This book had its moments. It's no secret, I am a full fledged sucker for a good Circus/Carnival-centric book. Reading this synopsis had me feeling like this book had my name writtem ALL over it! I was super excited to start but unfortunatly the first thing I noticed, right off the bat, was that there were GLARING editorial mistakes that chopped up the flow everytime I came across them. That being said, I tried to move on and let them slide with only a wince and a minor curse to mark their passage BUT move on I did.

As for the actual story, the plot moved along nicely. It definitely gave off a strong Carnival T.V show (circa 2000-2003) vibe. That was a great show and so too was the scaffolding of this story...the meat and potatoes, they were tasty. I really enjoyed how rich and vivid the imagery was BUT there was some info dumping with regards to the Gods origin stories, their interrealtedness and the actual Voodoo practices. Because of those areas the plot was a bit choppy at times. Otherwise, the pacing was on point. It kept me interested and involved enough to see it through until the end. After traversing some editing woes and the spotty info dumps, I came out the other end rather pleased with the whole story. That was until the end...

That ending felt like a copout... a fizzle where a BANG should have been. With how thoroughly the Geek dominated, that ending seemed like a pittance... Yes, I can appreciate how realistic/diplomatic that finale seems BUT come on.... if your life was torn asunder, I believe a little bloody retribution would have been on the menu. I don't know. This was a mixed bag for me. I loved the imagery. I loved/loathed some of the characters BUT those editing faux pas and that whimper of an ending have this book precariously perched on the ratings scale. I believe that with a good editing scrub and a tweak here and there regarding the info dumping, this could be a really great book.

Oooohhhhh but that ending...

Overall impression: This was a fun read. The writing was captivating and the characters were robust and really...those are the factors that matter most, right?


*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

A mysterious stranger arrives at Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum, a travelling carnival in 1920s America. This is a dark mystery tale with a supernatural or fantasy twist . A little slow going, particularly at the start, but a very entertaining and atmospheric read.

Miraculum is the name of a carnival side show. Ruby is a snake charmer who is basically cast aside. Daniel is a trouble maker. When several tragedies occur, Ruby begins to wonder who is responsible. She is an intelligent mysterious character. The story has a bit of a mystical magical atmosphere about it. It's a different type of story from most things I've read. It's a little slow but picks up at the end. Good read overall. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

In 1922, Daniel Revont approaches the owner of Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum with a proposition. He wants the job of geek in the carnival, to replace the man who has just committed suicide. With his expensive suit and aloof manner, Daniel doesn’t seem to fit in with the carnival people but he definitely attracts attention, including from Ruby, the snake charmer. She is covered with tattoos, but not the pretty kind that would let her work as a tattooed lady in the carnival. Her tattoos are crude, unrecognizable symbols. I like books set in the carnival or circus world. The blurb for this book will attract people like me who like carnival stories, when it should be attracting a different audience. The publisher doesn’t seem to want people to know what this book is about so I’ll put the rest of this review under a spoiler tag.

<spoiler>This book started slowly and at first I feared that it was going to be a love triangle involving Daniel, Ruby and Ruby’s sometimes boyfriend Hayden. But no, this is a supernatural fantasy story. Not at all what I expected, or wanted. “Then his eyes glowed red and he wrapped himself in black feathers and ascended to the trees to watch.” “They fell on her and tore her apart with their teeth.” That sort of thing makes my eyes glaze over, but I know that it appeals to some people. However, I don’t know how they are expected to find this book if the publisher insists on hiding its true nature. If I had known this was a supernatural story with a lot of mumbo jumbo about ancient gods and secret symbols I wouldn’t have bothered to read it, but the flip to the supernatural doesn’t show up until half way through the book, so I kept reading. The story wasn’t awful, although the world building was very sketchy and the ending unsatisfying. I might have had a more positive reaction to it if I had known what kind of a book this is. I think the marketing plan for the book may be faulty.</spoiler>

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Steph Post has created a world that's part Freaks, part American Horror Story Freak Show, part American Horror Story Coven, part nothing I've ever read before.

