same time a lot of other emotions, while also talking about heavy topics like death, the things that make life worth living, and the way our society treats homeless people.
To my book club friends (and everyone else): if you liked "Under the Whispering Door" and would like to find more queer books about death and letting go, "The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus" definitely deserves to be mentioned more often in those lists!
For content warnings, check https://www.atthisarts.com/content/.
I definitely recommend listening to the audiobook read by C.S.E. Cooney, as I think the joyful, beautiful reading upped my rating with yet another quarter star. It was just so much fun!
As the "Traveling" in the title already indicates, this book really takes you on a trip. Not just in the literal sense, because the characters make a long journey, but also emotionally. I met so many beautiful characters, not the least of all little Charlie the cat, and behind every turn there was another small adventure.
Queer ghosts, sign language, a mime and other circus acts (sometimes involving the cat), a scary haunted house from ghost perspective, a wedding, and so much more - this book packs so much joy, and at the same time a lot of other emotions, while also talking about heavy topics like death, the things that make life worth living, and the way our society treats homeless people.
To my book club friends (and everyone else): if you liked "Under the Whispering Door" and would like to find more queer books about death and letting go, "The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus" definitely deserves to be mentioned more often in those lists!
For content warnings, check https://www.atthisarts.com/content/.
February 10, 2019
Surprising ~ Funny ~ Sweet
tl;dr: Dead girl attends brother's wedding.
I am a sucker for dead people stories, particularly when they are funny/ mostly about thinking about living people. This one tells the story of a young dead woman, who is struggling with the afterlife, and wants to cross the country to see her brother get married. What ensues is a buddy comedy/ road trip story where only one of the three characters has a corporeal existence. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, even if it felt a bit familiar.
3.5
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
tl;dr: Dead girl attends brother's wedding.
I am a sucker for dead people stories, particularly when they are funny/ mostly about thinking about living people. This one tells the story of a young dead woman, who is struggling with the afterlife, and wants to cross the country to see her brother get married. What ensues is a buddy comedy/ road trip story where only one of the three characters has a corporeal existence. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, even if it felt a bit familiar.
3.5
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 18, 2019
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, Netgalley.com and Atthis Arts. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review.
Ms. McFall has written an emotional and thoughtful story about an unlikely trio. A story that will stay with you much longer than you expect it to. Add to your TBR list now!
5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.
Ms. McFall has written an emotional and thoughtful story about an unlikely trio. A story that will stay with you much longer than you expect it to. Add to your TBR list now!
5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.
June 1, 2022
This was a quirky new idea for a road trip novel.
I liked the focus on themes like family (biological and found), death, grief, and letting go and enjoyed this more than I expected. Still, some developments were a little too convenient/predictable.
I liked the focus on themes like family (biological and found), death, grief, and letting go and enjoyed this more than I expected. Still, some developments were a little too convenient/predictable.
Read
September 26, 2020DNF
I tried. I really did. I kept picking it up and not finishing.
The characters were unique. The story was fresh. Concepts were interesting. I really have no idea why I couldn't get through it.
I tried. I really did. I kept picking it up and not finishing.
The characters were unique. The story was fresh. Concepts were interesting. I really have no idea why I couldn't get through it.
October 10, 2019
A quirky and lovely book about friendship, grief, anger, and love. When Chelsea, a ghost, decides to travel from New York to San Francisco for her brother's wedding--which was delayed because of her death two years earlier--she's unexpectedly accompanied by Carmen, also a ghost, and Cyndricka, a mortal woman who is one of the few in the world able to see and hear ghosts, and who is a mime. Together they encounter other ghosts, some in need of help and others who are a threat; a kitten; helpful and malicious people; and, finally, some truths about themselves, their pasts, and their futures. The characters are diverse in race, sexuality, disability, and more; there's a lovely emphasis on the value of learning languages and on questioning cultural norms. This would be a great book club read, or a parent-and-kids read.
