My full review will appear in School Library Journal. I enjoyed the book alright, but it felt like a bit of a mess. The world was wonderful, but it didn't feel like I got enough information soon enough. There was also a little too much going on between the girls from the school and the late entry of the fire and disappearances. I wish the action had started sooner. However, the romance was very sweet and the use of fe/fer pronouns was absolutely inspired and well done.

A beautiful tale of sisters - red-haired Rose and white-haired Ivory -- born as twins by different fathers to their mother, the Bearded Lady of the Circus Rose. An interesting retelling weaving social justice themes (poly amorous relationships, non-binary non-humans, etc) that alternates POVs by prose (Ivory) and poetry (Rose). I found it interesting yet not exactly what I had hoped for from the description that I read via NetGalley and I prefer to read prose, not really understanding what the poetry POV added to the story.

This circus ride was a thrill!
This story is told from the perspective of two sisters who are twins but have different fathers. I have never seen this in a book before so right away it set this book apart from anything I have read before and really stuck out to me.
We have two sisters named Ivory and Rosie who work in a traveling circus with their mother, the bearded lady and ringmaster as well as a giant “family” full of of close friends and other performers.
There is fae, magic, good vs evil, romance, LGBTQ and adventure throughout this story. If you are a fan of fiction then I would recommend this.
I do know it is a retelling of something but it was a story I am not familiar with and I do not remember what it is exactly.
I loved the whole circus aspect and the behind the scenes element to this story.
This is definitely a fast paced story that you will find yourself saying “one more chapter” when you are trying to close it for the night.
I cannot wait to check out any future works from this author in the future and a sequel would be much appreciated!

This book is about twins, Rose and Ivory, who are only half sisters. They grow up at the circus their mother starts where Rose is a stage hand and Ivory is a performer. The story is told by alternating between Rose and Ivory's point of view. Rose's is written in verse while Ivory's is written in prose.
I love books written in verse, but this one just did not work. The verse just seemed like the author chopped up some prose haphazardly. There was very little flow and it seemed too choppy. There was almost no world building. Occasionally they would mention the world they live in, but it seemed almost cursory. I didn't connect with any of the characters and the plot seemed meandering at best.

A really beautiful story told both in prose and in verse. The atmosphere and worldbuilding were very immersive but I felt like there wasn't an actual plot and everything was resolved pretty quickly. I still grew attached to the sisters though.

Like other reviewers, I loved the atmosphere and descriptions in <i>The Circus Rose</i> but the plot is a little thin (and apparently based on Snow White, but I would say it's the influence is extremely, extremely thin). When the action does happen it's quickly resolved with no real build. The novel does have good LGBT representation, which I think is awesome for a YA book. I just wish the plot were more engaging.


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

The concept of this book - the circus setting, the world, the characters were all brilliant. Imaginative and dream like to read about. But I wanted more, more world building, more character development, more plot, more book!

The peak of the story began and was resolved very quickly.

The story is told from the perspective of 2 sisters. One of whom writes in pro's and one in poetry. I felt the poetry was pretty unnecessary and didn't really add anything to the plot.

*I received an advance copy of this ebook from Netgalley in return for my honest review*

I love Betsy Cornwall’s style – it’s lush without being overblown, poetic without being pretentious, and still manages to be both beautiful and accessible. I really liked this book. A queer retelling of a favourite fairytale with a circus as the backdrop was right up my street. The worldbuilding was excellent and the circus descriptions were lovely. I enjoyed both povs and found the characters engaging. However, this is not a book of twists and turns and grand reveals. It’s a slow build fantasy with much of the character journey taking place internally. When that’s done well – as Cornwall always does it – I’m a big fan. If you prefer more action and bigger fantasy pyrotechnics in your stories, then this might not be for you. I really enjoyed The Circus Rose and recommend it for fans of quiet fantasy that has a lot to say.

I found it really hard to connect with the characters in this story. The writing switches between Ivory and Rosie's point of views, but also switches between prose (Ivory) and verse (Rosie). This switch felt very jarring and disjointed, and I didn't love the stylistic choice myself. I'd have loved to get more into what was happening in the story, but the story moves very quickly without fully diving into powerful moments like it could have.

While The Circus Rose's intriguing synopsis promises circus magic, atmosphere, and found family, it fails to produce an interesting plot or provide characters the reader cares about. The plot lags; there is simultaneously too much going on and not enough fleshed out. We are rushed through some parts of the story that had potential to be interesting and further develop our characters, only to dally in parts where absolutely nothing happens. I felt like I was reading a first draft that needed several more rounds of edits to pare down extraneous information and plot points and fully flesh out the circus, relationships, and religious conflict. While this chalk full of diversity, that alone doesn't make a book good; characters of varying sexual and gender identities don't make up for a lackluster plot, atmosphere, or shoddy world building.