Pontilliar’s Spectactular Star Light Miraculum is struck by tragedy when their geek kills himself. Just as quickly, a man presents himself to Pontilliar and offers his services as the new geek. Daniel enters the circus and changes everything around him.

Ruby Chloe is the tattooed snake charmer. A recent heartbreak has left her angry. She isn't happy with the circus, with Pontilliar, with anything. Hayden, Ruby's former love, has returned to the circus and she's doing everything she can to avoid him.

Death and changes start happening around the circus. Hayden disappears, again, leaving Ruby angrier than before. Ruby is strangely drawn to Daniel, the geek but only because she feels a strange power from him. Tragedy strikes and Ruby realizes that she might fight for herself - and for the power over Daniel.

Miraculum is more than a circus/freak show story. It's the story of magic and gods and devils and the power of love. This isn't a light read, there's a strange exploration of history and voodoo and power struggles between good and evil.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was just as engrossing, smart, and surprising as I hoped it would be from the description. It reminded me a bit of "Midnight at the Electric" which is an all time favorite book of mine. Highly recommended!

A darkly magical tale set among the tents and sideshows of Pontillar's Spectacular Starlight Miraculum , which travelled the American south in the early 1920's. Alongside the clowns and acrobats, the freaks and geeks is Ruby, a snake charmer with a dark and mysterious past, torn between her hatred of her father , Pontillar himself, and her knowledge that she has nowhere else to go. When an enigmatic new arrival to the show coincides with a couple of unexpected deaths and some inexplicable events , Ruby quickly senses that something is very wrong. In order to protect herself and save her friends, and possibly even the world, she will have to look back to the past she had left behind and figure out how to trick the greatest trickster of them all.
I absolutely loved the lush and atmospheric writing style of Steph Post, the carnival scenes were so vividly drawn that I almost believed I was walking down the midway, smelling the popcorn, and seeing all the characters step off the page and into the night. The book is driven by these characters, the plot is slowly and sometimes surprisingly revealed through their actions, but as I reader I was both intrigued and enthralled as the story unfolded. Ruby's strength and determination, her heartbreaking backstory, and the way she takes charge of her own destiny makes her one of the best characters I have found in a long time.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own,

Miraculum was quite the magical ride! Really, it was more than that. There was magic, mythology, mysticism, and so much mystery! The setting of the carnival isn't as central to the book as I expected. Our main character, Ruby, is a snake charmer. Basically a second-rate act who is cast aside for the most part. The carnival is falling apart throughout the book. There isn't much splendor or marvel to the Star Light Miraculum. I found it to be a little disappointing.

What I did like, was the ancient history and mythology woven into the story. Samuel's books and the hoodoo magic of the bayou held . Plus the interjections from throughout time every few chapters. These I found so fascinating and looked forward to reading. I loved how these fueled the story. I wish that the characters were as fiery. I felt no connection to them. Not a one.

My final thoughts on this book: it was certainly a slow burn. I didn't mind in the beginning because I thought things were interesting and I wanted to know where things would go. Then the fiery interjections would come in a move things along a bit. I was so determined to do my duties as an ARC reader so I stuck with the slow reading, but the ending was very good I thought. It wasn't quite the battle I expected it to be, but of course, good pretty much won out so I was ultimately satisfied.

In the glorious vibrant things under the big top of the carnival, all the enchanting things occurring, one of tragedy arises, an act of one ending things.
This loss leaving a job opportunity arise for position of Geek of carnival.
Then more things go wrong.
The author transports the reader to a bygone time with Buster Keaton and Robin Hood with Douglas Fairbanks showing on the big screen, under the big top into carnival lives and one exceptional snake charmer, Ruby, with good storytelling with the mystical and mythical of a fantastic fantasy extravaganza.
A memorable affair of gothic mystery tale with lead character Ruby Chole aka Esmeralda the Enchantress, with whom one will ultimately discover that, “her fate was tied to the carnival as surely as the ink was etched into her skin and she could not escape it,” with a greater tapestry and message formed in the reader with that of “Pawns can become queens.”
An enchanting gothic tale of discovery, purpose and paths, those leading through darkness and light, worldly and other worldly.

