I expected to like this one more than I did. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of the Night Circus or The Illusionists. I just found it quite depressing and didn't really engage with the characters. I think that there were just too many and things got a bit chaotic. It was definitely well written and I think a lot of other people will enjoy it. It's entirely possible that it caught me in the wrong mood. It just wasn't the whirling swirling circus novel that I was hoping for.

A Novel about the wild and crazy people behind the scenes at an amusement park. Characters well written, and a fast paced read.

Well this was an eccentric read that I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. After the disappearance of her mother, Kitty is left to fend for herself in a strange country. I enjoyed reading about Coney Island.

Kitty and her mom arrive to Coney Island from South Africa in 1904. Kitty's mother becomes ill, and the doctor sends Kitty to Manhattan for medicine. When she returns, her mother is gone, and no one remembers seeing her. Kitty is all alone, and she meets Magruder's Unusuals, who make up the Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. They help Kitty discover what happens to her mom.

It wasn't a bad read. I didn't feel invested in the story. The author did use descriptive detail to bring Coney Island to life! There were a lot of characters, which made it difficult to keep track, at times.

This book is set in early 20th century Coney Island, where a recent arrival from England encounters a motley crew of characters, many of which are what the average Coney Island tourist calls "freaks" but which they call "unusuals." There's a lot going on in this book - maybe a little too much, and I definitely could have done without the whole bubonic plague aspect which took up too much of the plot - not to mention made the book even more depressing. I did enjoy the characters and the setting though.

It's 1904 and 17-year old Kitty suddenly finds herself an orphan while visiting Coney Island. Its a clever concept in which Kitty teams up with the Unusuals after being offered a meal by a strange old man. She discovers a strange freak show behind the unassuming doors of Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. I found the quirky characters interesting and how like in so many other novels about freak shows, kindness is found among the members of the show.

BOOK REVIEW⠀
BOOK: Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet
AUTHOR: H.P. Wood
@h.p.wood

I actually read this book a few years ago, but for some reason the review never posted. So I am redoing it now.

This book was super creative. There are elements of the absurd, fantasy, and mystery all in one! As it says, this NOT a children’s or young adult book as there are some themes that are too scary or adult for kids. But it is a fascinating look into the turn of the century Coney Island culture. I definitely recommend this if you like fantasy reads!

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):
May 1904. Coney Island’s newest amusement park, Dreamland, has just opened. Its many spectacles are expected to attract crowds by the thousands, paying back investors many times over.

Kitty Hayward and her mother arrive by steamer from South Africa. When Kitty’s mother takes ill, the hotel doctor sends Kitty to Manhattan to fetch some special medicine. But when she returns, Kitty’s mother has vanished. The desk clerk tells Kitty she is at the wrong hotel. The doctor says he’s never seen her although, she notices, he is unable to look her in the eye.

Alone in a strange country, Kitty meets the denizens of Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet. A relic of a darker, dirtier era, Magruder's is home to a forlorn flea circus, a handful of disgruntled Unusuals, and a mad Uzbek scientist. Magruder’s Unusuals take Kitty under their wing and resolve to find out what happened to her mother.

But as a plague spreads, Coney Island is placed under quarantine. The gang at Magruder’s finds that a missing mother is the least of their problems, as the once-glamorous resort town is abandoned to the freaks, anarchists, and madmen.
⠀
I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀

Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet is an engaging novel set in the early 1900’s on Coney Island, New York.

It’s 1904, and seventeen year old Kitty Hayward finds herself stranded in Coney Island when her ailing mother, and all their belongings, inexplicably disappears from the hotel room they were sharing. Friendless, homeless, and penniless, she must rely on the kindness of a stranger who introduces her to the extraordinary employees and hanger-ons of Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet.

“Theophilus P. Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet is just an ugly old building with blacked-out windows and a faded sign. Thousands of souls may visit Coney Island, but few of those souls are hearty enough to peer inside Magruder’s heavy oak door.”

