Another compulsive read from an author who seems to do no wrong. I absolutely devoured this one… You will want to clear your afternoon to read this one straight through!

Set in an alternative London, where the mysterious Theatre District is run by its own rules and has a highly sought after show running constantly.
Growing up in an average household with his father and stepmother, Juliet yearns to be a dancer. After the death of her father, Juliet finds clues about his past and this leads her to the Theatre District and to uncover mysteries and secrets.
This world is a wonderful one, and despite my heart racing and leaping whilst reading this book, I still wanted to find myself in the theatre district and in her world. This world is exciting and vivid and miraculous - not that I’d want this in real life - but Anne Corlett makes you want to be there.

Okay, so I really enjoyed this book! So beautifully written and set in my favourite place, Victorian London, albeit in an alternate reality.

This was such an original premise that did also have me comparing it in parts to The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. Julie is such a likeable character and I was fully engrossed in her story. I was just as desperate to find out about her family tree as she is.

I would have preferred if the Theatre District was better described because, at times, it felt a bit empty, kind of like an afterthought, or maybe that was the authors intention? That Juliets story was at the forefront.

Either way, a very enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

A low 4 for me. I did quite enjoy this but not as much as I expected. It is not as immersive or detailed as the Night Circus but Juliet's story is good and the other characters are reasonably well drawn.

I could not really visualise the District, there seemed to be just a lot of empty, dusty rooms rather than anything extravagant and mesmerising. I was not immersed and swept away as I had hoped to be. There is a little mystery about who is/was who and who is a goodie or a baddie but it's not that hard to guess.

Quite enjoyable though but a bit flat and underwhelming.

Rounding up to 4 ⭐


I absolutely LOVED the district, and the show, which must always go on.
Finding out how it worked, the behind the scenes, to be honest, the rest of the book felt like an interruption at times from that magical scene setting.
Julie seemed incredibly innocent, and trusting of anything that was told, or not told to her.
It was lovely to see her character grow as the book progressed.
A nice bit of darkness spices things up.
If there's more books set in this world, I'm definitely here for them.

Sometimes the greatest spectacle hides the darkest secrets..

This was so good!! The writing was beautiful and so detailed, I can't imagine how long this book took to write.

Some parts had me a little confused and I felt a little windswept from taking a lot in at certain parts but they eventually all made sense in the end.

I really enjoyed this world and was fascinated by it.

I rated this 3.5 stars!

A fantastic book that captivates from beginning to end, packed full of mystery, drama, loss and desire.
Juliet’s mother died when she was young and following the death of her father she longs to escape grief, loneliness and find a place to belong. This leads Juliet to where she believes was her birthplace - the Theatre District.
Set in an alternate London, the Theatre District has evolved over centuries and encompasses an immersive theatre show. It is no ordinary show, it runs 24/7 and is performed in a maze of bright stages, dark corners, and sleight of hand by performers and crew. Juliet hopes the Theatre District will help her unravel the mystery of her birth and find that she belongs but as she discovers, when there is no final curtain how do we know when the performance ends and truth begins. A hugely original and entertaining story, this book will have a broad appeal. No doubt fans of immersive theatre will love the concept taken to new heights, but also those who like me have never been to a show, the originality of the story and the world that it inhabits stands alone without need for prior knowledge. The Theatre of Glass and Shadows has inspired me to book my first immersive show but the book will be a hard act to follow - Corlett has created a world so vivid and a mystery so engaging that I can't see how it can be matched...maybe only by a film or a series based on the book, hint hint!
Immersive theatre fan or not, this has to be on the list of must read books of the year.

An enjoyable story of an alternate Victorian London,
I loved the vivid descriptions of the Theatre District, with its round-the-clock immersive theatre and its dedicated, obsessive theatre-goers.
For a young woman determined to forge her own destiny despite the odds, Juliet did strike me as a little naive, and many of the characters were skated over and rather one dimensional - I'd have preferred to see some of the more key characters a bit more fleshed out.
That said, I'm sure it won't be long before we see this as a TV series, as it conjures up such rich visuals of the labyrinthine District.

