ARC Review: The Circus of the Damned by Cornelia Grey

The Circus of the Damned
by Cornelia Grey
Published by Riptide Publishing
Ebook (received from publisher via NetGalley, thank you!)
Adult, LGBT, fantasy, romance

Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life conning drunkards in the seediest pubs in the darkest towns, careful to hide the true depths of his power. But when he spends a little too much time in Shadowsea and the infamous slumlord Count Reuben gets wind of his abilities, hiding within the Circus of the Damned may be Gilbert’s only chance at survival.

But there’s more to the Circus than meets the eye. Every time a performer dies, a new one must take his place, or the entire circus suffers the consequences. And while the handsome ringmaster Jesse isn’t one to coerce unwilling performers into giving up their souls to the devil, a recent death in their ranks makes Gilbert exactly what they need.

Yet the longer Gilbert stays with the Circus, the more danger he seems to bring them. Being with Jesse is more than Gilbert could have hoped for, but as Count Reuben’s men continue to search for Gilbert and the Circus loses another performer, they all face running out of time long before the Devil claims his due.

I was overly excited about The Circus of the Damned from the moment I stumbled upon it. I mean, deals with the devil, damned souls and circus, mysteries, romance and did I say deals with the devil? I was sold right away and I couldn't have been more happy to receive a review copy. What's best, the book didn't disappoint me at all.

 

The Circus of the Damned was better than I expected and I had really high expectations. There was a circus full of freaks (and I'm using the word freaks with all the love because they were all amazing in their own way) who were more or less damned, and there was deals with the devil. There also was some really interesting and unique elements and plotlines but I won't say anything more specific about them so I won't spoil anyone. The story was full of fantasy elements that I've been dying to read but not seen on any books for a while. Grey did amazing job and the writing was very fluent and flowing, and once I started reading I was unable to stop.

 

And the characters. Oh boy, did I love them. Gilbert was intriguing: witty, smart and yeah, always in trouble because he was quite impulsive. He grew up on streets and he was wise like that, and what even more amazing, compassionate. And stubborn, he truly was stubborn and didn't give up easily. Besides Gilbert, Jesse was one of my favourite. He was sweet on his own way but he was also smart, caring and while he had done stupid things in the past, he tried to do the right thing. He was such a mystery in the beginning and I loved to learn about his past bit by bit. There was also the devil, the evil Count Reuben and all the amazing circus people. I did hope we'd learn even more about the circus people than we did but that would have needed a whole new book, so I'm not counting it as a fault. There was a lot information about everyone of the circus people and some were more on display than others.

 

The Circus of the Damned had it all: plot, great characters and flowing writing. There was action as well as romance, drama and mystery, and yes, I loved it all. Such a wonderful story and I highly recommend this book to everyone who's interested fantasy, circus and/or deals with the devil.

 

I will definitely read this again in the future!

 

5 of 5 stars.

 

The Circus of the Damned on Goodreads.

Thank you, Riptide Publishing, for giving me a chance to read and review The Circus of the Damned!

(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)