I really enjoyed the storyline in world building in the novel. I also really liked the characters. I thought this was a solid read, and I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book and the cover is stunning but I hated the story. I DNFed at 48% and I honestly wish I would have quit sooner. This was one of those books that was written queer only because queer books sell. The entire story was chaotic and disjointed and a mess to get through.

This was an interesting read. I'm not quite sure how to review it. I enjoyed the circus setting as well as the circus family. The characters and their relationships were pretty engaging. However, I was left feeling confused about what the story was actually about. While I think readers that particularly love circus settings may enjoy this one, I'm not entirely sure which other readers I would recommend it for, since it is difficult to discern the plot. There was enough of interest here, though, for me to be interested in trying another book by this author.

This one did not hook me quickly enough, so I did not feel like it would catch my student's attention either.

Loved the setting of this book. But the execution wasn't my cup of tea. The story didn't really flow and I wasn't conencted to the characters....

I'll be honest, I was excited to read this book when I read the description but this book failed to meet my standings of excellence and what all good books should be. It seemed forced at times. Overall, not a favorite for me.

I adored this book, the matter of fact way the magical world was introduced to us just works so well. You dive straight into the story- nothing strange about living amongst fey folk, about being able to control fire or light at your will. Move along people, nothing to see here!

The book is narrated by two sisters, one, Ivory tells us most of the story, and the other, Rose, adds her piece in verse. This gives the book a touch of magic in itself.

I loved the fact that the girls, despite being twins, followed their own distinct paths, Ivory being more drawn to the shadows and mechanics of the theatre while Rose was born for the spotlight. This means that many events spin around each other like the dancing boys, keeping you turning the pages and always wanting more.

My only criticism would be that the denouement and ending came about a bit too hurriedly and it slightly spoiled the credibility for me. I guess I wanted to spend a bit more time in that fairytale world. But on the whole it was absolutely magical!

I think this would be perfect for fans of The Night Circus, or the drama series Carnival Row. I could definitely see this as a screen adaptation too!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited for this book because the premise sounded so lovely! And while it was a good book, don't get me wrong, it just felt a little...forced sometimes. The exploration of certain topics didn't feel illuminating or organic, the comparisons weren't natural, and it kind of felt more preachy than anything.

The setting was GORGEOUS though and Cornwell has a real gift for setting a scene. you felt like you could step in the world sometimes!

This is a queer retelling of Snow White and Rose Red and I wanted to read it just for that reason. The language and writing style was engaging and lyrical and I loved the circus setting. Unfortunately the exploration of some heavy topics didn't quite work and the world-building could have been extended.

"The human heart is a resilient beast."

The author's writing was lyrical and deep. She really captured relationships at their finest, and their worst, However, it wasn't enough for me to enjoy this book to its fullest. I wondered many times where the plot was leading me, and I felt like too many genres were fighting for space. The beginning of the novel started off as fantasy/steampunk, but the last 50 pages turned into a mystery. I loved that the author tried to be considerate of genders in this, but when using the fairies pronouns, it became very confusing and I wished for the simpler terms of "they and their." All in all not my favorite read, but I believe that if this book had been fleshed out, or maybe allowed more pages, it would have been really fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me an arc of this book for my honest opinion!

I had very high hopes for this book, but they were only partially met. The imagery is gorgeous, but the poetry didn't really do it for me. I also felt the pacing was a bit off. Still, if retellings are popular, this will fit in.

Snow White and Rose Red isn't a tale I'm super familiar with, but I still quite enjoyed this retelling ! The Circus Rose was imaginative, and I loved the representation in this. I also learned about the Fe/Fer pronouns which I had never heard about before. However the writing style wasn't really for me, and unfortunately it kept bugging me throughout the book… Still, this book touched upon important subjects, and did so very well in my opinion !

Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this digital copy.

This was a delightful, strange tale... and I loved every minute of it! The neo-pronouns tripped me up a little, but that's on me and not the author or the novel. If you like fey stories, definitely recommend this!

My primary reading goal for 2021 is to catch up on the backlog of 2020, haha! I got pretty far behind with pandemic anxiety, and now that I’m back into it, there are so many good books I mean to read. I’m sure I’ll come up with an arbitrary number for my Goodreads goal, but so far, I’m on track with this delightful, little book.

Ivory and Rosie are twins with different fathers. Their mother couldn’t choose between them and raised them by herself (and with a circus troupe). Though they share the bond of sisters, the two girls are very different. Ivory is a backstage kind of girl, interested in engineering, and runs the show. Rosie is in the spotlight, but when she’s not performing, she prefers solitude (or the company of her bear) and dark quiet to recover from the energy performing takes out of her. When religious forces threaten to end the circus’ run, the girls will have to work together to save the circus and their family, all with a little help from magic.

I loved this book. I started it a while back at work, and would pick it up as I needed a break. The story is told in alternative POVs. Rosie speaks in verse, and Ivory in prose. I loved that neither girl played into troupes or stereotypes. Each contains multitudes, and I loved the fantasy elements weaved into their story. Also, I’m a sucker for circus tales. Make them queer and you GOT me.

Once again, the silver lining to my backlog is that if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, you can read it right now. I’d definitely recommend adding it to your 2020 lineup.

Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group and NetGalley for the advance digital reading copy of this book.

This was a strange book about twin girls and the circus their mother owns and runs. I really enjoyed the story although I found the attempt at non-binary pronouns for the Fey characters to be confusing. I wish the author had just used they/their to describe the Fey instead of Fe/Fer.

**I received a copy of this book on Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own**
This book had the potential to be something great. Retellings are very popular and I've never heard of any for Snow White and Rose Red. To be honest, though, I hadn't heard of the original story at all before this. This book also had so many LGBTQ+ elements in it, which is another thing it had going for it. I love a good retelling and love a good LGBTQ+ story, so I had pretty high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing.
Both the main characters have a POV, one written in normal text, and the other in prose. That made it easy to distinguish the two POVs, but I just wasn't a fan of the prose. I normally like poetry, but the poetry in this book wasn't my cup of tea.
Both main characters had love interests as well, which is where the LGBTQ+ representation comes in. I think the representation was done very well. I really enjoyed it. I did have a hard time understanding Tem's pronouns at first because I had never heard of fe/fer. I did do some Google searching though and ended up understanding after that.
I didn't like how Ivory seemed to be almost obsessed with Tem's appearance when she was thinking about them and that's honestly all she seems to do. She thinks about Tem or her sister/mother or the circus. The dialogue in this book seems very scarce.
My biggest problems with this book though are the lack of world-building, which there isn't a whole lot of. There's a little bit of history, but not much; the lack of character development, which is just nonexistent; and the lack of a plot, which also was nonexistent. I honestly didn't understand the point of the book until the last 30 pages.
Overall, this book could have used a lot of work. The LGBTQ+ representation was great, but that's it. There just wasn't enough to this book.

I love retellings, so it's sometimes hard for one to stand out, but this one definitely did. It hit on some current issues without being preachy. It was highly detailed and a book I didn't want to put down.

The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell was a book that just missed the mark for me. I love retellings but I just didn't find myself connecting to this book. I found myself bored and uninterested.