November 11, 2019
Chelsea is determined to be at her brother’s wedding and the fact that she’s been dead for two years isn't going to stop her attending the wedding. So she sets out on foot from New York to San Francisco with her mime friend, Cyndricka and her ghostly mentor, Carmen. On the journey they are faced with joy, sorrow, and the haunting surprises of the open road.
The characters are diverse, with characters of different ethnicity and sexual orientations and one of the characters uses ASL to communicate.
This book explores relationships, personal burdens, and what it means to keep moving, even when your dead.
This was a wonderful book to read with some lighthearted moments among the heavy dark side.
I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#TripleC #NetGalley
The characters are diverse, with characters of different ethnicity and sexual orientations and one of the characters uses ASL to communicate.
This book explores relationships, personal burdens, and what it means to keep moving, even when your dead.
This was a wonderful book to read with some lighthearted moments among the heavy dark side.
I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#TripleC #NetGalley
June 7, 2019
This is an amazing book — totally unique, sweet, and interesting, with a perfect ending. Doesn't really fit in a genre, but I highly recommend it.
January 13, 2020
Exciting to see such a work by a new author! Bravo!
April 9, 2021
(NetGalley ARC.)
Fifty or so pages into this book, I had a strange thought.
It's like a Wattpad book.
But I could see the publisher's name & with publishing houses you get all the rigmarole of editing, so it obviously wasn't selfpub. I pushed myself to ask why I felt that way. People love to say women are 'bad writers' on some mystical objective level, & in a book with a diverse cast of characters? It seemed like I might just be projecting something.
I read some reviews, later on. I was 170 pages in & had just gotten to a scene that made me viscerally angry—so angry something clicked in my head. I looked for reviews that felt the way I did. But most people either really liked the book, for the same reasons I had wanted to like it, or else they said they "didn't know why" they didn't like it. Just like I didn't know.
Well, I am happy to tell you: I figured it out.
I wasn't right about Wattpad, but this was a NaNo project, & the two can be difficult for similar reasons (more in the 'plot' section.) It's also indie-published, something which admittedly made me hiss a little yes! of vindication. I had known, without knowing how I had known.
Here I will tell you how and what I knew.
THE CHARACTERS
There were some warning signs in the first few pages, but not many plot-wise. We open on Chelsea running to catch the train, talking to her girlfriend, Heather, about Christina's brother's upcoming wedding.
The dialogue was often juvenile while clearly adult—for example, this excerpt on the very first page:
Chelsea Shu turned over the card in her other hand. It was heavy stock paper, with elaborate raised type and a metallic sheen on the border that her sister Phoebe was so enamored with. “I didn’t think Osric was ever going to let her get away with that. But they really do look perfect.” It was the most formal and refined thing she had ever seen her brother produce. She had to assume that it was entirely his fiancée Tamika’s doing. “Is it sad that I want to put it on my fridge like it’s a drawing from third grade?”
Phoebe snorted. “Do it. And take a picture and send it to him. We need to give him so much shit over how long this took.”
“Are you planning on making the entire wedding process a nightmare for them?”
“Only until I get bored or Tamika asks me to stop. We’re doing our pestering long distance, so we have to make up for it in quantity.”
Some awkward phrasing ("...that her sister Phoebe was so enamored with" makes things clunky), banter that doesn't sound like something real people would say ("We need to give him so much shit..."/"We're doing our pestering long distance...") & obvious exposition. Wedding! Took forever! Long distance!
& the cursing. Let me be the first to say that I LOVE cursing in teen stories—teens swear & I appreciate when people acknowledge it. I am a strong advocate. So why would it be a problem that this felt like a teen book with cursing? Because it's not a teen book—it's for/about adults.
& I thought to myself for the first time that this seemed kind of indiepub because of the above.