3 1/2 stars-What drew me to this book was the beautiful cover and the name,which Is part of the name of this traveling carnival act-Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum. You follow Ruby-the heavily tattooed snake charmer and later discover the mysterious nature of how these tattoos came to be and what they mean. You also follow Daniel whom you quickly discover is no ordinary guy and is up to doing evil just for the jolly nature of it because he gets bored. The story follows along at a steady pace but the real action starts to happen about 80% into the book. I found this book to be a good read but not spectacular. It could have been more descriptive and atmospheric to get this reader feel more involved.

"The year is 1922. The carnival is Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum, staked out on the Texas-Louisiana border. One blazing summer night, a mysterious stranger steps onto the midway, lights a cigarette and forever changes the world around him. Tattooed snake charmer Ruby has traveled with her father’s carnival for most of her life and, jaded though she is, can’t help but be drawn to the tall man in the immaculate black suit who conveniently joins the carnival as a chicken-biting geek. Mercurial and charismatic, Daniel charms everyone he encounters, but his manipulation of Ruby turns complicated when it’s no longer clear who’s holding all the cards. Daniel is full of secrets, but he hadn’t counted on Ruby having a few of her own.

When one tragedy after another strikes the carnival - and it becomes clear that Daniel is somehow at the center of calamity - Ruby takes it upon herself to discover the mystery of the shadowy man pulling all the strings. Joined by Hayden, a roughneck-turned-mural-painter wrestling demons of his own, Ruby engages Daniel in a dangerous, eye-opening game in which nothing is as it seems and everything is at stake.

Steph Post has firmly estblished herself as one of the most original and captivating voices in contemporary fiction, and with Miraculum she has written an unforgettable novel that is part Southern Gothic, part Noir, part Magical Realism, and all Steph Post."

Ever since The Night Circus I have been drawn to books about carnivals, add in a dash of Magical Realism and a dollop of the Gothic and you've hooked me!

Thank you to Steph Post, Polis Books and Netgalley for ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
This was a read full of magic, an tricks, with characters revealing slowly their secrets, and with a dangerous game. The setting is quite unusual, and so arethe main characters: Ruby, Hayden and Daniel, most mysterious of these three. This is not the genre I often read, however, The Miraculum, its world and people nicely surprised me, and I'll definitely follow the Author.

I was drawn to this title due to its billing—akin to The Night Circus, a book I loved. However, I should also know that rarely is a book going to be “another _____.” After the initial chapters, Miraculum drew me in, but then it lost me. I DNF at 37%. The most interesting part was Ruby, but too little was revealed in order to build hype. There’s so much secrecy about her “talent” but not enough clues to draw the reader in. Daniel—not enough going on there. I guess the real issue had to do with pacing. The book was moving too slow, and I just couldn’t get invested and grew bored.

There are times when I write a review that I know exactly what I want to convey and at other times words defy me. Can I just say that I loved this book and let it go at that?! Really, a story where no one wins? A story that has an overwhelming otherworldliness to it that you have to wonder about the possibilities.

Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum and all its attractions are deeply layered, intermingled and all so believable that I couldn’t help but get lost in the story. Pontilliar the owner and Ruby Chloe the snake charmer are tied together by guilt and necessity, January the lead dancer in the Girl’s Revue is Ruby’s best friend, Samuel once the Wild Man of Borneo is now the money and detail manager and keeps a careful watch over everything especially Ruby, Hayden is Ruby’s on again off again boyfriend, and Daniel Revont the new geek, always in a black suit and crisp white shirt, is Ruby’s nemesis. There are many other characters who add to the story and move it along at a fast page turning pace.

