Had to DNF. Way too many cliches and troupes . I have like an entire bookshelf that's dedicated to my tbr and I want to spend what little time I have reading books I enjoy right off the bat.

Didn't realise that this was a sequel when I requested, so I feel like I missed out on something maybe. Didn't really enjoy it as much as I expected to, sadly - but that's on me, I think.

Girl in the Shadow was an interesting read. I was rooting for Moira to follow her dreams. I thought the book was well written and I’ve definitely enjoyed some of Gwenda’s other books. So if you’re a fan you might like this series too.

An enjoyable tale of magic and life in the circus. I read this book when it was first released but failed to write a review. My memories of the details are hazy, but I recall that I enjoyed the intrigue, and the relationships between the characters, and especially the backstage circus details. I will likely check out the author's other books in this series.

Thanks Gwenda Bond and Skyscape and Two Lions for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.

When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly coveted invitation to its intended recipient, Raleigh, her father’s handsome and worldly former apprentice, Moira takes off to join the Cirque. If she can perform alongside its world-famous acts, she knows she’ll be able to convince her dad that magic is her future.

But when Moira arrives, things take on an intensity she can’t control as her stage magic suddenly feels like…real magic. To further distract her, Raleigh shows up none too pleased at Moira’s presence, all while the Cirque’s cocky and intriguing knife thrower, Dez, seems to have it out for her. As tensions mount and Moira’s abilities come into question, she must decide what’s real and what’s an illusion. If she doesn’t sort it out in time, she may forever remain a girl in the shadows.

This is another case where I think reading the first book might be better? Still, it was an enjoyable read.

Interesting concept, but I didn’t feel that it was executed in a believable way. I didn’t feel connected to the characters from the beginning, and the tropes took over.. it felt like any other forgettable YA book instead of capturing me with magic and circus and love.

This book is everything and it made me happy. The world needs more Gwenda Bond - and more books like this

This was a really good read. This is a modern day Romeo and Juliet story. Unexpectedly touching and sad at parts.

not as good as the first book, but still an entertaining read.

i felt as if in this book there were some things left on the back burner -such as characterisation and actually building a good plot - that took a bit more focus in the first book but at the same time it is a second book so i am not sure how much of that is actually needed.
Which is about as confusing as i felt after finishing this book.

Overall i enjoyed it, it was nice but a bit flat in some aspects -especially the characters in my option.

Girl in the Shadows continues the story in Cirque American, with a new protagonist – the daughter of a famous magician, who herself wants to make her name – Moira Mitchell. From childhood, her father has dissuaded her from pursuing a career as a magician, but that only made her practice harder in secret and run away to join the Cirque, where on auditioning, the real magic within her awakens. Readers who remember the ending of Girl on a Wire, will connect this to the magic coin; that plot line finally gains more importance in this sequel as an object that is being pursued by people around. In this case, it is a secret society *cough*cult*cough* called Prestiagae, that wants it. While at the Cirque she falls in love with this charming smooth knife-thrower Dez, who hides a lot of things in his past.

This sequel definitely was better written than the former, with more attention given to characters and their emotions. Moira’s and Dita’s friendship, Moira and her father’s relationship – all these little details added immensely to the plot. But while it was better written with respect to characters, I could not say the same for the plot. In the first half it was good, when we did not know who the secret society was – there was a lingering tension in the air, the stakes were high. But after the reveal, I was disappointed. There was danger but it felt so thin, I could not bring myself to care enough. The ending was better, of course, but everything in the third quarter felt just rushed together. Overall, I would say this book is good sequel, but on its own, it stands weakly.

DNF at about 30% in. While I enjoyed the premise of this book, I feel like the book didn't enjoy it as much as I did because it kept getting distracted by other things. A stage magician discovering she has real magic as well? And discovering it in the middle of an audition? Cool! Oh...oh, that's...that's it, huh? She just carries on doing stage magic, only making sporadic and half-hearted attempts to figure out the real magic? Well that's....a choice, I guess.

So what do we have instead of Moira figuring out her real magic? Well, the book does a fair job at trying to describe her doing stage magic instead, but since that's such a thoroughly visual medium the descriptions feel overly long and tedious. There was some detail about the circus, but Moira was never very curious about the other circus folk so our time with that was similarly tedious, as it focused only on the mundane things happening within Moira's immediate vicinity.

Oh, and boys. Can't forget the boys. The very stock, stereotypical, "I'm going to annoy you and somehow this will count as charming even though I'm tramping all over your autonomy and clearly stated requests" boy. Complete with the "omg why am I still thinking about him when he's so rude and I'm so very very not attracted" reaction, which gets reversed rather quickly in favor of kissing.

There were some slight feints in the direction of the promised plot, but not enough to keep my interest around the burgeoning romance.

I received a free copy of this for review via NetGalley **

Didn't realize this was a sequel so I picked up the first book but couldn't get into it. Not my cup of tea

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.

I didn't realise this book was a sequel until I started reading it, but I was assured on Goodreads that I would be able to read it fine, and I could. However, I feel like reading the first book would have helped me to connect t the protagonist. I enjoyed the story, but I wish that more time was spent on the actual performances rather than the scheming to get Moira on stage.

I had not read many books about magicians but I expected this to be like the Night Circus so i was a bit disappointed by the lack of grandeur. Overall it was an ok plot.

This is an amazing book with great characters, I loved every second of it and can't wait to get a copy of my own.

I really enjoyed reading these books! They dealt with these institutions that are slowing dying, circuses, and those are are reinventing themselves, magicians. And I enjoyed reading about both, and how they sometimes come together!

I think I preferred the first book just a little bit more, because it was more of a mystery, if there was magic or not. The second book, that's all been dealt with, and while it might be new to the characters, it's not so to us readers.

The characters in these books were fantastic! Like how headstrong Jules was. And the feud between the Maronis and the Garcias. It just brought everything to life! Especially since they are doing such dangerous stunts! That just got my heart pounding and my palms sweaty!

In both of these books, the past is a big influence. Because it's why everything that is going on now is happening. And figuring out that past is a bit part of each of these books. And the events of the first have an effect on the second, given the coin and all!

Loved reading these books, and I'm open to more books in this series!

I give the book two stars. I had high expectations for the book. It suffers from all the same YA cliches. I would of like the characters to be "fleshed" out more because I feel that as reader was not connecting to the characters. The characters were flat and I feel like there were details that were needed in the book to make it more interesting. I am on the fence for recommending. It's not first book I would recommend.

Moira is ready to escape the shadow of her Vegas magician father and start her breathtaking escape arts on her own. The only problem is that her father is totally against her following in the family business. When an opportunity to join a famed travelling circus arises, Moira can’t resist, and when she auditions, things don’t go as planned.

Moira realizes she can do real magic. As she tries to perfect her escape act, Moira will have to learn to keep her new powers in check; and she will have to look out for the dangerous strangers who seem intent on using her for her magic.

Fun thrilling read.