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Smoke and Mirrors
Smoke has come to the Cirque Magnifique. And Sasha Brown is sure it is her fault.Sasha has always loved the Cirque, a place filled with sequined costumes, dazzling spotlights, and magnificent tents. But when she starts fifth grade with the Islanders—the ordinary folk from the other side of the Island—for the first time, she’s not so sure she wants to be a Cirque kid. She starts to question her home and her Cirque family. Is the magic real? Are the stories even true? As the bullying by the Island kids gets worse, swirling blue-gray Smoke appears.One night in the big tent, Sasha’s dad performs, twisting his body through the air as the lights dance. Sasha is supposed to be helping, but instead she sits beneath the bleachers, seething. She has wished for the Smoke to come and make it all the Cirque, her family, the Island with its mean Island kids. And the Smoke does come. As Sasha watches her dad, he flips and raises his arms out for the bar that is supposed to meet him, his bright grin confident and sure. But there is only air…and Smoke.Both of Sasha’s parents disappear that night, and it’s all Sasha’s fault. What can she do but try and find them?
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First published September 4, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 6, 2018
First of all, the cover of this book is gorgeous. Secondly, the *idea* of the book is lovely and intriguing. It was interesting enough, but I feel something was lost in translation between the story the author wanted to tell and the one that ended up on the pages. The cirque is lovely and well drawn, and the magical elements are enchanting, but the characters aren't quite as fleshed out as the setting. Additionally, I felt the transition from slightly-enchanted cirque life to straight up magical journey a little bumpy and disorienting. In all, it was worth reading, but would have benefitted, I think, from a bit of fleshing out/tightening up. Because the premise was so unique and the story has a lot of promise, I'll definitely keep an eye on this author in the future.
January 5, 2022
(Originally reviewed in 2019.)
This book is a mess.
It’s a mess encased in one of the most beautifully designed and illustrated jackets in recent publishing memory, and perhaps that’s why the mess just can’t be redeemed. It is a cover that deserved a better story—that illustrated a better story, too. Because it sure doesn’t show what happened in this novel.
In the grand scheme of circus themed middle grade and YA, this is a little bit of Circus Mirandus for magic and loss, and a little bit of The Trilogy of Two for sheer bonkers world building. However, the execution of Smoke and Mirrors is unfathomably confusing. If you told me the author made everything up as she wrote and no one went back and actually edited, I would not only believe you, I would not expect anything else.
One major reason is that significant details of exposition, of world building, of place and setting and people, are constantly dropped in throughout the text as though we should already know them (the characters do). They are not shown, but told, and I had to keep turning back to make sure I hadn’t skimmed.
If you’re doing fantasy, as this book turned into, you have to establish perimeters and limits. If you’re writing a book at all, you have to lay some kind of groundwork for where we are in the world, and what we ought to expect. Things have to make sense, however stretched the link.
The key detail of the Lights (magical people drawn to the circus) and Smoke (bad curse from the scorned Magician) is just dropped into the text many chapters in. The concept of people “dying” (?) and turning into animals (?) when they leave the circus is also written like an afterthought. Like, wait, really? What? Is this literal? (I think it is?)
Most of this book is telling. During key moments of development (ie, when Sasha first starts going to school), we see part of it and then jump forward weeks at a time. At the end of one chapter I’m supposed to remember a nameless cowardly girl that Sasha likes, because weeks pass before the next chapter and suddenly a name is dropped and, oh, the nameless cowardly girl has a name? We didn’t even get to learn it with Sasha?
Another moment is when Sasha lies to her mom about having friends so that her mom will feel better. Chapters and chapters later, we find out that it’s the first lie she’s ever told and it’s been bothering her. Why wasn’t that information provided immediately, in order to give some weight to what she did? (In fact, quite a lot of information is dumped this way—paragraphs or chapters after the relevant incident.)
But the biggest problem I have with this book is the whiplash you get while reading it.
We begin with two kids who have been tutored by the people who live and work at this stationary tent show on a nameless island. As is tradition, when they’re a little older they go to the other side of the island to attend school. Just to give them some exposure and to make friends.
I should mention that the impression I get is that this circus, Cirque Magnifique (oh, boy, can we stop naming fictional circuses this way), has been on the island for a number of decades. Maybe a century or more. Remember this.
Sasha is the protagonist and she’s beginning fifth grade. That makes her about ten. She has a brother, Toddy, who is three years younger and does not speak to people outside of “the Cirque” and his eyes are filled with stars like uh magic, I guess. I think we’re supposed to see him as more capable and magical than Sasha or something, but he really comes off as an ordinary kid.
Anyway, from the jump—from the moment the adult bus driver (Mr. Orner, of all names) sees them, they’re bullied by everyone. Called freaks. Called dirty and ugly and filthy. IMMEDIATELY. Despite the fact that other Cirque kids attend the school and have been doing so for generations, Sasha and Toddy are bullied to extremes.
And I mean extremes.
If you dealt with severe bullying, this book might not be for you. I’m going to give details on two of the most horrific events, and, yeah, animal abuse is involved.
There are basically no redeeming people on the other side of the island. They all hate the circus. One day, as Sasha and Toddy are walking home from school, they encounter some groups of kids just messing around outside.