But I was so into the premise. After all, the cast is so diverse—Chelsea is a Chinese lesbian, Carmen is a Mexican mother (MOTHERS WHO ARE HUMAN BEINGS? OLDER WOMEN WHO ARE HUMAN BEINGS?), Cyndricka is a mute neurodivergent black woman. Of course I loved the premise. It felt like we were going to get to see some real people as ghosts, & I'm the #1 fan of diverse speculative fiction. This was so intensely my thing.
I cannot stress enough how much I wanted the description of this book. A diverse cast, going on a road trip (character-driven plot!), AS TWO GHOSTS & A MIME. Every word got me more excited.
I say that because it's easy to discount bad reviews from people who aren't into specfic, or diverse casts, or ghosts. But we're seeing low reviews consistently from people who like this stuff. I wanted so bad to like this book. I hated to dock every star. This should have been my favorite thing in the world—so why wasn't it?
I answer that question not just for frustrated readers but for the author, who I would like to help reach her base in the future. Yes I know how condescending this sounds but just trust me I am genuine & I guess my credentials are I'm a Literature major who also writes & I have made the same mistake.
So my first critique is that the characters were flat. Like I could turn them around & find they were only a cardboard stand-up. When you say Chelsea Shu is a Chinese lesbian ghost, you usually expect more from her—hobbies, interests, strong opinions, a personality, a distinct way of speaking, MOTIVATION/GOAL/CONFLICT—but there wasn't much more. This is why some specifically noted the diversity as something they didn't like, because the character descriptions are the characters.
I'm not here to suggest that Carmen should not have, for example, spoken at length about her family & her role as a mother. On the contrary, I enjoy these less-often-seen touches. The trouble was that there wasn't much more inside the characters than their enticing diverse outlines—like jawbreakers with hollow insides.
Now, that said, I did love the idea of the characters & I could tell the author loved them, which is common for NaNo projects. A person starts out with a group of characters they adore & desperately want to give a happy ending, & therein springs a story.
Or at least a world.
WORLDBUILDING
This & the characters, which I suppose means the premise, form the second star here. I completely understand McFall's ambitions—a new ghost canon! We have regular ghosts, poltergeists, WAILERS. I adored the concept of wailers—ghosts who have lost themselves so deeply to grief that they can only sob & melt away endlessly.
So I want to note that the worldbuilding is a great idea. Again, though, the execution is lacking.
Chelsea had only met one poltergeist in her afterlife, and it was more than enough. The image of that long, distorted figure lurking over the dark water under the Brooklyn Bridge was going to stay with her for the rest of however many days she had left. She could firmly say that she was glad Jamie and Carmen were both the people they were, people who were able to keep hold of themselves under any circumstances.
This is Chapter 14, 127/359 pages in my copy. We still don't know what a poltergeist is. & at this point, I knew something else—that we were building there. The withholding of information was obvious; the climax would involve the 'reveal' of poltergeists. But I didn't find myself interested—I already knew , but even if I hadn't, I just felt annoyed that I didn't have this information. You can, for example, explain what they're like without having us meet one. That would be fine. This created an artificial & unnecessary withholding of information which made the plot more obvious.
So I also had nitpicks with the execution of the worldbuilding. The ideas were strong—that how you act as a ghost determines what kind of ghost you are, the different ways ghosts/humans interact, Cyndricka's loneliness as a human who can see ghosts—but, again, they weren't as well fleshed out as I wanted them to be.
THE PLOT
To the people who do not know why they did not like this book: You did not like it because it had no plot.
That's not possible, you think. It's a 300+ page book. Things happened. I was there—how is that not a plot?
So I will explain to you what I knew & how I knew it.
There are two types of NaNoWriMo writers: the planners, & the pantsers. Planners have an outline ready before they write, & pantsers go "by the seat of their pants"—very few, or even no, plans. Both have pros/cons & styles of writing they suit; here I'll focus on a common pitfall for pantsers.