The characters of Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet are extraordinarily rendered, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Magruder’s is a rundown dime museum crowded with oddities, staffed solely by Zeph, a legless black man. Upstairs lives Timur, a reclusive inventor, and Rosalind, who has a carny act as a half woman half man in a tent on the boardwalk. In the basement of the building is an unlicensed pub which welcomes the unusual employees of the Coney Island attractions after hours. It is with this eccentric family, which also includes Rosalind’s lover Enzo, and a mute orphan boy the call P-Ray, that Kitty unexpectedly finds refuge, and help.

“That’s what we call you…normal people. You call us Unusuals, freaks, monsters… Did you never think we’d have our own name for you? Dozens. As in, dime a.”

Wood takes a little liberty with some of the historical elements in this novel, but the story is richer for it. Coney Island becomes the epicentre of an outbreak of plague (inspired by a similar event which actually occurred on the country’s west coast) threatening both ‘freaks’ and ‘dozens’ alike. It is this tragedy that drives much of action, as the wealthy owners Coney Island’s businesses attempt to hide the virulent disease they call the ‘Calcutta Cough’ in order to protect their profits, and their employees are left to fend for themselves as the dead pile up around them.

“We must keep those hotels filled, miss! Keep those dancehalls crowded, keep that Shoot the Chute flying down the track. And if you develop a slight cough, if your complexion goes a bit lumpy? The men in masks will scoop you up and take you away...”

Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet is a thoughtful exploration of oppression, corruption, belonging, and compassion. Often delightful and charming yet also dark and challenging, its also a story of perseverance and redemption in the face of tragedy.

With lively characters, a colourful setting and a rich and interesting plot I found Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet to be an entertaining and enchanting read.

Nice historical fiction with an interesting twist.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the overall plot was interesting.

BUT i really did not enjoy the main character. i was unsure for a good while throughout this book if the author meant for the reader to be disconnected from the main character or any characters in general in this book. But i actually don't think the author meant for the reader to not be able to connect or understand the characters... maybe that was just a problem i personally experienced. who knows.

Overall nice story, interesting setting, good historical fiction.

Requested, but I was not able to review this in a timely manner. I do not foresee having time to review it in the future. My apologies.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Reviewed 7/8/16

The synopsis reads like something I'd enjoy, but after several failed attempts, I'm giving up on this one.

Incredible read, highly entertaining. Well developed characters

I had an issue connecting to this book and was unable to finish it. I won't leave a review anywhere, thank you for the opportunity to read it though

This is an interesting story. It took me a while to get through it but I enjoyed it.

What a fabulous (in every way) cast of unique Unusuals! H. P. Wood’s characters are beautifully drawn, and compellingly lovable. This strangely twisted plot kept me up reading from cover to cover. I highly recommend this one.

Wow. What an incredible read! Liked the cast of characters and they very well developed. The writing pulls you into this dark, somewhat dreary world where the story unfolds. Everything about this book is entertaining, Could not put this book down. Hooked from the start! Would recommend!

Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet
H.P. Wood

Wow. I never thought I would say this, but I am pretty sure this is another great book about the plague. Do you think it’s on purpose that my other favorite book on the topic, while wholly different and based on actual events, is called Year of Wonders? Both titles, weirdly, sound much more inviting than their actual topic.

I read a note from the author, and I have to agree that the cover and maybe even the title on this one do seem a little more middle grade than modern adult. I tend to read both genres, so when I picked this one up a while after I requested it, I honestly was not sure. The cover seems so perky for a book about class warfare played out through a plague quarantine. So, no, as my kids used to say, this would not be appropriate for them. Unless of course you don’t mind them reading about the death and mayhem of a plague epidemic running rampant through the carnival sideshow. Other than that, it’s just a tad risqué, but really, given the setting, how could it not be?

In any case, that’s just fine, because you will want to keep this gem all to yourself. There is an amazing cast of characters here, especially heavy on the character. Honestly, I loved them all. The setting itself looms large, offering an abundance of Coney Island trivia and a privileged glimpse of the old sideshow attractions. Wood has crafted a fine sense of community and morality in this strange and curious world. I loved this book.

For Goodreads:

Why I picked it — I love a good story about the sideshow. Oh and btw, a week after I read this I went to Coney Island… L&B Spumoni Gardens is my new favorite pizza place!!!
Reminded me of… Water for Elephants, and Chasing Secrets
For my full review — click here