The girls ignore Sasha. The boys, it turns out, have thrown a rock at a kitten and hit it squarely in the eye, blinding it, and they’re still up for more animal abuse. When Toddy intervenes, the kids start THROWING ROCKS AT TODDY AND SASHA. The girls, the boys, all of the kids start THROWING ROCKS AT TODDY AND SASHA.
The kitten runs away and we don’t see it again for a while, but its eye is permanently injured.
In the next major incident, the lead bully chops off a chunk of Sasha’s hair during class and Sasha has a complete mental breakdown and starts cutting the rest of her hair off and throwing it at the bully, among other things, and all the teachers do is look sadly at her. Do they care she still has scissors and is harming herself? No. They send the bully to the principal but that’s it. He’s still awful despite this.
And none of these kids get their comeuppance. Ever.
And this rampant, vile bullying happens every time these kids go to school.
It comes off as bizarre and gratuitous. Worse still, as a reader, I don’t care about any of the people in this novel. No one has a strong personality. And making someone bullied is not a substitute for a personality.
So, to take us back to the beginning.
We, as readers, have been introduced to people like Mr. Ticklefar, the storytelling ringmaster who loves the lore of the Cirque; Aunt Chanteuse, who sings about everything and allegedly acts like an aunt to everyone; a small array of colorful performers living their happy lives and practicing their stunts.
Then we’re thrown into a big gray blob where kids throw stones at people and kittens and cut off people’s hair and not one of the adults cares enough to do anything except look sad. And this includes the adults at the Cirque, who are supposed to be (via telling in the text) so much less awful, so much more like a family. But really they don’t seem to notice injuries and Sasha’s depression and hatred of going to school.
At which point, Sasha wishes the Smoke would make her disappear so she could leave the show. And her parents are just like, oh, Sasha, how sad. Then both parents get in a terrible accident during the show that night, turn into birds (because of the Smoke?) and disappear.
At which point, Sasha and Toddy basically live alone in a cottage and Sasha almost starves to death, prompting a bunch of teachers at the school to decide to send Toddy away.
Nevermind the fact that no one from the state ever came to the circus or talked to the kids about what was happening at home. No, it was the school principal who decided to split the kids up because... their parents aren’t answering the phones. What?
It would sure be nice if this familial circus would take care of these kids better!
Actually, the lack of family and camaraderie between the circus folks is a huge issue. We’re supposed to see them all as a close-knit family, but they’re not. They all seem distant and cold to each other.
With the threat of Toddy being taken away, Sasha decides that the only thing to do is to defeat the evil Magician that put the curse of the Smoke on the circus (if evil Smoke and the curse of the Magician sounds surprising, it’s no better integrated into the novel). That way, her parents will be returned and everything will be okay.
So Mr. Ticklefar (names aren’t a strong point in this novel) gives Sasha a fancy seed and she plants it and a literal ship grows out of the ground, knocks over a water tower, and Sasha, Toddy, and the one-eyed kitten Pirate are now sailing off to the end of the world to find the Magician.
With about 30% of the book to go, this is now a swashbuckling Labyrinth-cum-Alice adventure. But without any of the tension or excitement.
They battle a giant crab king who appears out of nowhere (somehow Toddy, now speaking to anyone and sounding like a pirate, manages to hold off this giant beast until Sasha can read the instructions on how to load and fire a cannon—this sounds more comical than it is). They meet the sharp-beaked weasel that Mr. Ticklefar told a story about at the beginning of the novel (rather than a story of the Magician and the Lights or literally anything to ground us in the place and time of this novel). They ride on the back of a UNIMOOSE. Yes, a moose with a horn. They meet the Grandelion, a giant dandelion who doesn’t want them to cross into the Magician’s magical garden even though, logically, he shouldn’t care because the Magician didn’t want the Grandelion in his garden, anyway.
But, of course, they defeat the Grandelion because Toddy talks to him. Then they wander around the Magician’s weird house and there’s some kind of Southern Oracle moment with a mirror (but not), and Sasha defeats the Magician by suddenly becoming a Mirror of all the good memories she has and oh, everyone was a Light, anyway, not just special people, but really they’re Mirrors. Interesting it took generations to learn this. Also, I’m having a hard time summarizing this because it’s not a good narrative.
So this frees their parents, who are still birds, and Toddy and Sasha transform into birds? to fly back? And they teach the Cirque people about becoming Mirrors, and she decides to be nice to everyone at school to show them who’s better, and also the girl Sasha wanted to be friends with suddenly wanders over to the show and, surprise, her grandmother had been friends with the ringmaster.
Look, can we just address the biggest issue here?
There is no reason for the Islanders to hate the circus people.
This is established as a magical place. After generations, it should have seeped into their local lore and been something of awe and legend. This circus does not travel. They are not really outsiders on the island at all. They are an all-year-round establishment that has been sending their children to be taught by the Islanders for decades. Somehow, only people from the mainland see the show, three days a week, and yet the show is kept afloat. Shouldn’t the people on the mainland be the ones who despise and distrust the Islanders?
(I don’t know where this island is, but having been born and raised on an island in Puget Sound, which might be where this is, I have to say that people out there would love an in-house magical circus.)
