Thank you NetGalley for the ALC of this novel.

1.5 stars, rounded up.

I truly, truly hate leaving bad reviews. Just wanted to put that out there before I start.

First and foremost, the narrator here is incredible. I listen to audiobooks daily and this is the best narrator I’ve listened to in at least the past month. Accents are very well done and different characters have clear and distinct voice.

This novel has so much potential. The circus aspect works well here, the magic system is interesting, and I was actually getting in to the story towards the end.

Unfortunately, I can’t get past the main character’s inability to have an interaction with a female of any age or relation to him without objectifying them. There was a period of the story where it felt like that was the entire plot. It’s excessive to say the least.

To go along with that point, the main characters virginity is brought up frequently for seemingly no purpose. He’s a 17 year old boy so to some extent it’s a believable hyperfixation, but this was also excessive to the point that’s it’s noteworthy.

I understand that this is a duology but I would have appreciated more of the plot to unfold in book one. I feel like things only started taking off in the last 30% of the novel. Again, I really enjoyed the plot once it started taking off.

Overall, I would read book two just because I am interested in the plot. I would not feel comfortable recommending this, however, due to the excessive objectification of women.

I really enjoyed the audio rendition of Vandemere and especially loved the male narrator's voice acting abilities as he brought life to the protagonist. I can't wait to hear (or read) the next book in this series and I know I won't be let down!

I requested this book because of the synopsis. First point, I feel like there should have been some type of warnings because of the predatory nature of part of the book, and other things. I feel like this actually took away a bit from the novel. I listened to the audio book version of this novel, and the narrator did a great job making it come to life. The book was a circus theme with a dash of magic thrown in. Vandy was an interesting character that started as a trick rider in the circus, only later to be given some magical abilities. That also unfortunately marked Vandy for death. I loved the way the scenes were described. I enjoyed most of the characters, and their development. I am looking forward to more from this author because this book did not give me the closure as an independent novel would.

Thank you Net Galley ARC

3 stars (would’ve been 4 had I have read this rather than listening to the audiobook as I felt the narration was a bit slow…and dragging…and I had to speed it up) However, that being said, this is a spellbinding mix of drama and personal discovery, wrapped in a circus-themed world full of intrigue and magic. The vivid imagery and enchanting twists keep you hooked, though some moments had me a bit lost. Still, the unique setting and captivating characters make it a delightful book, perfect for anyone who loves a touch of whimsy with their drama.
Can’t wait to read the second book in this duology to round out the series.

I was drawn to this story by the cover and the premise of a lightly magical, circus-themed story. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and felt the narrator did well to represent the story and the rather unlikeable protagonist.
The story follows Vandemere “Vandy” an angry, self-assured teen who performs as a trick rider in a travelling circus in 1930’s America. His father (famous horse trainer) taught him all his performance skills, and later abandoned him. Meanwhile Vandy has received some magical ‘gifts’ from his (famous tarot reading) Romanian mother’s lineage. As readers, we follow Vandy as his inherited magie becomes stronger and seems to have him marked for death.

With thanks to the publisher for the listening review copy, via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the descriptive world building, including the interesting backstories. This book seems to be building towards the second installment (as it is a duology), although I would have appreciated more closure in this story.

Unfortunately, there were too many predatory elements in this book, that I felt took away from the storyline and vivid descriptions. There are many trigger warnings for this story and I would not recommend this book for all readers who enjoy magical realism, or coming-of-age stories.

This was a different view of the psychic from the circus but I loved the pov and the character development. It is a good YA book for coming of age but also overcoming. I didn’t relate to the character but it was a good easy read.

Thank you NetGalley and Kimberly D Tait for this ARC Audio Copy!

I saw the cover of this book and just knew that I had to read it and the cover is so well fitting for this story. The MMC is a 17 yr old boy who was born and raised in the circus and trained by his brutal father to be a trick rider. His mother is an Romanian immigrant and has some magical abilities that she passes on to her son and mysterious things start happening when he is forced to use his magic.

I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next one. The narrator did a great job with all of the characters and really helped you feel immersed in the world and in Vandy's head.

Though this is a YA book it does not really read as YA, there are heavy topics and situations, and though the character is young, it is really well done story that is great for adults as well.

A very unique setting and atmosphere.
The characters were very well written.
I loved the circus..
The narration was wonderful.

I enjoyed this book. The circus setting gave caraval vibes (one of my favorite books). I do think the book was a little long with some information that felt a little unnecessary to me. Overall, a very interesting read.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of Vandemere as an audiobook.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and found it really interesting. The story is really unique, and I loved the following of the circus and the imagery of circus life, especially the paranormal aspect which fit really nicely. However I think that some themes are definitely on the older end of YA so may not be as suitable for younger readers. I also found the main character Vandy to be a little bit annoying in places and quite consistently making poor decisions which felt a little bit too convenient for the plot. Some of his opinions of the women in his life are also very misogynistic which makes him less likeable, especially as a main character.

