A magical secret circus that you have to receive an invitation to even see let alone be admitted? A town where there is no crime until Lara Barnes’ fiancé Todd mysteriously vanishes on their wedding day, his car abandoned at the exact same spot & as another young man went missing 30 years, to the day, previously?
Is there a connection to the strange couple who visited Lara as a child & the secret circus that her great grandmother Cecile left when she had Lara’s grandmother Margot?
Lara’s mother gives her a painting of her great-grandmother in the circus which turns out to be a sought after masterpiece, part of a trio that have been rumoured to exist but never found, & this leads to a trip to Paris (the last known venue of the Secret Circus the details Lara learns about in a journal written by her great-grandmother Cecile).

I enjoyed the book (parts 2 & 3 much more than part 1) but wanted more about the secret circus & 1925 Paris. Some of the characters were just not developed enough & lots of ideas that just didn’t go anywhere.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

3.75/5

A magical circus of curiosities, family secrets, multiple timelines, and a dark, dark mystery will riddle readers till the end in this characteristic tale edging goth and horror elements.

Lara was such a great character! I loved how this circus isn't all fun and games, but very dark and gritty and to be honest. I was a little terrified! An enjoyable read, and the prose was definitely something that kept me turning the page!

Constance Sayers always seems to tune into the things I love best, namely music and magic. With this latest novel, she includes another of my favourite things - the circus. I love the way she describes her setting, even down to the luscious velvet upholstery and decor in the homes and businesses of Kerrigan Falls. On discovering that there is some crossover with Sayers' previous novel, "A Witch In Time", I was delighted and couldn't wait for my buddy-reading pals to catch up so we could discuss!

Sayers evokes bygone eras beautifully. She also makes accompanying Spotify playlists which are eclectic and excellent! On the strength of the author's note at the end, I have purchased two DVDs, one book and asked for another book as a Christmas gift. I love the concept (and execution) of "The Ladies of the Secret Circus" and Constance Sayers has catapulted high into my list of cherished authors, like Cecile corkscrewing on her trapeze!

A mysterious, magical circus? Paris in the Jazz Age? Family secrets? What’s not to love?

Well, a few things, actually. This was a real mixed bag of a book.

The highlights for me – which I imagine will be shared with many other people, as it was the reason I picked up the book in the first place – were the storylines about Le Cirque Secret, a mystical circus that only appears to those who truly wish for it. No record of this circus exists; even pictures or drawings vanish the next day. The story follows Cecile, one of the daughters of the ringmaster, and her doomed romance with a painter. I really enjoyed all of her chapters; the story and characters were compelling, and the setting very evocative.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to the actual circus until about a third of the way through, and the majority of the book follows Lara, a 21st-Century descendant of the theatre owners. There’s a strong, action-packed start – her fiancé goes missing on their wedding day – but after that we had a very long, drawn-out exposition where very little happened. It might have been better had some of the extraneous details turned out to be important at the end, but they didn’t. I’m not sure if we really needed that much world-building for a small-town in Virginia, when there’s a whole magical circus ready and waiting for us.

That being said, the way the two storylines came together at the end was really great; the last few chapters were easily the strongest of the modern storyline. There were a few writing moments that stood out as being a bit awkward, especially at the end, but it was a strong finish.

All in all, this was a very slow-paced book that, mostly, was not about the titular circus. But if you like your historical fantasy on the side of a small town mystery, this is one worth checking out.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

Unfortunately I found this pretty disappointing—I almost DNF it multiple times.

This book was 2 stars (2 1/2 max) until the last… hour?

I've always wanted to join the circus. That's not even a pipe dream, I was fairly close to applying and I have a lot of friends who have done stints. Love anything to do with it and so I was eager to devour this. The Devil’s Circus!? Sign me the fuck up.

And yet, for me, it didn’t deliver.

All of the worldbuilding and magic surrounding the circus specifically is absolutely fantastic. But, it felt like an afterthought. Which is such a shame. We don’t even get to the circus until 60% in! And so many earlier cool ideas and interesting scenes wasted in favour of… I don’t even know what. Music stations and excessive painting journal entries and romantic dates? All decidedly not magical. All eventually relevant but I don’t think we needed to spend so long going over them,

It’s mostly just filler—especially the beginning. Full of unnecessary details that don’t go anywhere and tangents that make it too slow for a mystery novel. I know it’s important, nice even, to have detail about the side characters so the context of their lives makes them feel more real but I didn’t really care. I just wanted the story to get on with the proper start of the plot. Which I would say happens around Chapter 13? And even then… it’s still too slow.