I think we’re supposed to buy that the Islanders are outright hostile towards circus people because of the legend of the Magician having cursed the circus because failed love story. But the circus has been there for ages—have I said that enough? The curse does not spread. Not even all of the people on the show believe in it. And nothing happens until Sasha says she doesn’t want to be a part of the show anymore because of all the kids at school. (Which, fair. They’re basically demons.)
There’s just so much thrown in. And none of it carries any weight because of the feeling that the author just had an idea and added it to the pot without knowing what would happen, and no one decided to integrate the decisions into a different recipe. Many ingredients are useless. Others don’t make sense. None of them worked together.
Notice that I haven’t even spent a paragraph ranting about the inaccuracies with regard to the circus. Why? There’s no reason to! The circus is barely relevant and the story is so scattered that it’s not worth the extra energy. This isn’t a circus story. I don’t really know what this is.
Honestly. The beautiful jacket has betrayed me.
Yet I’m going to keep it and donate the book.
This book is a mess.
It’s a mess encased in one of the most beautifully designed and illustrated jackets in recent publishing memory, and perhaps that’s why the mess just can’t be redeemed. It is a cover that deserved a better story—that illustrated a better story, too. Because it sure doesn’t show what happened in this novel.
In the grand scheme of circus themed middle grade and YA, this is a little bit of Circus Mirandus for magic and loss, and a little bit of The Trilogy of Two for sheer bonkers world building. However, the execution of Smoke and Mirrors is unfathomably confusing. If you told me the author made everything up as she wrote and no one went back and actually edited, I would not only believe you, I would not expect anything else.
One major reason is that significant details of exposition, of world building, of place and setting and people, are constantly dropped in throughout the text as though we should already know them (the characters do). They are not shown, but told, and I had to keep turning back to make sure I hadn’t skimmed.
If you’re doing fantasy, as this book turned into, you have to establish perimeters and limits. If you’re writing a book at all, you have to lay some kind of groundwork for where we are in the world, and what we ought to expect. Things have to make sense, however stretched the link.
The key detail of the Lights (magical people drawn to the circus) and Smoke (bad curse from the scorned Magician) is just dropped into the text many chapters in. The concept of people “dying” (?) and turning into animals (?) when they leave the circus is also written like an afterthought. Like, wait, really? What? Is this literal? (I think it is?)
Most of this book is telling. During key moments of development (ie, when Sasha first starts going to school), we see part of it and then jump forward weeks at a time. At the end of one chapter I’m supposed to remember a nameless cowardly girl that Sasha likes, because weeks pass before the next chapter and suddenly a name is dropped and, oh, the nameless cowardly girl has a name? We didn’t even get to learn it with Sasha?
Another moment is when Sasha lies to her mom about having friends so that her mom will feel better. Chapters and chapters later, we find out that it’s the first lie she’s ever told and it’s been bothering her. Why wasn’t that information provided immediately, in order to give some weight to what she did? (In fact, quite a lot of information is dumped this way—paragraphs or chapters after the relevant incident.)
But the biggest problem I have with this book is the whiplash you get while reading it.
We begin with two kids who have been tutored by the people who live and work at this stationary tent show on a nameless island. As is tradition, when they’re a little older they go to the other side of the island to attend school. Just to give them some exposure and to make friends.
I should mention that the impression I get is that this circus, Cirque Magnifique (oh, boy, can we stop naming fictional circuses this way), has been on the island for a number of decades. Maybe a century or more. Remember this.
Sasha is the protagonist and she’s beginning fifth grade. That makes her about ten. She has a brother, Toddy, who is three years younger and does not speak to people outside of “the Cirque” and his eyes are filled with stars like uh magic, I guess. I think we’re supposed to see him as more capable and magical than Sasha or something, but he really comes off as an ordinary kid.
Anyway, from the jump—from the moment the adult bus driver (Mr. Orner, of all names) sees them, they’re bullied by everyone. Called freaks. Called dirty and ugly and filthy. IMMEDIATELY. Despite the fact that other Cirque kids attend the school and have been doing so for generations, Sasha and Toddy are bullied to extremes.
And I mean extremes.
If you dealt with severe bullying, this book might not be for you. I’m going to give details on two of the most horrific events, and, yeah, animal abuse is involved.
There are basically no redeeming people on the other side of the island. They all hate the circus. One day, as Sasha and Toddy are walking home from school, they encounter some groups of kids just messing around outside.
The girls ignore Sasha. The boys, it turns out, have thrown a rock at a kitten and hit it squarely in the eye, blinding it, and they’re still up for more animal abuse. When Toddy intervenes, the kids start THROWING ROCKS AT TODDY AND SASHA. The girls, the boys, all of the kids start THROWING ROCKS AT TODDY AND SASHA.
The kitten runs away and we don’t see it again for a while, but its eye is permanently injured.
In the next major incident, the lead bully chops off a chunk of Sasha’s hair during class and Sasha has a complete mental breakdown and starts cutting the rest of her hair off and throwing it at the bully, among other things, and all the teachers do is look sadly at her. Do they care she still has scissors and is harming herself? No. They send the bully to the principal but that’s it. He’s still awful despite this.
And none of these kids get their comeuppance. Ever.
And this rampant, vile bullying happens every time these kids go to school.
It comes off as bizarre and gratuitous. Worse still, as a reader, I don’t care about any of the people in this novel. No one has a strong personality. And making someone bullied is not a substitute for a personality.