Thank you to @netgalley and the author for providing this free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
 
This historical fantasy book is a genre-bending story that includes elements of family drama, magical realism, and eventually murder mystery. Set in a circus in the 1930s, the story follows 17-year-old Vandy, a trick rider in the circus who’s inherited a cursed magical ability to see into the minds of men and beasts. Over the course of the story, Vandy must come to terms with using his magic as it becomes necessary against an invisible enemy that wants him dead.
 
The world-building is very unique and interesting. All of the main characters are well developed with compelling backstories, and each plays a key role in the story. Even Vandy’s relationship with his horses is well detailed and adds an additional heartwarming element to the story. The book ends on an exciting cliffhanger with just enough unresolved conflict to make readers want to know what becomes of Vandy in the follow-up book, Fire Horse!
 
Narrator Kyle Shive does a wonderful job bringing the circus and characters so vividly to life. He infuses a lot of emotion into the dialogue and provides distinct and authentic character voices, making for an enjoyable listening experience that’s very easy to follow!
 
Please be advised that there are some possible triggers (mostly minimally depicted), including sex, violence, and profane language.

I listened to the audiobook version of Vandemere to listen to. Kyle Shive is the narrator and he does a fabulous job narrating. It just felt a bit disconnected to me as the character he is portraying is Vandy who is 17 and the narrator sounds like he’s in his 30’s. That aside, he has a lovely voice for books.

The story and writing itself was great. It follows Vandy/Vandemere who is a trick rider for a circus that travels all over and is set in the 1930’s. Love the historical aspects and the magical system. There’s a lot of suspense, some violence, language, sexual situations and mention of sexual assault. Not sure I’d classify this as YA but borderline YA/NA maybe?

It gets a bit clunky in spots, jumps around too much in parts but overall, it definitely draws the reader into the mystery and storyline. It ends on a cliffhanger and will need to wait for book 2 to release.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of the audio for Vandemere

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an audio ARC. I enjoyed their use of narrator, Kyle Shive did a great job at bringing the story to life.

I’m not sure that I’d put this into the YA section, but I did love the setting of a circus.
Double check your trigger warnings before reading, but the plot is good. I tend to read a lot of books with female main characters so this was a little bit of a different vibe for me.

The book does end on a cliff hanger but I think the first story was more setting you up for more to happen in the 2nd book. I hope that comes to NetGalley too!

I am sad to be having to write a negative review for an indie fantasy book, but there were just two too many elements of this that didn’t work for me.

This book is set in the 1930s at a circus. It has light fantasy elements and the plot revolves around the people working at this circus, and eventually spirals into a mystery.

We follow Vandamere, Vandy, a 17 year old trick rider, as our main character. I did not enjoy reading from his POV mainly because of the way he objectifies women. There is a lady, Sylvia, who also works at the circus who is constantly being ogled and lusted over by Vandy, and every other women he interacts with is compared to Sylvia in their physicals aspects. Eg: “She wasn’t as slim as Sylvia.” I found this to be really aggravating and sadly it persisted throughout the book.
Ellen was a character I truly didn’t know what to make of, and the intent of her character was very unclear to me. Furthermore, there is a character who is a dwarf named “Shorty” and even if you wanted to link this to how little people were treated in that time period, it still felt insensitive to me. Especially since I feel like the book lacked any criticism of the mistreatment prominent in Circuses at that time.

Throughout this book there were some questionable things regarding consent and certain relationships that were alluded to, that I found uncomfortable.

While I understand that this book is part of a duology, I would have liked to have gotten more closure from it, otherwise it might have been better combined into one book, not two. The way it reads now doesn’t quite feel like a satisfying story on its own.

I would like to end on a positive, by saying that I did enjoy the backstory, and thought this was well developed. Some of these scenes I found genuinely stirring and emotional. Also, the writing style is very readable, I listened to this whole audiobook in one evening.

I mean no disrespect to any of the people involved in the making of this book. These are simply things that made this a challenging reading experience for me.

A strong beginning to a series! The book ends on quite the cliff hanger so I will be reading book 2 whenever I can get my hands on an audio version!

this is a book with a few triggers (r@pe is the major one) so be weary of that. The plot is good! I do think it started off really strong, I was intrigued by the magic in here but I do think I would have gotten a little lost in the plot if I had read this physically so listening to audiobook was the right call for me. The narrator was great, he did a good job bringing the book to life. The plot did start to fizzle out a bit by the end but I think it's because the author was trying to set it up as a duology.

I'm still not sure if I would put this in the YA section, it does have some scenes in it that makes me think it may be better suited for older YA like 16 and up.

Overall a really good book if you enjoy circus themed books with a magical twist.