Much of the action takes place on the Carnival’s midway, but there are very interesting excursions into the Bayou to the Village of the Lost where cults live and celebrate their rituals. There are look backs and remembrances of previous centuries. There is disruption and disorder for that is the nature of the Trickster who feels everything and nothing. There is darkness and light, a score that is never settled and a game that goes on.

I loved this book. Thank you NetGalley and Polis Books for a copy.

Ruby is a tattooed snake charmer in her father's carnival, Pontillar's Spectactular Star Light Miraculum. She is jaded, stand-offish and not quick to trust people, but all that changes when a mysterious man in black seemingly comes out of nowhere and joins up with the traveling show. Soon, death comes to the circus and it's up to Ruby, and the rough around the edges Hayden, to uncover the truth about the charming stranger, while also learning about her own inner power. I really enjoyed this book, it was very atmospheric and you really feel as if you're in the sweaty summer sun with all the other dusty rousties. Ruby is such a feisty, tough main character and I loved watching her go through this journey and really come into her own and her destiny. This story mixes mystery with the supernatural and throws in a dash of romance, and it all flows so nicely. I'm such a sucker for circus reads, and this one was no exception.

The name of the traveling carnival in Steph Post’s Miraculum oversells its attractions, but not by much. Pontilliar’s Spectacular Star Light Miraculum features a bearded lady, dancing girls, Russian acrobats, games, rides, and our protagonist, the tattooed, snake-charming Ruby Chole. It also featured a geek show at the beginning of the novel, but the geek and his sudden replacement by a sinister man in a tuxedo quickly clues us in to the fact that all is not right with this traveling show.

The Miraculum is one of the few homes Ruby has ever known. Ever since she agreed to be tattooed—at the request of her unscrupulous showman of a father, Pontilliar—Ruby can’t go anywhere without being stared at. She is covered from head to toe with strange symbols. These marks are so unusual and so different from what most Tattooed Ladies wear that Ruby has had to turn herself into a snake-charmer in order to have an act people will pay money to see. The traveling show is all she has, which is why she can’t allow anyone to mess with the Miraculum.

Daniel Revont wants to mess with the Miraculum. It’s his nature to mess with things. This strange man arrived just as the previous geek hanged himself after the night’s show. In spite of his lack of experience, Pontilliar hires him on the spot. Small things and short interstitial sections clue us into the fact that Revont is not what he appears. He can hypnotize people to do his bidding. He charms and menaces by turns. And all he seems to want is something to alleviate the boredom of centuries. The only person he can’t get his hooks into is Ruby. For some reason, she is immune and this fact fascinates Revont.

Unfortunately, Miraculum never quite lives up to the promise of having a supernatural interloper in a traveling carnival. There is just enough world building to make for an interesting setting and plot, but the ending was a complete disappointment to me. It undercuts all the wonderful tension that had been building since the geek’s death by just fizzling out.

An interesting female protagonist, and an unusual blend of magic and circus, but sadly, lacking in excitement.

It's the first book I read by this author and it was a great discovery.
I loved this book, the mix of genres and the style of writing.
The plot was enthralling and entertaining, it never bores and you cannot put the book down.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Polis Books and Netgalley for this ARC

It’s the 1920’s South and tragedy keeps hitting the carnival, Spectacular Star Light Miraculum. Ruby, the snake charmer and daughter of the carnival owner, need to find out why people start dying after the arrival of the new geek, Daniel. Daniel is unlike anyone else in the carnival. He wears expensive clothing, has an air about him and manages to manipulate everyone around him to do as he pleases.

I found myself immersed in the carnival and needing to know how each act played into the bigger pictures. Post created a setting that was rich in detail that placed you on the Midway experience what the characters did.

This was a definite Good vs. Evil and it was such a twisted path throughout. It was enchanting and entirely tragic at the same time.

The beginning was very slow and difficult for me to get past it, but once I did the story flowed well and kept my attention. I needed to know more about Daniel and his motives. I liked reading the bits into Daniel’s mind. You get a glimpse into his evil and his motives.