So, to take us back to the beginning.
We, as readers, have been introduced to people like Mr. Ticklefar, the storytelling ringmaster who loves the lore of the Cirque; Aunt Chanteuse, who sings about everything and allegedly acts like an aunt to everyone; a small array of colorful performers living their happy lives and practicing their stunts.
Then we’re thrown into a big gray blob where kids throw stones at people and kittens and cut off people’s hair and not one of the adults cares enough to do anything except look sad. And this includes the adults at the Cirque, who are supposed to be (via telling in the text) so much less awful, so much more like a family. But really they don’t seem to notice injuries and Sasha’s depression and hatred of going to school.
At which point, Sasha wishes the Smoke would make her disappear so she could leave the show. And her parents are just like, oh, Sasha, how sad. Then both parents get in a terrible accident during the show that night, turn into birds (because of the Smoke?) and disappear.
At which point, Sasha and Toddy basically live alone in a cottage and Sasha almost starves to death, prompting a bunch of teachers at the school to decide to send Toddy away.
Nevermind the fact that no one from the state ever came to the circus or talked to the kids about what was happening at home. No, it was the school principal who decided to split the kids up because... their parents aren’t answering the phones. What?
It would sure be nice if this familial circus would take care of these kids better!
Actually, the lack of family and camaraderie between the circus folks is a huge issue. We’re supposed to see them all as a close-knit family, but they’re not. They all seem distant and cold to each other.
With the threat of Toddy being taken away, Sasha decides that the only thing to do is to defeat the evil Magician that put the curse of the Smoke on the circus (if evil Smoke and the curse of the Magician sounds surprising, it’s no better integrated into the novel). That way, her parents will be returned and everything will be okay.
So Mr. Ticklefar (names aren’t a strong point in this novel) gives Sasha a fancy seed and she plants it and a literal ship grows out of the ground, knocks over a water tower, and Sasha, Toddy, and the one-eyed kitten Pirate are now sailing off to the end of the world to find the Magician.
With about 30% of the book to go, this is now a swashbuckling Labyrinth-cum-Alice adventure. But without any of the tension or excitement.
They battle a giant crab king who appears out of nowhere (somehow Toddy, now speaking to anyone and sounding like a pirate, manages to hold off this giant beast until Sasha can read the instructions on how to load and fire a cannon—this sounds more comical than it is). They meet the sharp-beaked weasel that Mr. Ticklefar told a story about at the beginning of the novel (rather than a story of the Magician and the Lights or literally anything to ground us in the place and time of this novel). They ride on the back of a UNIMOOSE. Yes, a moose with a horn. They meet the Grandelion, a giant dandelion who doesn’t want them to cross into the Magician’s magical garden even though, logically, he shouldn’t care because the Magician didn’t want the Grandelion in his garden, anyway.
But, of course, they defeat the Grandelion because Toddy talks to him. Then they wander around the Magician’s weird house and there’s some kind of Southern Oracle moment with a mirror (but not), and Sasha defeats the Magician by suddenly becoming a Mirror of all the good memories she has and oh, everyone was a Light, anyway, not just special people, but really they’re Mirrors. Interesting it took generations to learn this. Also, I’m having a hard time summarizing this because it’s not a good narrative.
So this frees their parents, who are still birds, and Toddy and Sasha transform into birds? to fly back? And they teach the Cirque people about becoming Mirrors, and she decides to be nice to everyone at school to show them who’s better, and also the girl Sasha wanted to be friends with suddenly wanders over to the show and, surprise, her grandmother had been friends with the ringmaster.
Look, can we just address the biggest issue here?
There is no reason for the Islanders to hate the circus people.
This is established as a magical place. After generations, it should have seeped into their local lore and been something of awe and legend. This circus does not travel. They are not really outsiders on the island at all. They are an all-year-round establishment that has been sending their children to be taught by the Islanders for decades. Somehow, only people from the mainland see the show, three days a week, and yet the show is kept afloat. Shouldn’t the people on the mainland be the ones who despise and distrust the Islanders?
(I don’t know where this island is, but having been born and raised on an island in Puget Sound, which might be where this is, I have to say that people out there would love an in-house magical circus.)
I think we’re supposed to buy that the Islanders are outright hostile towards circus people because of the legend of the Magician having cursed the circus because failed love story. But the circus has been there for ages—have I said that enough? The curse does not spread. Not even all of the people on the show believe in it. And nothing happens until Sasha says she doesn’t want to be a part of the show anymore because of all the kids at school. (Which, fair. They’re basically demons.)
There’s just so much thrown in. And none of it carries any weight because of the feeling that the author just had an idea and added it to the pot without knowing what would happen, and no one decided to integrate the decisions into a different recipe. Many ingredients are useless. Others don’t make sense. None of them worked together.
Notice that I haven’t even spent a paragraph ranting about the inaccuracies with regard to the circus. Why? There’s no reason to! The circus is barely relevant and the story is so scattered that it’s not worth the extra energy. This isn’t a circus story. I don’t really know what this is.
Honestly. The beautiful jacket has betrayed me.
