Circus Mirandus (Circus Mirandus #1) by Cassie Beasley
Release: August 16, 2016
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Puffin Books
Source: Netgalley
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Do you believe in magic?
Micah Tuttle does.
Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather.
The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn’t want to keep his promise. And now it’s up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.
Cassie Beasley is from rural Georgia, where, when she’s not writing, she helps out on the family pecan farm. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Circus Mirandus is her first novel.
Circus Mirandus website: circusmirandus.com
Author Website: cassiebeasley.com
Twitter: @beasleywrites.
Circus Mirandus Review:
“Circus Mirandus” is amazing, magical, powerful, charming and so wonderful! Do you ever have moments when you read a book and believe that the magic mentioned could be actually real? I actually felt like if I believed strong enough, the Circus would appear to me as well! It is one of those stories that made me laugh and made me cry.
The story is unique and unlike anything I had read before. It is one of those books where you don’t know how the story would turn out because it is so different. The author paced it well where Micah and Jenny are always learning something new about the circus or about Micah’s family history. The illustrations also compliment the book very nicely.
Moreover, the characters in the circus are quirky, eccentric and odd, but cute in their own manner. Micah is the perfect main character. Your heart goes out to him from page one and you just want everything to work out for him. Also, I disliked Jenny in the beginning because of how annoying she was. But she slowly grew on me, and I ended up liking her as well. The Lightbender is a mysterious character and I am curious to know more about him. On a side note, I loved Rosebud and wished I had seen more of her.
My only criticism is with Aunt Gertrudis. I hoped that she would become a better person towards the end. Even though I know why she would be angry at Ephraim, I didn’t understand why she held such a hatred towards him all these years. The author wrote her in a despicable way, and you really love to hate her till the end. But, I didn’t understand how she could suddenly hate someone without giving them a benefit of the doubt. Also, Victoria’s character is left open-ended and we don’t get any closure about her. Perhaps she will be mentioned in the 2nd book of the series.
Apart from that, I loved everything about “Circus Mirandus”!