This was a great alternate London story. I thought it worked well and I could see this happening. It worked well with the time period set and the characters were interesting and they worked well with the storyline. I enjoyed the way Ann corlette wrote this and how she created an interesting world with the great characters. I love the idea of the ballet elements in this book. And it really was a great story to read. I love that it had a suspenseful feel to it was beautifully done.

Exquisitely written, with a rich and vivid setting.

This book was a departure for me – much more literary than my typical read. It throws the reader into the deep end of a fascinating world unlike anything I've ever encountered.

It reminded me of The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong, which is no bad thing.

On a separate note, PDFs… Gah! I hate reading PDFs. Why do publishing companies hate epubs readers so much? PDFs offer all the disadvantages of print with all the disadvantages of ebooks and the advantages of neither.

Now I remember why I so rarely read ARCs from publishing companies. Bastarding PDFs, that's why.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this (even if it was a bloody PDF).

Thank you to the author and publisher for the chance to read this ARC, in exchange for an honest review. I loved The Theatre of Glass and Shadows it is so rich in mystery and suspense, historical depth, twists and turns. Juliet is a fantastic heroine, not sure I warmed to Ethan but no spoilers. It’s five stars from me.

The Theatre of Glass and Shadows is an atmospheric and imaginative take on the world of immersive theatre, especially as practiced by the Punchdrunk Company. Whilst their shows run for years and employ vast sets, Corlett has conjured up a show which has run for centuries taking up a whole district of a parallel London. Into this world is plunged Juliet [one of a few Shakespearean nods], a recently orphaned teenager, trying to find her way in both the adult world and the Theatre District. I liked how my opinion of different characters shifted during the story and how Corlett captured the deep investment of immersive theatre fans into this intriguing art form. Juliet finds she has a lot to deal with beyond learning her lines and has to decide in the end where her loyalties really lie. After a satisfying conclusion I was left wanting to know more about what happened to the characters after the curtain had come down but also more about the past of the Theatre District before the curtain went up - sequels and prequels, please!

I love “improbable spaces” like Celestin’s The Palace of Shadows, Danielewski’s House of Leaves or Dinsdale’s The Toymakers.
This is ”improbable spaces” on a grand scale - a whole district within London dedicated to a theatre show of interlocking looped performances. First rule: there are no rules. Everything seems to happen randomly, everything seems to shift like quicksand: storylines, cast, scenery.
Juliet Grace has grown up with a vague recollection of “belonging” to that secret world and tries to find out about her past.
This seems to be an exploration into where a stage ends and an auditorium begins - or whether you were part of an elaborate play all along.
At times, my own imagination was severely challenged by the plot’s wild imagination, I struggled to follow all the elaborate nooks and dreamscapes of the “District” and towards the end, my ickle brain was no able to follow all the “who’s who” and “who’s the baddy really”.
While this story leans heavily on Morgenstern’s “Night Circus” and while IMHO it is not really “General Fiction (Adult)” but rather “Fantastic Fiction (YA)”, I was still fascinated by it.
Oh yeah, and prettyplease make it into a film!

Thank you to Black & White Publishing for granting my wish to review an ARC of The Theatre of Glass and Shadows by Anne Corlett.

First and foremost, Anne Corlett is a good writer - her style is smooth and engaging - her dialogue flows easily - and you can tell she put a lot of thought into the world building and creation of the Theatre District.

The plot summary intrigued me, and I had anticipated a story about a young woman searching for secrets to her dead parents and their past in the Theatre District. For the first 28% of the story that was the plot I was engaged in, especially as we saw Juliet finding her birth certificate and looking for details in the Shipping News and trying to make sense of her roots as she entered the thrill of The Show.