Yet I’m going to keep it and donate the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2022
2.5 stars
(rtc review-to-come)
huh..? \(*___*)/
🎀🎪🎇Smoke and Mirrors🎇🎪🎀
Sasha is a part of the Cirque, a circus filled with magic and light. Many years ago, a magician cursed smoke to hover over the Cirque, and slowly members of the Cirque disappeared. Sasha is going to school for the first time, but several of the Islanders are cruel to Sasha and her brother. Sasha's parents go missing, and it's up to Sasha and her brother to find them.
I feel monotone. The Cirque's magic just didn't reach me. This is an opinion all from an objective standpoint. There's not really anything I didn't like. . . there's just nothing I liked. I wanted to feel the magic more. I want a really strong and understandable magic system. I wanted more complex characters. I wanted the bullies to be fleshed out. I wanted the antagonist to have a stronger drive rather than the ending just disappointing me.
My final verdict: This just wasn't for me. 😔
🆗PLOT
⛔🆗CHARACTERS
⛔PLOT TWIST
(rtc review-to-come)
huh..? \(*___*)/
🎀🎪🎇Smoke and Mirrors🎇🎪🎀
Sasha is a part of the Cirque, a circus filled with magic and light. Many years ago, a magician cursed smoke to hover over the Cirque, and slowly members of the Cirque disappeared. Sasha is going to school for the first time, but several of the Islanders are cruel to Sasha and her brother. Sasha's parents go missing, and it's up to Sasha and her brother to find them.
I feel monotone. The Cirque's magic just didn't reach me. This is an opinion all from an objective standpoint. There's not really anything I didn't like. . . there's just nothing I liked. I wanted to feel the magic more. I want a really strong and understandable magic system. I wanted more complex characters. I wanted the bullies to be fleshed out. I wanted the antagonist to have a stronger drive rather than the ending just disappointing me.
My final verdict: This just wasn't for me. 😔
🆗PLOT
⛔🆗CHARACTERS
⛔PLOT TWIST
April 9, 2019
A beautiful cover, but that's where it ends. This wasn't written well and I had trouble staying engaged, even when it picks up and some action starts to happen, the world isn't built well-enough to be immersed in and a superficial conflict between islanders and circus folk seems nonsensical, so all the struggle and antagonism also doesn't seem realistic or feasible.
November 25, 2019
2 is for the amazing art work, as usual, by Karl James Mountford, which in itself deserves a 5 star, meaning, the book itself is crap.
I mean it. Trigger warning: Extreme bullying, bigotry and animal cruelty. You need examples? A group of kids throwing stones at 2 kids and 1 kitten to the point they bled, a group of kids beating up 1 kid, 1 kid cutting off another's locks of hair, incredulous mockery of one's family, skin tone, and intelligence right in front of teachers who let it happened as if nothing happened.
Like seriously, WTF?
This book may have some potential, but it is ruined by the insane amount of terrible demonstrations of what, as a decent human being, one should NOT do. This book isn't even that long, but I took the time I did finishing it because I had to set it aside from time to time to read something happy because what I read had been horrible that hurt my brain.
I'm not going to say "don't read it," in fact, I encourage people to read it and write reviews about its horrendous. Oh, and if one can point out some positive stuff from this book, I'll actually be very grateful if it can be shared with me. I do believe there's something good in this book, but it's just completely overshadowed by the outrageous treatments the main gal and her brother got.
I mean it. Trigger warning: Extreme bullying, bigotry and animal cruelty. You need examples? A group of kids throwing stones at 2 kids and 1 kitten to the point they bled, a group of kids beating up 1 kid, 1 kid cutting off another's locks of hair, incredulous mockery of one's family, skin tone, and intelligence right in front of teachers who let it happened as if nothing happened.
Like seriously, WTF?
This book may have some potential, but it is ruined by the insane amount of terrible demonstrations of what, as a decent human being, one should NOT do. This book isn't even that long, but I took the time I did finishing it because I had to set it aside from time to time to read something happy because what I read had been horrible that hurt my brain.
I'm not going to say "don't read it," in fact, I encourage people to read it and write reviews about its horrendous. Oh, and if one can point out some positive stuff from this book, I'll actually be very grateful if it can be shared with me. I do believe there's something good in this book, but it's just completely overshadowed by the outrageous treatments the main gal and her brother got.
December 3, 2018
Beautiful cover but the story inside was a little TOO much realism. I signed up for a book about magic, not a book filled with grownups being uncaring(why didn't the rest of the circus care for the kids?) and bullying.There is a fine line being enough detail to get the point across and so much that it feels like the characters are victimized and nothing more.
January 20, 2019
Watch my video of "Smoke and Mirrors" here: https://youtu.be/y-vUVdBzvWg
I enjoyed reading this book a lot, because it is very different from other stories out there right now. I feel like this is one of those books that a person of any age group can enjoy. The book highlights as as we get older, we succumb to peer pressure and reality and forget the magic and innocence of our childhood. The author beautifully depicts how our cheerfulness and creativity can deteriorate when we step out of our comfort zone and get bullied by others.
The story gives a beautiful message about finding your strength, to be hopeful and courageous and determined. I also loved how the author has blended the magic of the circus life and our average daily life into the life of the protagonist. My favorite aspect though is how the author has written the story in such a fairy tale like manner. The story gets is so interesting in the second half when Sasha and her brother go on a wonderful large than life adventure quest. I loved how Halbrook transitions the characters from one quest to another, and we get something meaningful out of it.