Almost every Western narrative—not every culture has the same storytelling methods—follows something akin to the 3-act structure. There is a main conflict which builds to a climax & is then resolved. eg Star Wars's Death Star. For any good narrative, you need MOTIVATION-GOAL-CONFLICT. +stakes (sometimes motivation reworded.)
This book does not have a conflict. It is about Chelsea's road trip to her brother's wedding, but look:
MOTIVATION - Chelsea has no motivation for going other than she's bored.
GOAL - None. When she sees the wedding she'll go back to NY.
CONFLICT - Nothing is stopping her; she's a ghost.
STAKES - What happens if she doesn't make it to the wedding (which we know isn't a serious danger)? ....nothing.
So where do you find 300+ pages of writing? NaNo offers ideas. Just have something happen & see what comes next as a response!
The problem is that this makes an unworkable first draft. Things Happening =/= Satisfying Plot Arc. In editing, you have to take everything you've written and organize it into a plot shape, often cutting things that don't fit. (Planning is the opposite; tons of work upfront/you usually end up UNDERwriting.)
Why did I think Wattpad? Because the most common method of writing on Wattpad is pantsing. 99% of the time, writers write & then post chapters on a set schedule. Can't edit plot structure when you upload one chapter a week.
(What's wrong with writing in a non-Western style? Nothing, but you'd have to have a perfect grasp of the style you choose—eg Ghibli's kishoutenketsu—and most Western authors who don’t have 3-act down aren’t masters in other forms.)
Now I rant. McFall please do not read this I sound much angrier than I am. Other people read it & weep with me.
UNHELPFUL RANTING
I want to tell you about the exact moment that I got viscerally angry with the book, but to do that, I have to tell you about some other things. Don't worry, it's non-spoilery- it's just things that happen.
The gang finds a ghost, Jamie, trying to rescue a cat from a grate. Cyndricka being the only physical one, she saves the cat & names it Charlie. Both new members travel along, with frequent pauses for backstory on Jamie/playtime with Charlie. Chelsea thinks Jamie is hot, because Jamie is also gay (but headless.) They stay the night at a homeless shelter with Cyndricka. The gang stops by a medium's house, who can sense ghosts but not see/hear them like Cyndricka. A mime show.
And then they get to a town of wailers. They need to get out of here ASAP. Cyndricka is exhausted, but they can't stand the sobbing & need to move fast. Besides, they already spent time turning off the road to go see a medium, so now they really have no excuse to stop anywhere.
So Cyndricka breaks her ankle.
Let me be clear: this is not something that happens. It is not a natural result of her having walked for too long, or tripping over a plot-relevant item, or dozing off while walking. This is something that the author uses as an excuse, so that the characters can stay in this town. Because this is a road trip story, & there is NO other justification for stopping them. THE AUTHOR DID THIS TO ADD LENGTH.
At this point, I thought to myself, LET ME GO! Why WAS this happening? Why did they need Jamie? Why the romance between her & Chelsea? Where was the chemistry? Why stop at the medium's, especially since she can't even actually see ghosts? This was 170 pages in. & Jamie ends up staying with the wailers because she has some talent for making them less wailey or something, which raises the question: WHY DID WE MEET JAMIE. Nothing changes, in ANY of the characters, due to their meeting. She just pops up & then leaves.
This "finding a cat & a lesbian" is CLASSIC pantser. Not knowing what to do... so why don't they find a cat? & then someone throws a beer can at Cyndricka because, you know, black homeless woman, & they hit Charlie so gang has to go to the vet but Cyndricka can't pay so Charlie gets repo'd, so they I am running out of characters so let me just say this was VIOLENTLY frustrating. It's fine to include this stuff in a draft for lack of a plot, but then you have to EDIT IT INTO A PLOT.
For the rest of the book I was angry at every event because none of them were necessary.
Which brings us to the racism.
RACISM
(Disclaimer: I'm white.)