However, the actual concept and magic and circus (when we get to see it)? Adored these parts! I especially loved the show that we get to see, the dance of death in all its macabre glory. The creatures and daemons are a lot of fun and the worldbuilding here is great. Just need to cut like… 30%-40% of the rest.

Also it picks up massively near the end, enough that I wanted to give it an extra star, but it really was too little to late honestly. It’s such a shame because the foreshadowing and reveals are great! …If we weren’t already apathetic because of the filler,

It’s also quite romantic. Given the book’s already slow pace, I personally wanted to skip these moments/have less of them and get back to the plot and circus and mystery, but I can see this would definitely appeal to people who like books to linger in romantic musings and soft monologues if they can deal with this slow pacing elsewhere.

I’d say, unless you really loved A Witch in Time (which I’m told is of similar style), go read something with more magic, more daemons and more actual circus.

Prior to reading this book, I had read ‘A Witch In Time’, a book which I really loved and set the standards pretty high for this book. It’s safe to say that the standards were met.

Constance’s writing style is whimsical and fascinating in its ability to interconnect even the littlest of aspects and give them the hugest of importance. Her writing genuinely feels magical, and reading her work is something I really enjoy.

‘The Ladies of the secret circus’ follows Lara a woman who has enchanting abilities, as do many of her ancestorial women. Lara’s fiancé mysteriously disappears on the day of her wedding, but it’s not just her fiancé who has gone missing, many other men, who we later learn are connected to the women in Lara’s family. But that’s not all. Le Cirque Secret is a family circus that has been kept secret from the rest of the world, it has both enchanting magic and a dark past. The circus serves as symbol that perhaps the most beautiful things are those that are the most dangerous.

Some other dynamics I enjoyed in the book was the relationship between Lara and Ben. Despite Lara finally getting closure and learning that Todd died rather than leaving her, she still manages to move on and start a beautiful relationship with Ben. I also enjoyed the very vivid descriptions, that really helped me feel like I was in Lara’s shoes and seeing the beauty of Kerrigan Falls, Paris, and of course the infamous circus.

One thing that perhaps lowered the rating of this book for me was the fact that the storyline strongly mirrored one of Constance’s previous works, ‘A Witch In Time’. Many themes like the connection to Paris; the generational curse; the element of sacrifice to overturn the curse; and even the way many of the characters behaved, just reminded me of her previous work. In some sense it felt like I was reading a retelling. Whilst I enjoyed both books, I would have enjoyed ‘The ladies of the secret circus’ much more if the plot didn’t have the same connections to a ‘A witch in time’.

The only word I can use to describe this book, and more importance Sayer’s writing style, is magical. Fans of magical realism will eat this up and realise what they’ve been missing out on with her work. I am very excited to read more books from her!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC. It has not affected my honest review.

Unfortunately this book didn't really work for me, though the blurb sounded absolutely perfect for my tastes. I decided not to continue with it after reaching the halfway point and realising that I hadn't connected with the character of Lara Barnes or the mystery so this was a "did not finish" read for me. While the language was gorgeous and I loved the flashbacks, this ultimately turned out not to be the book I hoped it would be.

I was only accepted for this book on Monday evening, so please accept my partial review in the short time i have had to read this book.

As above, I have only just started this novel, however I am completely enthralled. The language use captivates the magic and mystery in the air beautifully, I can vividly picture the setting and interactions between the characters.

I am truly looking forward to reading more of this novel and will certainly return to write a complete review upon completion. I will also upload a link to my blog at this time. where a public review can be found.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to review this wonderful book.

I want to start by saying that I found this book really refreshing, it is a cross between a murder mystery/historical fiction/fantasy type of book and it’s not something I’ve seen before (or at least for a while).

The story follows Lara Barnes as she prepares to get married to long term on/off boyfriend Todd. But when he disappears on the day of the wedding Lara has to find a way to carry on with her life as well as find out what happened to Todd.

There are almost two storylines through the book, that of Lara’s and that of Cecile’s and I found myself more interested in the Cecile side. However they do tie together and you couldn’t have one without the other.

The characters are well developed and you can even see the character growth in the small sections of Cecile’s character that endears her to the reader.

Overall I found this a great engaging read and would happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to try something a little difference.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Publishers for the complimentary copy of this book.

I love a good magical circus story - the mystery and intrigue capture me straightaway. The Ladies of the Secret Circus had a brilliant alternating storyline between the past and present and learning about Cecile’s story was emotional and magical with such clever links to Lara in the present. Constance Sayers has written a dark and magical story of family, of strong women and the bonds of love.