Probably the only downside to it is the character of Sasha in some places. At times, she comes off as a very weak character who has to lean on her brother to get confidence. She is also very moody and annoying in the middle, and I couldn't really connect with the character. However, apart from that, I loved reading this book, and would recommend it to those who like to read about magic, circus life, fairy tales or adventure quests.
Overall, I liked "Smoke and Mirrors" a lot and would give it a rating of 4/5 stars.
I enjoyed reading this book a lot, because it is very different from other stories out there right now. I feel like this is one of those books that a person of any age group can enjoy. The book highlights as as we get older, we succumb to peer pressure and reality and forget the magic and innocence of our childhood. The author beautifully depicts how our cheerfulness and creativity can deteriorate when we step out of our comfort zone and get bullied by others.
The story gives a beautiful message about finding your strength, to be hopeful and courageous and determined. I also loved how the author has blended the magic of the circus life and our average daily life into the life of the protagonist. My favorite aspect though is how the author has written the story in such a fairy tale like manner. The story gets is so interesting in the second half when Sasha and her brother go on a wonderful large than life adventure quest. I loved how Halbrook transitions the characters from one quest to another, and we get something meaningful out of it.
Probably the only downside to it is the character of Sasha in some places. At times, she comes off as a very weak character who has to lean on her brother to get confidence. She is also very moody and annoying in the middle, and I couldn't really connect with the character. However, apart from that, I loved reading this book, and would recommend it to those who like to read about magic, circus life, fairy tales or adventure quests.
Overall, I liked "Smoke and Mirrors" a lot and would give it a rating of 4/5 stars.
August 8, 2018
may contain spoiler:
داستان جذاب و هیجان¬انگیزی در مورد جادو در دنیای معاصر و میان مردم عادی. نویسنده در خلق تقابل این دو جهان موفق بوده و در پایان به نوعی جادو را هم بخشی از واقعیت زندگی روزمره معرفی می¬کند. از نظر او جادو چیزی فرازمینی نیست و در طبیعت همه¬ی انسان¬ها وجود دارد. شخصیت¬پردازی¬های کتاب چندان قوی و چندلایه نیستند. ساشا، تادی، پدر و مادرش، اعضای سیرک، و حتی بچه¬های مدرسه تنها از یک بعد به خواننده معرفی می¬شوند. آنها یا مهربان هستند، یا زورگو، یا ترسو، یا عجیب. کمی پیچیدگی در شخصیت¬پردازی ساشا و تادی، و همچنین جِنی به چشم می¬خورد اما این موضوع آنقدر قوی نیست که آنها را به شخصیت¬های چند لایه و دشوار تبدیل کند.
چارچوب اصلی داستان تکراری است: اتفاقی زندگی شخصیت اصلی داستان را به هم می-ریزد، او وارد یک ماجراجویی بزرگ می¬شود تا مشکل را حل کند و اوضاع را به حالت قبل برگرداند. سفر ماجراجویانه¬ی دریایی، مبارزه با خرچنگ، و حیوان معما¬دوست در جنگل هم تقریباً در همه¬ی داستان¬های مشابه وجود دارند. نویسنده بدون شک می¬توانست هیجان بیشتری را چاشنی این بخش کند و موجودات تازه¬ای را به دنیای داستان¬های جادویی و فانتزی وارد کند. اما همه¬ی اتفاقات سفر خیلی سریع و راحت به نتیجه می¬رسند. حتی مبارزه¬ی نهایی ساشا و جادوگر هم چندان چالش¬برانگیز نیست.
چیزی که داستان را از بعضی کتاب¬های مشابه آن متمایز می¬کند، «اسموک» است که به شکلی استعاری در کتاب گنجانده شده¬ است. «اسموک» با احساس غم و ناراحتی ساشا به سیرک راه می¬یابد و زمانی از بین می¬رود که او به حقیقت و ارزش والای عشق و خانواده پی می¬برد. ساشا «اسموک» را به عنوان یک جادو یا یک موجود در دنیایی جادویی و واقعی نابود نکرده، بلکه در واقع وجود خودش را از افسردگی و ناراحتی و قدرنشناسی خالی کرده و به حقیقت زندگی دست یافته است.
داستان جذاب و هیجان¬انگیزی در مورد جادو در دنیای معاصر و میان مردم عادی. نویسنده در خلق تقابل این دو جهان موفق بوده و در پایان به نوعی جادو را هم بخشی از واقعیت زندگی روزمره معرفی می¬کند. از نظر او جادو چیزی فرازمینی نیست و در طبیعت همه¬ی انسان¬ها وجود دارد. شخصیت¬پردازی¬های کتاب چندان قوی و چندلایه نیستند. ساشا، تادی، پدر و مادرش، اعضای سیرک، و حتی بچه¬های مدرسه تنها از یک بعد به خواننده معرفی می¬شوند. آنها یا مهربان هستند، یا زورگو، یا ترسو، یا عجیب. کمی پیچیدگی در شخصیت¬پردازی ساشا و تادی، و همچنین جِنی به چشم می¬خورد اما این موضوع آنقدر قوی نیست که آنها را به شخصیت¬های چند لایه و دشوار تبدیل کند.
