GoodRead - Pantomime

I have ACTUALLY no idea how to review this for you guys. Absolutely none! Will explain why in a tick, but let me tell you how I got my copy. I got it from Vivenne from Serendipity Reviews who was my UKYABB Secret Santa. She gave me this (and a hardback of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross) and I actually got excited. I have been drooling over this book since I first heard of it. It just sounded right up my street! Fantasy? In a circus? PERFECT!

So, Pantomime. In Ellada, R.H. Ragona's Circus of Magic is the circus. Nestled within the blue Penglass - remnants of a civilisation that has long since vanished - the circus is the place where anything is possible. And the perfect place to hide...

Gene is uncomfortable with her life in corsets and dances. She would rather prefer climbing a tree. Micah Grey is a runaway. He joins the circus to escape the dangers of the street. Both have secrets. Both have a balancing act to perform, and one wrong move could spell the end...

Now, I see you guys reading that and go "and your problem in reviewing this book is...?". Well, Pantomine is a book of secrets. There are so many secrets in here - and there's one that I'm pretty certain will shock/surprise/have you rereading the previous paragraphs going "What? What?! Where did THAT come from?!". And because of this, writing this review with spoilers is going to be a nightmare! I always let something slip when I write reviews so this is gonna be interesting challenge for me.

Anyway, the book. I loved it! I loved how Laura wrote the life of the circus and all the characters within the Big Top. How she made each character have layers that, when you first meet them, you didn't think they had. Laura write circus life as hard word (like any other job) but she adds depth to this gaslight fantasy/steampunk world that she's writing (and the fact there is a sequel makes me very happy!).

Though this is very fantasy, you read about relationships and sexuality, and Laura writes these moments well. There were times I wondered (and still do) if I thought I saw moments of a bisexual love triangle (something which I haven't read in YA ever!) and that's what makes this book so brilliant.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read. It is so different and so unique, I don't think I can do it justice in a review without spoilers. So, am going to stop this review now and just say the following: I want the sequel. I want the sequel now!