This involves discussion of the climax of the story, so tldr police brutality/angry WOC trope.
HOW I'D FIX IT
It's not fair to critique unconstructively. Here's what I'd do (besides removing the racism) to fix the plot:
Give each character a GMC. Say Chelsea is terrified of being lonely forever as a ghost, never having real connections, now that her fiancee is alive & she's dead. Goal: Prove she can have love / Motivation: Everyone wants love! / Conflict: she's a ghost, so she can't interact with the people she knew.
(Also do this for the other two.)
Then the plot naturally extends—the beginning establishes this, the middle is a search for love, the climax is when Chelsea feels she'll NEVER FIND LOVE (perhaps she gets into a fight with her circus & they split up?), ending is when she realizes she can after all (perhaps Jamie sticks around & they date. They have all of eternity! Or maybe she's happy with her ghostfam.)
Of course in the real plot but it naturally wasn't satisfying as it didn't resolve any particular conflict; it just happened. This proposed story outline would require each event to call back to an overall conflict, forming... a plot.
LOVING CONCLUSION
I don't wish the author ill; I only have the solution for this problem after rigorous writing classes to solve MY struggle with it. It took me a really long time to read this book because I was so determined to give it its due, & because I burned myself pushing through the book and needed breaks. Hope this helped both fellow authors & readers.
Fifty or so pages into this book, I had a strange thought.
It's like a Wattpad book.
But I could see the publisher's name & with publishing houses you get all the rigmarole of editing, so it obviously wasn't selfpub. I pushed myself to ask why I felt that way. People love to say women are 'bad writers' on some mystical objective level, & in a book with a diverse cast of characters? It seemed like I might just be projecting something.
I read some reviews, later on. I was 170 pages in & had just gotten to a scene that made me viscerally angry—so angry something clicked in my head. I looked for reviews that felt the way I did. But most people either really liked the book, for the same reasons I had wanted to like it, or else they said they "didn't know why" they didn't like it. Just like I didn't know.
Well, I am happy to tell you: I figured it out.
I wasn't right about Wattpad, but this was a NaNo project, & the two can be difficult for similar reasons (more in the 'plot' section.) It's also indie-published, something which admittedly made me hiss a little yes! of vindication. I had known, without knowing how I had known.
Here I will tell you how and what I knew.
THE CHARACTERS
There were some warning signs in the first few pages, but not many plot-wise. We open on Chelsea running to catch the train, talking to her girlfriend, Heather, about Christina's brother's upcoming wedding.
The dialogue was often juvenile while clearly adult—for example, this excerpt on the very first page:
Chelsea Shu turned over the card in her other hand. It was heavy stock paper, with elaborate raised type and a metallic sheen on the border that her sister Phoebe was so enamored with. “I didn’t think Osric was ever going to let her get away with that. But they really do look perfect.” It was the most formal and refined thing she had ever seen her brother produce. She had to assume that it was entirely his fiancée Tamika’s doing. “Is it sad that I want to put it on my fridge like it’s a drawing from third grade?”
Phoebe snorted. “Do it. And take a picture and send it to him. We need to give him so much shit over how long this took.”
“Are you planning on making the entire wedding process a nightmare for them?”
“Only until I get bored or Tamika asks me to stop. We’re doing our pestering long distance, so we have to make up for it in quantity.”
Some awkward phrasing ("...that her sister Phoebe was so enamored with" makes things clunky), banter that doesn't sound like something real people would say ("We need to give him so much shit..."/"We're doing our pestering long distance...") & obvious exposition. Wedding! Took forever! Long distance!
& the cursing. Let me be the first to say that I LOVE cursing in teen stories—teens swear & I appreciate when people acknowledge it. I am a strong advocate. So why would it be a problem that this felt like a teen book with cursing? Because it's not a teen book—it's for/about adults.
& I thought to myself for the first time that this seemed kind of indiepub because of the above.