Overall, if the beginning hadn’t been so slow, this would have gotten five stars.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

"This means nothing! You are nothing!"
"I am everything."

Set in the year 1922 against the backdrop of a travelling carnival lies a battle of good and evil. Ruby is the snake charmer at her father's travelling show, it's not glamorous, it's anything but, however it is a safe haven for her as she would never be accepted in the normal world, not with her strange tattoos. When the geek of the carnival is found dead, hanging by a swing from a tree, Pontilliar is filled with rage, how DARE this man decide to take his own life and tarnish the carnival. How DARE this man make trouble for Pontilliar, costing him money to make this all go away. While still in a rage, Pontilliar is approached by a strange man, Daniel Revont, he claims to have something that Pontilliar wants, curiosity causes Pontilliar to hear the man out. Daniel proclaims to be a geek, he will take the empty place left behind by the passing of a man, and help Pontilliar out. This is how it came to be that Daniel is a part of the carnival. What follows is a series of strange happenings and curious feelings felt by all involved. In a battle of good VS evil, where the good has no idea what the game is, can the evil be thwarted?

So when I started this book, I had no idea what it was about, other than that explained in the blurb which to be honest, wasn't much. I felt a bit frustrated because I wasn't sure what I was reading, I didn't know the purpose of the story. It wasn't until probably half way through that my suspicions were confirmed about what we were actually dealing with. I had an inkling earlier on in the book about what might have been happening, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure. Once what was going on was actually confirmed, I found that I absolutely fell into the story. The revelation of the level of good Vs evil that was happening in this story was actually a stroke of brilliance. As a reader I was floundering through the beautiful words and the deep descriptions reaching for the life preserver that would just give me a hint, a tiny clue as to what I was actually drowning in, and it did not disappoint.

I won't go into great detail in this review as I believe this book is best read with almost total blindness going in. What I will say is that the pacing in the first third odd of this book is very slow. Things are happening but there's not really anything happening at all. We're getting a feel for the characters, for who they are, how they feel, what they think about their lot in life. We're being shown the reality of travelling with a carnival in the early 1900s. What we're not getting is told what we're actually reading about. If you can get past this initial frustration of being blind to the real plot of the story, I think you'll enjoy this book. When I first started, I was honestly thinking that it would be a push for me to rate this book at 3 stars. When I finished the last page, I had no issues throwing it a 4 out of 5.

I have a soft spot for stories based in or around carnivals of any era, something about them just seems so magical. So I think that was the main reason I requested this book. Though at one point I was considering DNFing it, I'm so glad that I didn't, and that I pushed through the stumbling start as I got to the end and everything made sense.

The characters are relatable, they are just people trying to make a living doing the only thing they know how. I liked Ruby, she was petulant, stubborn, too serious, and miserable, but she was real. Knowing that the carnival is the only thing she would ever know and the only thing she would ever be able to do was soul crushing. Prejudices against those who look different are still prevalent today and I have experienced them myself before, so it was kind of refreshing to read about Ruby's struggles. Her entire life has been one of tragedy and hardship and I think that moulded her into the person she became. I had a soft spot for January, the beautiful woman who knew she was only good to dance in cootchie shows, though dreamed of something so much more, of being a beautiful, respected starlet who would marry well and live a life of opulence. Though unfortunately, we know that will never happen. To Daniel, the stranger, the one who everyone believes is behind the strange deaths and the odd feelings and tensions that are winding their way through the carnival. I had sympathy for him. I don't know why. Post has written his character in such a way that he's just so HUMAN. He has flaws, wants, and needs just like anybody else. I enjoyed his character immensely.

I can't pick one thing that I loved the most about the story, just that I ended up loving in, when in the beginning I honestly thought that I wouldn't even finish it. This is put into the genre historical fiction, as well as literary fiction, which I suppose is correct. There is a hint of the supernatural in this story as well though, which I think worked perfectly for it. I've no doubt that I will be checking out more of Steph Post's work. I hope they're all just as amazing.