I have a huge soft spot for young, angry, underdog protagonists, so this one was right up my alley. The premise was unique, the setting was fun, and it was overall a blast to read and I downloaded the second book in this duology before finishing the first. It’s available on Kindle Unlimited for those interested. I do think there could have been a little more development of the love interest. I found myself not especially invested in their relationship.

Vandermere is such a great read, brilliantly narrated. I especially enjoyed the supernatural edge to the story and the fact that it is set in a circus. The narrator did a fantastic job capturing Vandy’s spirit. It has dark themes and language but, overall this is a solid five stars. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an audio ARC.

Vandemere by Kimberley D Tait (book 1 in the Circ de Tarot duology). I enjoyed the narrator, Kyle Shive, but I did speed the audio slightly as he enunciates each and every word which was just a little too slow for me.

The book is set in America during the 1930’s and follows a travelling circus. The main character is 17-year-old trick rider Vandemere (Vandy) Petruska. His father, Del Davidson, is a famous horse trainer and from a young age Vandy was taught to perform. He also received certain magical gifts from his mother, Beth Petruska, who is a famous tarot reader. Del has left the family and Vandy feels responsible.

When his Romanian ancestors immigrated to America generations previously with a special trick horse (named Vandemere, who Vandy is named after), they also brought something evil with them. Now this evil is attacking him. Vandy has always tried to suppress the magic powers that he has as he feels that it is a dark and scary presence, but lately he has been having blackouts and he has started seeing visions.

His mother tells him she cant protect him anymore and he needs to go live with his father, but the circus is the only life he knows.

This book was okay but I think it was more about laying the foundation for what will still happen in book 2, Fire Horse. I look forward to seeing what will happen to Vandy and his horse.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audio of this book.

I share my review on Goodreads and my bookstagram account but I am never able to copy the link here.

If you are in the mood for a gritty, dustbowl-era, read about a travelling circus with some real magic users, this may be for you.

Vandemere, aka Vandy, is teenager who has lived an incredibly rough life on the road with the traveling circus with his mom and, for a while, with his dad, before his dad left. There is a lot of guilt and blame between mother and son and that was probably one of my biggest hiccups with this book because Vandy's character is frequently not very likeable due to his words and actions towards others and his mom is also not incredibly sympathetic nor a very good mother.

This is the first in a duology and I am incredibly interested in exploring the second in this series to see where we go with the magic he has inherited from his Romanian ancestors as well as a dark force which is haunting his every step. I do hope book two starts to give me a bit of hope for Vandy and his future. Though the story and premise was incredibly intriguing, I was a bit sad by the lack of hope for a positive outcome. I'm crossing fingers we will see some big turn in this young guy's journey towards growing up and accepting the powers he's gained.

Vandermere
Or Vandy as he is often called, is a trick rider for a traveling circus. He is kind of a lonely, angry teenager struggling with two sides of himself. The Del Davidson side, following in his father’s footsteps, he is the most fearless and amazing trick rider there is. We get glimpses of how this side was formed via memories of Vandy’s early years. Vandy is shaped by his interactions with Del who taught him to be high-achieving and tough.

“You’re going to get hurt Vandy. I wish I can protect you from all the sharp edges of the world but I can’t. You’re going to fall off that horse and then you’re going to get banged around. With any luck, you’ll come out a lot stronger than you were when you went in. Life is a battleground. The sooner you learn to fight your way out of it. The sooner you learn there is nothing to be afraid of. You are going to end up hating me for making you do this but I promise I’ll always be around to dust you off.” (Transcribed from audiobook, please excuse typos.)

Bonnie Petruska, his mother, had differing opinions on how Vandy should be raised. The fights and Del’s ensuing departure, left Vandy feeling like he is to be blamed, he is unworthy and he is unwanted. Bonnie is not quite herself anymore, now a drunk and hooking up with a carnie that despises Vandy.

The Petruska’s magie or psychic abilities that Vandy was avoiding, is getting strong now that he is older. It’s gotten him tangled up in a missing girl’s murder investigation. Does he embrace this side of himself and learn to wield it or will he be destroyed by it?

Vandemere’s character development is written well and the various character’s backstories are interesting. Kimberley D. Tait provides a good visual for a typical traveling circus, down to the various circus animals.

This story is young adult but there are mentions of r@pe, descriptions of intimate touches and discussions of death.

This book ends on a cliffhanger. Vandemere must venture on to find the truth about the Magie in Fire Horse (Circ de Tarot #2). I look forward to listening to the conclusion of Vandemere’s story.

Kyle Shive does a great job narrating the audiobook. His voice is soothing. He enunciated each word and used different voices for the different characters. I will definitely keep an eye out for other titles he narrates.

Lastly, a big thank you to Kimberley D. Tait and Netgalley for providing the ALC of this book.

TROPES/ THEMES: magic, psychic abilities, coming of age