This middle grade reader reminded me of The Circus Mirandus and the adult book, The Night Circus by Morgenstern. The premise, a girl's brother is missing and presumed dead, may be a trigger for students who have lost a sibling so teachers and librarians should be aware of this prior to recommending it to a student. I also wonder if the sister's love and tenderness would ring true for elementary readers as a lot of siblings quarrel and fight with one another. The sister in this book is much more motherly than most siblings I know. While I think children have heard about circuses or seen them on TV, most children where I live have probably not ever gone to a circus. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was on the decline for years and finally went out of business in 2017. Circuses on the whole are not in fashion these days and I'm not sure children are familiar with who a ringmaster is nor the traditional red jacket and black pants referenced in the book. This book would be good to hand to students with parents who have recently divorced. It treats divorce in a realistic way that will ring true with students. As a bonus, the nightmare scenes might be enjoyed by readers of the ever popular scary stories! The current cover and title make the book look like it's intended for younger audiences than I believe are the real target audience. I do think the publisher should have played up the scary with the cover and made it spookier or at least put the Sandman on the clock as it is described in great detail many times in the book.

I received an electronic ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley
Andrea wants to escape from the sadness and tragedy in her life. Her parents separated over three years ago and younger brother has been missing for almost as long. She escapes with a walk in the woods and stumbles on a poster for a Circus in the field nearby. What she discovers is Reverie - a place where dreams happen and she can escape reality. The cost - one dream or memory. This world is a fantasy a first but reality slips in around the edges. In the end, Andrea, her brother, and her new friend, Penny figure out what went wrong in Reverie and rescue the Sandman from his deep sleep. She even has compassion for the "villain" who trapped all the children there for so long.
Savaryn spins a fanciful tale with enough dark points and creepiness to hold readers of all sorts. Think of this as Morgenstern's The Night Circus for middle grade readers. It's a sweeter read that shares the tougher side of life transitions and grief moments. Savaryn creates a place of safety for Andrea to process and resolve her deepest emotions. However, even safe escapes can't last forever. All of the children have to return to their real lives with the understanding that life is neither all good nor all awful; both are necessary for to fully live.

The Circus of Broken Dreams is a story that kids will like! They will enjoy imagining the possibilities of magic and dreams and nightmares. It has just the right amount of creepiness and scariness- not to make them close the book, but rather to inspire bravery and the will the fight to be home, to be alive, and to experience life to the fullest. An interesting read that will draw in a lot of readers!

While I loved the premise of this book, it felt very narrative heavy and dense from the reader's perspective.

The Circus of Stolen Dreams is one of those stories that will stay with you long after you have finished reading. Following the main character, Andrea, she finds a magical circus that promises fun and an end to the heartbreak she has been feeling since her brother disappeared. But all is not as it seems and as Andrea explores Reverie, she begins to notice that something isn't quite right.

This book tackles the themes of loss and the impact of divorce on children in a considerate way for any children who identify with these themes to find some comfort within the pages. The writing is beautiful and evocative with rich descriptions and more complex language and structure for older MG readers to enjoy, as well as challenging children.

It's a real page turner, with the pacing carefully controlled to reflect the narrative, as Andrea discovers new things about herself and the world around her. A perfect read for children and adults alike, this book will make you smile and make you cry, and ultimately, it will stay with you long after you read 'the end'.

The world of Reverie is absolutely stunning, as is Lorelei Savaryn’s writing. This book is an amazing mixture of whimsy, spookiness, imagination, and heart. I fell in love with her main character, Andrea, from the first chapter. There are so many beautiful layers to this book, my heart was tugged in so many directions.

I loved The Circus of Stolen Dreams from beginning to end—I couldn’t put it down, I finished it in about a day. This magical world is absolutely amazing and a marvelous story of belonging and family. It’s filled with sadness and loss, but also hope and healing, a perfect book for upper middle grade readers. I can’t wait to see what Lorelei Savaryn writes next. This book was absolutely amazing! It has quickly become one of my favorite middle grade books of all time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be posted immediately on GoodReads and a shortened review can be found on my Instagram on June 26, 2020.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

Five stars--a really good story!

At first this book seemed a lot like The Night Circus, which is one of my favorite books. Further on, I got kind of an It feeling in regards to the Sandman. He can make your best or your worst dreams come to life, but it's not really real unless you let yourself get immersed and forget who you are. Then you're stuck.

The story is fast-paced and throughout I had a lot of questions, which certainly kept me reading and wanting to learn more. Everything comes together nicely in the end, though, and you even have to sit and think a bit about how it all works. But it does!

It has just the right amount of excitement and creepy for a later elementary/middle grade book. I'll be recommending it to the all school libraries.

This drips with delicious circus treats, whimsical dreams, and sinister nightmares. I drank in everything about this story fueling my childhood dreams and nostalgia as I typically read adult contemporaries, thrillers, and mysteries. The magical atmosphere and its allurement will attract you as Reverie attracted Andrea in escaping her sadness. I loved the fun dreamful concept and truly enjoyed Andrea as a motivated character, grieving for her lost brother while trying to figure out what happened to him. Her persistence and curiosity in the adventure made me turn the pages and finish the book right away. There’s twists, turns, secrets, and traps throughout. It also made me question what dream, memory, or nightmare might I give up to enter the circus of Reverie.

The publishers kindly shared an e-arc of The Circus of Stolen Dreams with me, and I am grateful they did. A beautiful tale of family, belonging, and one girl's unrelenting search for a missing piece of her broken heart after her younger brother Francis goes missing. It's been 3 years since Francis disappeared. Her parents, both embittered by their divorce, expect Andrea to move on, to adjust to this new broken triangle of a family. But Andrea refuses to give up, to accept this new shattered reality. Then one day while riding her bike in the woods Andrea stumbles upon a hidden circus, a place of dreams and wonders. The perfect place to escape into. But Andrea soon discovers not all dreams offer a comforting escape, nightmares aplenty await her under the big top.
This marvelous story for upper MG readers is a ride through wonder, sadness, and loss. But it's also about learning to find the wonder in that sadness and loss, to fight for those you love, and to recognize when the dreams you hold so dearly are actually holding you back. I'm looking forward to this book being out in the world, and for upper mg readers to delve in and take this exciting ride

Nothing has been right since Andrea's brother Francis disappeared three years ago, although to be honest, it wasn't right then, either. When a mysterious circus arrives, promising a respite from her grief for the price of a lost memory, Andrea believes she's found the solution, but memory is a ghost that never really leaves us alone.

If I'd loved Erin Morgenstern's Night Circus less, I might have liked this book more. Lorelei Savaryn's world is well-conceived and compelling, but the characters feel two-dimensional and the stakes low. It tells rather than shows what Andrea learns, and the character's inner dialog doesn't sound authentic. Too much is solved too quickly and the end is never really in doubt.

The writing mechanics were distracting as well, as there were many sentence fragments that made the narrative choppy at times. While there was some lovely imagery and an intriguing premise, it wasn't strong enough to acquire for my students.