چارچوب اصلی داستان تکراری است: اتفاقی زندگی شخصیت اصلی داستان را به هم می-ریزد، او وارد یک ماجراجویی بزرگ می¬شود تا مشکل را حل کند و اوضاع را به حالت قبل برگرداند. سفر ماجراجویانه¬ی دریایی، مبارزه با خرچنگ، و حیوان معما¬دوست در جنگل هم تقریباً در همه¬ی داستان¬های مشابه وجود دارند. نویسنده بدون شک می¬توانست هیجان بیشتری را چاشنی این بخش کند و موجودات تازه¬ای را به دنیای داستان¬های جادویی و فانتزی وارد کند. اما همه¬ی اتفاقات سفر خیلی سریع و راحت به نتیجه می¬رسند. حتی مبارزه¬ی نهایی ساشا و جادوگر هم چندان چالش¬برانگیز نیست.
چیزی که داستان را از بعضی کتاب¬های مشابه آن متمایز می¬کند، «اسموک» است که به شکلی استعاری در کتاب گنجانده شده¬ است. «اسموک» با احساس غم و ناراحتی ساشا به سیرک راه می¬یابد و زمانی از بین می¬رود که او به حقیقت و ارزش والای عشق و خانواده پی می¬برد. ساشا «اسموک» را به عنوان یک جادو یا یک موجود در دنیایی جادویی و واقعی نابود نکرده، بلکه در واقع وجود خودش را از افسردگی و ناراحتی و قدرنشناسی خالی کرده و به حقیقت زندگی دست یافته است.
February 19, 2019
Smoke and Mirrors by K.D. Halbrook, 233 pages. Paul Wiseman (Simon & Schuster), 2018. $17
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Sasha and her little brother, Toddy, are living in two different worlds - the world of the cirque where their parents perform and they all live, and the world of the islanders where the two go to school each day. Sasha is having a hard time fitting in in both places and lets a darkness take over her and it claims her parents in a tragic accident. Magical realism takes over as Sasha and Toddy find their way in this new life.
This book is a beautiful mix of school drama and fantasy. I felt deeply for Sasha and her role as a protective older sister. The language is very descriptive, to the point where it slows the plot down drastically. The magical realism is subtle for the first half of the book, but becomes dominant in the second half and may be confusing to some readers.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Sasha and her little brother, Toddy, are living in two different worlds - the world of the cirque where their parents perform and they all live, and the world of the islanders where the two go to school each day. Sasha is having a hard time fitting in in both places and lets a darkness take over her and it claims her parents in a tragic accident. Magical realism takes over as Sasha and Toddy find their way in this new life.
This book is a beautiful mix of school drama and fantasy. I felt deeply for Sasha and her role as a protective older sister. The language is very descriptive, to the point where it slows the plot down drastically. The magical realism is subtle for the first half of the book, but becomes dominant in the second half and may be confusing to some readers.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
December 26, 2018
I received this eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Sasha and her family are part of the circus. She has always felt separate from the other part of town because she lives in the circus and homeschools. However, when she and her brother are old enough to attend the local school, Sasha begins questioning the sanity and truth of her family. While she has always believed the legends surrounding the circus, when she begins interacting with the outside world and feeling out of place she starts to lose her belief in those in the circus. Her brother is odd on his own, but when their parents disappear as birds, the sibling’s world begins crashing around them and they are desperate to reunite with their parents and save the circus.
This was a strange novel. The family legends were beautiful, but Sasha was unlikeable. I wanted to know more about her brother and wish that there were a better balance between real and magical. I think it would have kept better with the theme of the book. It was a wild ride.
Sasha and her family are part of the circus. She has always felt separate from the other part of town because she lives in the circus and homeschools. However, when she and her brother are old enough to attend the local school, Sasha begins questioning the sanity and truth of her family. While she has always believed the legends surrounding the circus, when she begins interacting with the outside world and feeling out of place she starts to lose her belief in those in the circus. Her brother is odd on his own, but when their parents disappear as birds, the sibling’s world begins crashing around them and they are desperate to reunite with their parents and save the circus.
This was a strange novel. The family legends were beautiful, but Sasha was unlikeable. I wanted to know more about her brother and wish that there were a better balance between real and magical. I think it would have kept better with the theme of the book. It was a wild ride.
July 23, 2021
3.5 stars (hardcover)
Not sure how I felt about this book. The plot was all over the place but loved the imagery and imagination the author created. Most of the characters sucked. Especially the adults. They pretty much did nothing to help out Sasha when it was pretty clear she was stressing hard w the teasing.
Really confused about the plot. Thought this was going to be a story about Sasha being in a dark place and her parents die in a circus accident. But then Sasha imagines it’s the Smoke who took her parents and she can get her parents back by going on an adventure only it’s all in her head and she learns through her adventure to accept no her parents are truly dead, and she moves on and stands up for herself and becomes a better person.
Wasn’t expecting the parents to randomly come back to life, or no one questioning how the parents came back to life or no one calling the cops when the children disappeared.
Lots of holes w the story but again, loved the imagination. And also that cover!
All in all, an ok read. Glad things worked out for Sasha in the end.
Not sure how I felt about this book. The plot was all over the place but loved the imagery and imagination the author created. Most of the characters sucked. Especially the adults. They pretty much did nothing to help out Sasha when it was pretty clear she was stressing hard w the teasing.