But I was so into the premise. After all, the cast is so diverse—Chelsea is a Chinese lesbian, Carmen is a Mexican mother (MOTHERS WHO ARE HUMAN BEINGS? OLDER WOMEN WHO ARE HUMAN BEINGS?), Cyndricka is a mute neurodivergent black woman. Of course I loved the premise. It felt like we were going to get to see some real people as ghosts, & I'm the #1 fan of diverse speculative fiction. This was so intensely my thing.
I cannot stress enough how much I wanted the description of this book. A diverse cast, going on a road trip (character-driven plot!), AS TWO GHOSTS & A MIME. Every word got me more excited.
I say that because it's easy to discount bad reviews from people who aren't into specfic, or diverse casts, or ghosts. But we're seeing low reviews consistently from people who like this stuff. I wanted so bad to like this book. I hated to dock every star. This should have been my favorite thing in the world—so why wasn't it?
I answer that question not just for frustrated readers but for the author, who I would like to help reach her base in the future. Yes I know how condescending this sounds but just trust me I am genuine & I guess my credentials are I'm a Literature major who also writes & I have made the same mistake.
So my first critique is that the characters were flat. Like I could turn them around & find they were only a cardboard stand-up. When you say Chelsea Shu is a Chinese lesbian ghost, you usually expect more from her—hobbies, interests, strong opinions, a personality, a distinct way of speaking, MOTIVATION/GOAL/CONFLICT—but there wasn't much more. This is why some specifically noted the diversity as something they didn't like, because the character descriptions are the characters.
I'm not here to suggest that Carmen should not have, for example, spoken at length about her family & her role as a mother. On the contrary, I enjoy these less-often-seen touches. The trouble was that there wasn't much more inside the characters than their enticing diverse outlines—like jawbreakers with hollow insides.
Now, that said, I did love the idea of the characters & I could tell the author loved them, which is common for NaNo projects. A person starts out with a group of characters they adore & desperately want to give a happy ending, & therein springs a story.
Or at least a world.
WORLDBUILDING
This & the characters, which I suppose means the premise, form the second star here. I completely understand McFall's ambitions—a new ghost canon! We have regular ghosts, poltergeists, WAILERS. I adored the concept of wailers—ghosts who have lost themselves so deeply to grief that they can only sob & melt away endlessly.
So I want to note that the worldbuilding is a great idea. Again, though, the execution is lacking.
Chelsea had only met one poltergeist in her afterlife, and it was more than enough. The image of that long, distorted figure lurking over the dark water under the Brooklyn Bridge was going to stay with her for the rest of however many days she had left. She could firmly say that she was glad Jamie and Carmen were both the people they were, people who were able to keep hold of themselves under any circumstances.
This is Chapter 14, 127/359 pages in my copy. We still don't know what a poltergeist is. & at this point, I knew something else—that we were building there. The withholding of information was obvious; the climax would involve the 'reveal' of poltergeists. But I didn't find myself interested—I already knew , but even if I hadn't, I just felt annoyed that I didn't have this information. You can, for example, explain what they're like without having us meet one. That would be fine. This created an artificial & unnecessary withholding of information which made the plot more obvious.
So I also had nitpicks with the execution of the worldbuilding. The ideas were strong—that how you act as a ghost determines what kind of ghost you are, the different ways ghosts/humans interact, Cyndricka's loneliness as a human who can see ghosts—but, again, they weren't as well fleshed out as I wanted them to be.
THE PLOT
To the people who do not know why they did not like this book: You did not like it because it had no plot.
That's not possible, you think. It's a 300+ page book. Things happened. I was there—how is that not a plot?
So I will explain to you what I knew & how I knew it.
There are two types of NaNoWriMo writers: the planners, & the pantsers. Planners have an outline ready before they write, & pantsers go "by the seat of their pants"—very few, or even no, plans. Both have pros/cons & styles of writing they suit; here I'll focus on a common pitfall for pantsers.