After that point I think the plot loses it's way, and Juliet's acceptance of the minimal information she has seen seems to take over her character in a way that doesn't feel developed, and, if anything, makes her seem unstable to the point I was worried the plot would just devolve into some sort of descent into madness. The characters around Juliet are not fleshed out enough to have a strong standing with the reader - I think this is because Juliet continuously moves from one group of relationships to the next - first her stepmother/half sisters, then the Shipping News fans, then the District, and she is immediately trusting of every instance in a way that makes me distrust every decision she makes

Then, as the plot expands quite exponentially to include a potential decades old serial murderer and multiple other threads that convolute the original intentions of Juliet - it just seems like so much danger is manufactured, but sprung on the reader in a way that is more confusing than engaging. Perhaps the summary should be about more than her search for truth on her parents and that would help? The story has larger layers and mysteries, and I think a more in-depth focus on these threads would have strengthened the story that Corlett is telling.

Do you remember as a child when you believed in a bit of everyday magic? Maybe it was the Sunday Disney night program or when you believed MAYBE there was another world inside your wardrobe?

The Theatre of Glass and Shadow brings that magic! Emboldened with a thread of the excitement of Broadway, you can feel the energy and expectation in the Theatre District's Show.

The Show, is an ongoing, for centuries, program of dancing and mystery and acting and more that draw in the public of London for entertainment nightly. The district is a labyrinth of walksways and hallways and no show is ever the same, all controlled by The Director and Choreographer.

Our protagonist is suffering in a Cinderella type situation. Juliet years to learn more about her real mother as her stepmother treats her dreadfully. Following the death of her father she is pulled towards the Theatre District to find out more about her birth. What she finds is beautiful, complex and beguiling. When a performer offers his hand to her, the choice is hers to take it or walk away.

Join Juliet in the Theatre of Glass and Shadows, you will be bewitched and enchanted and leave wanting more!
.#black&whitepublishing #BlackandWhitePublishing #thetheatreofglassandshadow #annecorlett

I couldn’t stop talking about this book from the moment I started reading it. I loved discovering the mysterious world of the Theatre District and of the Show itself, which was such an imaginative creation. It reminded me in some ways of the Rivers of London series, with the mixture of police investigation and a hidden world set in an alternate London. In other ways, of the Harry Potter series, with an initially oblivious protagonist discovering the truth about their family and unusual heritage.

If you’re at all interested in immersive theatre, it’s a must read. I defy anyone to pick this up and not want a ticket to the Show! I can imagine this making a stunning film because it has so many wonderful visual aspects and the descriptions of the settings and performances are so vivid.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, which kept me guessing. I can easily imagine further novels set in this world and look forward to seeing more from this author.

This was a great read, which was full of tension! The author clearly knows plenty about immersive theatre, and she brought the mysterious Theatre District to life with vivid descriptions.

I was intrigued to find out how Juliet fitted in with the district, and how her past linked her to it. It was clear that her idealistic view of the district wouldn’t survive her journey through the story’s events, which didn’t disappoint in terms of twists and keeping my interest high.

The book had satisfying antagonists, even if I didn’t know who all of them were to begin with. It was definitely worth the wait to find out what was going on!

It started well with a girl losing her father and realising she did not know her own history. I enjoyed the first third of the novel but found the mystery parts confusing and certainly not interesting enough to work it out. Such a good idea for a story with Theatre Land a law unto itself but I couldn’t help comparing it, unfavourably to The Night Circus. Needs a bit more work

This is such a fun concept, catnip for me, and I enjoyed a lot of it. Unfortunately it tipped into melodrama during the last third, as various villains (or are they?) pontificated while twirling their moustaches, and I couldn't take it as seriously as I'd have liked. But the setting is wonderful and I loved this twisted version of Theatreland, complete with excerpts from an in-world book detailing its history. I'd read more set there.

My thanks to Black and White Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Theatre of Glass and Shadow had a slow start for me, but after about 50 pages I got into the story. The idea of the Theatre District was fascinating, and it was fun to learn more about it as we followed Juliet's own journey of discovery. It was a novel with rich description, so you got a great sense of the detail in each scene. I also liked the mystery elements at first. However, I felt the story lost its way a little towards the end. After the slow start, the ending felt rushed as the author tried to tie off as many of the loose threads as possible, and with one reveal coming hot on the heels of another they began to loose impact. I nevertheless found it an enjoyable read and it was certainly a fresh idea that was mostly well presented. I am therefore giving it four stars. Recommended if you like magical realism with a darker, almost-thriller edge.