The First Bright Thing was such a unique, beautiful read! Ringmaster—Rin—can jump through time and with her wife Odette and her friends, she is determined to make the world a more beautiful place with her Circus of the Fantasticals. But there are threats coming from the future and the past that could change the world forever. There is a lot happening in this atmospheric, emotional read and it is powerful and hopeful, and haunting and magical . It was different—whimsical, throwing you right into the circus, and dark, as you travel through the threats of war and the threats of the Circus King who has been hunting Rin. The writing is lyrical and the found family elements were stunning. I loved these characters as they push and love each other and search how to build a better world. The magic too was fascinating and engaging. The two timelines worked so well together. It handled grief, gaslighting, and depression, while also shining a light on finding a family to call your own and the power that can bring. It’s striking and original and imaginative and I couldn’t put it down,

The First Bright Thing is a unique story and I was impressed by the premise as well as the imagination behind it. I particularly enjoyed how different this book felt from others I have read and the representation of the characters.

Readers who enjoy historical fiction, magical realism, and found family will definitely want to pick this book up.

This book has an audience, I'm just not sure if that audience includes me. For me personally, it began to feel repetitive, and the progress/pacing and some of the plot points lacked cohesiveness. The 1916/1917 chapters were phenomenal and I wish that strength of writing carried through the whole book.

The narrators of the audiobook did a fantastic job bringing Rin, the protagonist, and Edward, the antagonist to life.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced download of this audiobook.

Okay I feel like I got bait and switched... The blurb talks about a magical circus, and an epic battle between good and evil. I wanted to read about a magical circus and epic battle between good and evil. I didn't want to read about trying to prevent World War II and the end of the world... I tend to avoid war books like the plague, and had no idea that was going to be the central focus of so much of this.

I also struggled with the writing. I must confess, I found it somewhat stilted and forced and I definitely did not engage with the language or the characters anywhere near as much as I expected to or hoped to. I like the way it started, but it felt like it never picked up in action or pacing, and for a story about an epic battle between good and evil and a magic circus - even if that wasn't the primary focus - I expected both of those things to increase in intensity as the story developed, but for me they never did.

The dual narration and timelines didn't help... I am not often a fan of multiple narrators in an audiobook. Although I've seen a couple of instances in which it's done really well and accentuated the storytelling, I often find it distracting for some reason.

All in all this just wasn't a good fit for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I did see the reveal coming, but maybe that was intentional. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be a reveal or if we were meant to have known all along. Either way, I definitely knew that was coming.

I loved the characters, and I really loved the found family aspect of the story. I also appreciated the question of choices vs nature making us evil. There were a lot of important messages being shared here, and I liked that. The gaslighting was so well done and so disturbing and infuriating that I felt rage rising as I read it.

What didn't really work for me was the idea that these women were just traveling to the past and changing things with absolutely NO fall out or repercussions to the timeline. I know it's briefly discussed, but I didn't love that. I also felt like it was slow at times, but overall, I enjoyed it. It was a solid 4 star for me!

While the story ended up not being for me, I think the narrators Petrea Burchard and Tim Campbell did a fantastic job with the source material. Both made the story incredibly more compelling for me and I’m grateful I had the foresight to request the audiobook to read along with my kindle copy. They did an excellent job with inflections and distinguishing the voices for different characters and had the appropriate amount of emotions at all points of the story. I think if you have your eyes on this one, audio is absolutely the way to go.

The story unfortunately just fell flat for me. I’ve enjoyed every single circus book I’ve read set during this time so I went in with big expectations. When I saw an other reviewer describe this book as X-Men meets The Night Circus, I thought I was for sure guaranteed a fun read. By no means is this a bad book, I just never felt invested in the story or the characters and I was honestly really relieved once I finally finished it. My opinion is definitely in the minority though and I think this book will have its own audience that loves it! My favorite part was the found family aspect and the sapphic romance.

5 star narration but unfortunately a 2.5 star read. My rating here will reflect my thoughts for the audiobook itself.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This is probably one of the most interesting premises I've read lately.

Something happened during the first world war that gave a small number of people special magical powers - called sparks. As with anyone who's different, most people are a little afraid of and a lot unwelcoming to those possessing sparks. The Ring Master and her circus of sparks travel around the country using their powers in small, but life changing ways to show people the good in the world, to keep them going in a positive trajectory.

One of those with sparks can travel through time and in jumping around discovers another world war will happen in just a few years. They try a variety of small changes to prevent the war from happening, but nothing seems to work.

During this process the Ring Master and her circus are being chase by the Circus King. He also has a circus of sparks, but it's a much darker spectacle and the Ring Master is his target.

The historical pieces, the magic, the relationships and fantastical nature of this book make it a great read.

Oh my goodness, this book was so good. Imagine Night Circus with a hint of Addie LaRue that takes place after WWI but before WWII. On top of that … the circus performers have magical powers. For example — traveling in space and time, illusions, impenetrable skin, healing, and more. It has found family, as well as Jewish and LGBTQIA+ rep.

This is a dual POV book … one is the main character named Rin and one is the villain named Edward. The characters with powers are called Sparks. Most of the main characters are Sparks and are part of the Circus of the Fantasticals. Rin is the ringmaster and her wife Odette is the trapeze artist. They are joined by their best friend Mauve, Bernard, Jo and her brother, and more. Each of these characters adds to the story in a positive way. (That surprised me. A lot of times I find side characters don’t really add much to the plot).

Rin’s circus is special and not just because the performers are Sparks. Their goal is to cause ripples of good and help people—not just people who are rich and famous. The circus knows where to show up so the person or people in an area who need them most can go see the show. Maybe one visit to an area is to help one, and only one,“regular person”. Sometimes they can help more people. Either way, they help! Be still my heart. We need books that teach acts of kindness.

Now, this isn’t the only circus. There is another from whom our heroes are running/hiding. It isn’t a good place, and in the beginning, we don’t quite know why.

Now, what about our other POV. Edward has the power of persuasion. He talks a woman into marrying him, and she experiences trauma after trauma while in his life. We learn what he does, how he does it, and what his life is like. And what does he have to do with Rin, Odette, Mauve, and Jo?

The stories interweave seamlessly towards the end. Now, did I see the ending coming from a mile away? Yes. Does it mean I was disappointed? Absolutely not. If anything in this review seems interesting to you … run as fast as you can to read this five star book.

TW: gaslighting

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an arc of this audiobook. I apologize if misspelled any names or locations, I read this via the audio narration. Thanks to Petrea Burchard and Tim Campbell for the wonderful narration.