Almost every Western narrative—not every culture has the same storytelling methods—follows something akin to the 3-act structure. There is a main conflict which builds to a climax & is then resolved. eg Star Wars's Death Star. For any good narrative, you need MOTIVATION-GOAL-CONFLICT. +stakes (sometimes motivation reworded.)
This book does not have a conflict. It is about Chelsea's road trip to her brother's wedding, but look:
MOTIVATION - Chelsea has no motivation for going other than she's bored.
GOAL - None. When she sees the wedding she'll go back to NY.
CONFLICT - Nothing is stopping her; she's a ghost.
STAKES - What happens if she doesn't make it to the wedding (which we know isn't a serious danger)? ....nothing.
So where do you find 300+ pages of writing? NaNo offers ideas. Just have something happen & see what comes next as a response!
The problem is that this makes an unworkable first draft. Things Happening =/= Satisfying Plot Arc. In editing, you have to take everything you've written and organize it into a plot shape, often cutting things that don't fit. (Planning is the opposite; tons of work upfront/you usually end up UNDERwriting.)
Why did I think Wattpad? Because the most common method of writing on Wattpad is pantsing. 99% of the time, writers write & then post chapters on a set schedule. Can't edit plot structure when you upload one chapter a week.
(What's wrong with writing in a non-Western style? Nothing, but you'd have to have a perfect grasp of the style you choose—eg Ghibli's kishoutenketsu—and most Western authors who don’t have 3-act down aren’t masters in other forms.)
Now I rant. McFall please do not read this I sound much angrier than I am. Other people read it & weep with me.
UNHELPFUL RANTING
I want to tell you about the exact moment that I got viscerally angry with the book, but to do that, I have to tell you about some other things. Don't worry, it's non-spoilery- it's just things that happen.
The gang finds a ghost, Jamie, trying to rescue a cat from a grate. Cyndricka being the only physical one, she saves the cat & names it Charlie. Both new members travel along, with frequent pauses for backstory on Jamie/playtime with Charlie. Chelsea thinks Jamie is hot, because Jamie is also gay (but headless.) They stay the night at a homeless shelter with Cyndricka. The gang stops by a medium's house, who can sense ghosts but not see/hear them like Cyndricka. A mime show.
And then they get to a town of wailers. They need to get out of here ASAP. Cyndricka is exhausted, but they can't stand the sobbing & need to move fast. Besides, they already spent time turning off the road to go see a medium, so now they really have no excuse to stop anywhere.
So Cyndricka breaks her ankle.
Let me be clear: this is not something that happens. It is not a natural result of her having walked for too long, or tripping over a plot-relevant item, or dozing off while walking. This is something that the author uses as an excuse, so that the characters can stay in this town. Because this is a road trip story, & there is NO other justification for stopping them. THE AUTHOR DID THIS TO ADD LENGTH.
At this point, I thought to myself, LET ME GO! Why WAS this happening? Why did they need Jamie? Why the romance between her & Chelsea? Where was the chemistry? Why stop at the medium's, especially since she can't even actually see ghosts? This was 170 pages in. & Jamie ends up staying with the wailers because she has some talent for making them less wailey or something, which raises the question: WHY DID WE MEET JAMIE. Nothing changes, in ANY of the characters, due to their meeting. She just pops up & then leaves.
This "finding a cat & a lesbian" is CLASSIC pantser. Not knowing what to do... so why don't they find a cat? & then someone throws a beer can at Cyndricka because, you know, black homeless woman, & they hit Charlie so gang has to go to the vet but Cyndricka can't pay so Charlie gets repo'd, so they I am running out of characters so let me just say this was VIOLENTLY frustrating. It's fine to include this stuff in a draft for lack of a plot, but then you have to EDIT IT INTO A PLOT.
For the rest of the book I was angry at every event because none of them were necessary.
Which brings us to the racism.
RACISM
(Disclaimer: I'm white.)
This involves discussion of the climax of the story, so tldr police brutality/angry WOC trope.
HOW I'D FIX IT
It's not fair to critique unconstructively. Here's what I'd do (besides removing the racism) to fix the plot:
Give each character a GMC. Say Chelsea is terrified of being lonely forever as a ghost, never having real connections, now that her fiancee is alive & she's dead. Goal: Prove she can have love / Motivation: Everyone wants love! / Conflict: she's a ghost, so she can't interact with the people she knew.
(Also do this for the other two.)
Then the plot naturally extends—the beginning establishes this, the middle is a search for love, the climax is when Chelsea feels she'll NEVER FIND LOVE (perhaps she gets into a fight with her circus & they split up?), ending is when she realizes she can after all (perhaps Jamie sticks around & they date. They have all of eternity! Or maybe she's happy with her ghostfam.)
Of course in the real plot but it naturally wasn't satisfying as it didn't resolve any particular conflict; it just happened. This proposed story outline would require each event to call back to an overall conflict, forming... a plot.
LOVING CONCLUSION
I don't wish the author ill; I only have the solution for this problem after rigorous writing classes to solve MY struggle with it. It took me a really long time to read this book because I was so determined to give it its due, & because I burned myself pushing through the book and needed breaks. Hope this helped both fellow authors & readers.
February 13, 2020
The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus is a unique book by a debut author. We follow the ghost of recently deceased Chelsea, older 1970s ghost Carmen, and their human mime friend Cyndricka as they walk cross-country to get to Chelsea's brother's wedding.. First off, I love a ghost story, love a road trip novel, love a queer new adult novel. This is all three.
I was hooked from the first chapter when we see Chelsea's untimely demise firsthand, but I did get a bit bogged down in the middle. I was not surprised to learn that the first draft had been written for National Novel Writing Month. This book is both what is great and difficult about NaNoWriMo-- it is immensely creative (if you know NaNoWriMo lore, look out for the Shovel of Death), but sometimes I felt like the author didn't know what was going to happen next. For me, this was still a welcome change from the more formulaic memoirs and romance novels I'd been reading lately, but if you are looking for a tightly-plotted story, Incorporeal Circus is not it. It's meandering, but pleasantly surprising. I won't give away any spoilers, but I was not let down by the ending.
It also offers a lot in terms of diverse characters, although it appears that the author is white? As a fellow white person, I don't know how good the representations are. On the surface, the characters can be a bit stereotypical - Chelsea's family is Chinese and they wanted her to be a doctor, Cyndricka is black and homeless. These characters are a lot deeper than that surface stuff, though. I feel like I gained a new empathy and understanding of homelessness through this book?? Also, a newfound respect for the art of the mime.
#TripleC #NetGalley
I was hooked from the first chapter when we see Chelsea's untimely demise firsthand, but I did get a bit bogged down in the middle. I was not surprised to learn that the first draft had been written for National Novel Writing Month. This book is both what is great and difficult about NaNoWriMo-- it is immensely creative (if you know NaNoWriMo lore, look out for the Shovel of Death), but sometimes I felt like the author didn't know what was going to happen next. For me, this was still a welcome change from the more formulaic memoirs and romance novels I'd been reading lately, but if you are looking for a tightly-plotted story, Incorporeal Circus is not it. It's meandering, but pleasantly surprising. I won't give away any spoilers, but I was not let down by the ending.
It also offers a lot in terms of diverse characters, although it appears that the author is white? As a fellow white person, I don't know how good the representations are. On the surface, the characters can be a bit stereotypical - Chelsea's family is Chinese and they wanted her to be a doctor, Cyndricka is black and homeless. These characters are a lot deeper than that surface stuff, though. I feel like I gained a new empathy and understanding of homelessness through this book?? Also, a newfound respect for the art of the mime.
#TripleC #NetGalley
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