The Ladies of the Secret Circus had an intriguing premise, but whereas the 'blub' seems to imply it was a story set in the 1920s, it was actually a story set in the early 2000s, with some scenes taking place in the 1920s.

The story is a very uneven mixture of POVs and diary entries, which is at its best in the scenes set in the 1920s. The prime focus is on a big 'showdown' which is actually incredibly disappointing when it eventually happens and lacks any real 'fizz' for the years which have gone into bringing it about.

There are one or two 'wow' moments, but the author lingers on scenes that are irrelevant (in the radio station and when discussing art) and tries too hard to misdirect the reader, resulting in an experience that is ultimately unsatisfying. It doesn't help that the main character never seems to come alive, hardly seems to miss her 'lost' finance while accepting that he is gone far too easily. I did have to reread the line where she managed to both buy and change into a t-shirt and pair of sunglasses when allegedly being chased by someone who was almost close enough to catch her!!!

Apologies to the publisher that I didn't enjoy this novel half as much as I would have hoped. It could have benefitted from a firm editorial hand ensuring the split narratives were given a more equal share and with a much stronger main character. Perhaps Audrey would have been a better choice.

Overall, a book with great ideas but not the best execution.

I went into this book hoping to love it but sadly while I didn't hate it I also wasn't blown away.

For starters I wanted to praise the female characters in this book. It was great to see women championed in the pages within this and I loved learning about all the different female characters especially the two sisters Cecile and Esme. I also really enjoyed the scenes set in the past and wish there were more of them as they my favourite.

I also enjoyed how dark and fantastical it got which I was not expecting. I thought it was going to be a straight historical fiction novel so I was super happy about the fantastical elements.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect to this novel. At the beginning of the book the inciting incident of the main character's fiancé going missing really sets up my feelings towards this book and the main crux of the issues I had. Nothing is built up enough. For example we don't meed Todd for long at all and what we do learn about Todd at the beginning of the novel is that he doesn't seem that great of a guy so I didn't really connect to him enough to really care that he went missing. It just suddenly happened and I was supposed to be invested but I hadn't spent enough time with him. This was an over-arching issue with the novel. Not enough stuff was set up or built up well for a great pay-off. Things just happened and then we moved on which was disappointing.

I also felt the pacing of the book was pretty slow which did not help the reading experience.

This book has a strong first few chapters, then seems to languish in the middle. I wish Sayers had committed to the magical aspect of this story – as it is now, there is not much actual magic. I kept forgetting that this book even had a fantasy element until something small happened – like the main character Lara magically undoing a zipper – and jolted me back into the realization that it was a fantasy book.

It takes too long for the reader to be introduced to the titular circus, which then feels lackluster when it finally appears on the page. There is some discussion of contortionists and circus performers, but the circus part of the story focuses mostly on the backstage drama between sisters which reminded me of Velma and Veronica Kelly in *Chicago*. The only part of the circus which remains memorable to me is the monkey that houses the soul of Benito Mussolini (yes, really).

The characters are equally forgettable, with a few exceptions (Mussolini is one, for sure), and I did not feel any motivation to care about them. The writing style was very fluid and readable and that saved this book for me. Even though this story fell flat for me, I am looking forward to reading Sayers' other work. It is also noticeable that Sayers did meticulous research to make her historical world believable. I did feel like I was in 1920s Paris while reading those parts, which is commendable. While I thought this book was okay, I do think other readers might enjoy it more than I did.

When Lara Barnes’ fiancé disappears on their wedding day, she is desperate for answers. During her search for clues, she must investigate her own family history. Aided by her great-grandmother, Cecile’s journals, and a painting of Cecile. Lara must leave the quiet Virginia town where she grew up to Paris. There she had to examine her family connection to the circus.

Via Cecile’s journals, Lara learns about the Secret Circus. A world of magnificent beasts, time travelling carousels. And about the love story between a young painter and the trapeze artist. As Lara learns more about her family history, she wonders what it has to do with her fiancé’s disappearance?


It’s hard not to compare this book to The Night Circus. Both books feature a tragic love story and a magic circus. But, The Ladies of the Secret Circus is also a mystery book. What happened to Lara’s fiancé? How is his disappearance connected to a similar disappearance thirty years earlier? Why are these the only major crimes in Lara's sleepy hometown?

The joy in this book is the tales about the ladies of the Secret Circus. I loved the chapters featuring Cecile’s journal. Sayers’ description of both the circus and 1920’s Paris nights are amazing. I loved reading about both dramas within the circus. But also when the ladies venture out into the night to cafes to mix with artists and writers.