Really confused about the plot. Thought this was going to be a story about Sasha being in a dark place and her parents die in a circus accident. But then Sasha imagines it’s the Smoke who took her parents and she can get her parents back by going on an adventure only it’s all in her head and she learns through her adventure to accept no her parents are truly dead, and she moves on and stands up for herself and becomes a better person.
Wasn’t expecting the parents to randomly come back to life, or no one questioning how the parents came back to life or no one calling the cops when the children disappeared.
Lots of holes w the story but again, loved the imagination. And also that cover!
All in all, an ok read. Glad things worked out for Sasha in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2019
The pacing of this book is way off. I genuinely liked the tone of the book -- major Labyrinth vibes, but with less Bowie -- but it took more than half the book for the adventure to start! There are 36 pages between her parents' disappearance and when she decides to confront the Magician, and another 30 before she and Toddy actually leave. That is 66 pages of bullying, bullying, and more bullying -- and that's not even counting all the bullying in the 70 pages preceding her parents' disappearance. This book is only 233 pages long! 28% of the book happens between the inciting action and the main action. That's like if Sarah went to school for a week before deciding to rescue Toby from the Goblin King.
I would have liked to recommend this as a family readaloud, but I cannot imagine anyone slogging through 136 pages of descriptions of escalating bullying for 97 pages of glossed-over adventure. A shame, because there was the potential for some really enjoyable fantasy in there.
I would have liked to recommend this as a family readaloud, but I cannot imagine anyone slogging through 136 pages of descriptions of escalating bullying for 97 pages of glossed-over adventure. A shame, because there was the potential for some really enjoyable fantasy in there.
December 1, 2018
Sasha’s family works in the Cirque Magnifique, a magical circus cursed by a bitter Magician. Only the circus’ Light can keep the Magician’s Smoke at bay, which tried to creep in and turn all the circus performers into animals. However one day, after weeks of being bullied by classmates and coming to resent everything unique about her and her family, Sasha wishes the Smoke would steal away her parents. To her horror it does. Now the only way to keep her family and the circus together is to travel to the End of the World and confront the Magician. A strange magical realism adventure tale where Sasha learns an important lesson about letting one’s love shine through even when it seems the most difficult.
August 5, 2020
I'm kind of bummed about this one. The cover design is AMAZING, and the idea of the story and the world is intriguing, but I don't the writing did any of it justice. There was so much interesting lore that just got dropped in at convenient points, and the actual adventure seemed a little all over the place. This might be a title that, dare I say it, would be better as a movie. There is also some extreme bullying in this book that ramps up really quickly, so I wouldn't necessarily want to recommend this to someone coming into the bookstore if I didn't know how that would effect them. Overall, I was really hopefuly about this concept, but this book didn't deliver for me.
July 9, 2021
3-3.5. The cover to this book is AMAZING! The book inside? Not on par. It had a wonderful premise, and to be honest, a lot of what was there was great, but I felt like something was missing. Character development, WORLD BUILDING for sure, explanation of the magic that was supposedly permeating the entire world.
October 4, 2018
Lots of magical realism as a girl navigates bullies and home life. But the ground wasn't strong enough to support the symbols -- the secondary characters were barely sketched in and never rose much above good or bad, despite the strong message of the importance of compassion towards everyone.
December 28, 2018
I really wanted to like this book more. The premise of the plot is lovely, but the execution seems a little sloppy to me. I also felt like the book was lopsided, with a lot of of building up to the action but not a lot of action once Sasha and Toddy set off together.
December 14, 2023
2.5?
This one was all over the place and the pacing was wack but I kinda liked what it was trying to do even if it didn’t really meet expectations
TW for some really nasty bullying that never really feels grounded
This one was all over the place and the pacing was wack but I kinda liked what it was trying to do even if it didn’t really meet expectations
TW for some really nasty bullying that never really feels grounded
August 14, 2018
A delightful book full of color and magic. Even though it deals with heavy things like bullying and anger, it's quite a fun and light read.
October 22, 2019
Highly imaginative and creative. Touches of whimsy, great intro for younger readers into magical realism - fantastical adventure story grounded in very real childhood anxieties and fears.
January 10, 2020
Beautiful prose, full of whimsy and character.
December 21, 2020
Not my cup of tea...
I felt too young. Don't get me wring I love magic books, but maybe at my age it wasn't the best choice.
Maybe for a person entering adolescence this book would be perfect.
I felt too young. Don't get me wring I love magic books, but maybe at my age it wasn't the best choice.
Maybe for a person entering adolescence this book would be perfect.
February 1, 2021
So much potential here, but the writing never quite delivered.
April 1, 2023
It's hard to get through but I loved it once I got into it
July 31, 2019
This was a strange book, but a comforting one that made my heart glow. This circus was full of magic, as were its inhabitants & I loved reading about a circus that didn’t move, a circus where the audience came to them & a circus where the children go to school. Smoke & Mirrors changed very quickly from something light to something incredibly odd, but it was great.
⚠️ Ableist slurs from secondary characters & serious bullying ⚠️
Extended Review: https://wp.me/p8MbIo-2N8
⚠️ Ableist slurs from secondary characters & serious bullying ⚠️
Extended Review: https://wp.me/p8MbIo-2N8
June 9, 2020
2.75/5
November 18, 2021
I’d honestly give it a half star if I could
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews