Where is master magician Hugo Blue? And when will he strike back against the Carnival? No one knows the answer, and no one wants the answer more than Garth, the Carnival's enigmatic Giftmaster.
Garth is hiding Hugo Blue's son Simon from his sadistic father, but it won't be long before Hugo finds them. Simon doesn't realise it, but he's the key to his father's powerful curse magic and Hugo will stop at nothing to get Simon back.
Garth—with the help of everyone at the Carnival—is determined to do everything he can to fight Hugo Blue, but will it be enough?
Hugo is a smart, ruthless opponent with years of bitter resentment to fuel his curse magic.
The Carnival's magic is still weak, and their defences are down.
If they're not careful, Hugo Blue might just beat them this time...
Go on a journey with Garth and the rest of the magical Jolly Carnival, and experience the glitter, glamor and excitement of the circus...Because you'll love it!
I've never been a fan of instant connections, but it worked for Garth and Maddy's story. I loved the idea of someone so inherently tied to the carnival finding love with an outsider who lacked ties of her own. The multitude of connections between them and the role their bond played with Hugo, Simon, and the events made the magic feel even more real. I loved the new ideas presented like blessing magic plus the last quarter of the book with the Winter Spectacular head my heart rate and anxiety up. I'm a little worried about Missy, though so onward to book 3!
Her first book was amazing and The Gift was the same, Jaye creates an amazing world with colourful characters that grab hold of you from the first page and don't let you go until the end!
I absolutely adored the first book because of the way it made me feel like a VIP costumer at its show, and this installment takes things backstage. The circus is on break, and this time the story revolves around The Compound, sanctuary to the carnies when it's their vacation time. I really enjoyed seeing their home and being a part of their family, seeing the way they lived when they weren't painting smiles on their faces.
It's definitely different from the magic in book one, as this one deals more with reality and the hardships that come when you don't have a steady set of income and a crazy magician who wants to see your entire world burned to the ground. Garth was a guy I was really interested in, so to have him as the main character with Dr. Maddy was great. I got a better understanding of his mood swings because of the connection he has with the Carnival, and I loved his chemistry with the heroine.
It was action packed, suspenseful, lovely, romantic, heartfelt, a tad sad at times, and overall satisfying. The near ending was a bit strenuous for me, mostly because a certain thing was drawn out long enough to lose me. I'm glad Rilla and Jack still showed up in here because I love those Ringmasters, and with all the drama done with, I'm glad things ended the way it did. Definitely a recommend.
And again Trudi Jaye succeeds in writing a marvelous book. Yet again Trudi takes you by the hand in this second part of the dark carnival series.
After Rilla and Jack survived the attempt of Hugo Blue to make the Jolly Carnival fanish once and for all. The carnival isn't in the clear yet. Before Abba died he did something that makes them loose their winter break because they have to pay of a loan at the bank. A plan starts to form, and just when everything is in place to start there plan to save the Jolly-Knight carnival, Hugo Blue shows up again. Trying to save their beloved Carnival all things that could go wrong go wrong. Is the magic of the carnival strong enough to be saved again? You find out after reading the gift.
If you thought ringmaster was a great book already, this might take your breath away even more. The book is greatly written in a way that you can't put it down. The story is built up perfectly, the tension rising with every chapter, romance and a little bit of sexyness in all the right places. Keeps you wanting more. The tension of the book was built up to the level where you have your heart in your throat and you want to keep reading to know if everything will be ok and the ending yet again was exactly what I had hoped for. Pick up this book and you will never be bored. Looking forward to high flyer part 3 of the dark carnival series.
This is an exceptional second installment to what I'm sure is going to be one of my new favorite series. After I read the first book, I was desperate to start this one, and I definitely was not disappointed. Can't wait to start the next one!!
I really enjoyed this book. All the questions left at the end of Ringmaster about Simon and Mr. Blue are answered. It was wonderful getting to know Garth and Maddy, too. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series!
I had a little more trouble getting into this one than the 1st. I think it was partly because we, the readers, could clearly see the answer, when the character in the book was completely oblivious. But I liked how it all came together, and still enjoy the uniqueness of this series.
The carnival is back to give more thrills and chills. Highs and lows abound and even Martha the elephant gets to be a hero Magickal things happen under the big top