One thing I did find it was difficult to keep track of all the characters. Mainly due to the two different interwoven storylines, but don’t let this put you off. The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a wonderful book for lovers of mysteries, fantasy or anyone looking for the next Night Circus.

I didn’t realise I already owned a book by Constance - A Witch in Time - but hadn’t actually got round to reading, so this was my first foray into her world.

I can take or leave books that flit between time periods. Some are well executed, some are a little discombobulated. This fell into the latter category for the first few chapters, but once I knew how they linked with each other and who the characters to take note of were, then they really flowed nicely.

I think Constance has hit the perfect balance when describing magic in this book. She shows it not always huge grand gestures, it can often be very slight spells, and she as it’s not always the positive thing we think of in fantasy books like Harry Potter, and it can actually be something to fear for the spellmaker and the victim.

The offputting but equally star-of-the-show plot point is how mundane or everyday magic could be - it could be under our noses and we would never know. As a whole, we’re so reluctant to believe in the supernatural or the ‘other side’ that we might be cutting ourselves off from the most spellbinding of experiences.

It is at times a very heartbreaking story - for numerous reasons - and really grabs your heartstrings in both hands and drags you through the entire ride.

There’s so many intricacy interwoven layers that all magically fit together. I can only imagine the storyboards or plans that Constance would have needed to ensure everything lined up perfectly.

It’s so viscally* described that it’s so obvious this would make a stunning TV or movie series. And here’s hoping there’s going to be a sequel as I am not finished with this world.

*Google tried to tell me that ‘viscally’ wasn’t actually a word, and I clearly meant ‘visually’. But I’m certain that ‘viscally’ - to mean described visually and clearly - is a real word so I’ve decided to keep it in.

I didn’t really need to read past the title and author to know I’d love this book! And I was right, this is a really good read, It is almost a book of two halves. The first half is quite a soft, gentle almost romantic read as we get to know the main characters but the second half is that little bit darker as the the story picks up speed, and the magic gets stronger. I really enjoyed the way history, a little bit of myth and magic were blended together to tell this fantastic story.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group U.K. and NetGalley for the e-arc of The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A secret circus with astounding, death defying, magical acts, set in 1920s Paris that only those with a magical ticket can attend, magic, murder and mystery…yes please!

Simply the atmosphere of Paris post WWI and during the 1920s, rife with artists, poets and writers desperate to discover their muse, live, and celebrate their survival alongside the significant losses of WWI, known as the ‘lost generation'. Plus Paris itself, the historic Montparnasse, Bois du Bologne, the art, thee music and of course the magic of the secret circus itself.

Add in our protagonist Lara, who interestingly has a little magic of her own and her own personal mystery to bring together the ingredients for an enjoyable and intriguing magical mystery!

Without revealing too much, there are other magical characters, family mysteries, paintings and of course a love interest that all add a dash of spice to this recipe!

This book isn’t perfect, there are a few unanswered questions, the magic itself isn’t fully explained, but there is plenty of mystery, romance, circus magic and a definite dash of daemon to see you through to a satisfying conclusion.

As soon as I heard about this magical circus story set in 1920s Paris, I knew I had to read it. The idea of a 'secret circus', only available to those chosen by the tickets themselves, and who wish for entry more than anything else in the world, immediately drew me in.

I loved the descriptions of Paris during the 'lost generation'. The author's depth of research into the era and its key figures had me feeling like I was there in Montparnasse, gazing at the art and eating the food. So atmospheric!

I also enjoyed the POV of radio host Lara, who has a little magic of her own and a fierce determination that sees her through her trauma. The odd happenings surrounding herself and her family are both intriguing and frightening, and craft the mystery and twists of the novel well.

However, I do wish the magic system was a little more fleshed out, and that Lara would have had the chance to use her magic in an epic battle rather than simply negotiating towards the end. Or perhaps in more than one circus performance - I loved the scene where she flew on the trapeze, and would have liked to see a bit more of that.

I still have lots of unanswered questions about the villain's history, too. For example, not much is explained about his great love, Juno, who started the family line. How is it possible that her child even survived - was there something special about her that made it happen? Where did she go after she died? I'm the kind of curious person who will be thinking about this for ages.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read with lots of quirks and a wealth of historical tidbits.

I do love a good circus story,but for me,the excitement didn't really show up until we were quite a bit into the book and in 1920's Paris.
Those were the best parts of the book.
Some of the story seemed over the top,and at times,it was good over the top,with pantomime villains.
At other times,just a tad mad.
Enjoyable,but just didn't have that spark of magic I was hoping for.