1 out of 4 stars
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Dark Circus, The Astonishing Return by Nick Lee has an intriguing premise. Three teenagers, each with their own special power, are called upon to face an evil they thought they had vanquished three years ago. In addition to defeating Charlie, the evil clown, they also have to contend with three new students, who display eerily frightening powers of their own.
I was very excited to read this book, as I love horror and supernatural stories, and if they involve clowns, that’s all the better. Unfortunately, Dark Circus failed to live up to its hype. First off, the pace could only be described as “plodding”. The story is only 99 pages long, so there really wasn’t time to spare, yet the tale failed to take advantage of the pages it does have. With a book of this genre, I expect quick-paced, edge-of-your-seat action, but this story didn’t deliver it. I never had even one hair stand up on my head, let alone any goosebumps. The “Astonishing Return” that the book promises wasn’t astonishing, either.
Character development was also lacking. As a fan of The X-Men and The Avengers, I was really interested in characters who could work magic, change form, and speak with animals, but the Master Magician, Master Freak, and Master Tamer, respectively, didn’t have many opportunities to display their gifts. The author did take her time introducing the three main characters, going so far as to give their full names, but they never became more than two-dimensional figures, and it was difficult for me to care what happened to them. I also didn’t care too much for the supporting characters, though I did perk up when Charlie was on the page, as he spoke in rhyme, which I did like.
I was also a little lost on the characters’ past. While I didn’t expect the author to give a full accounting of previous events, I would have appreciated more information on things that were relevant to this story. There were too many times that I found myself thinking, “Oooh, that sounds interesting. I wish I knew more about that.” While I realize this’ the second book in the series, I still think the author could have done a better job of filling in the gaps, such that this book could be read on its own.
Lastly, I don’t think the book was thoroughly edited. There were words missing, extra words, repeated phrases, and many syntax errors. One sentence, “Daniel and the others could see that in that direction was Karl’s orange and black Dodge Challenger was in that direction, ready to take them away”, shows the lack of attention-to-detail, as parts were repeated within the same sentence, thereby throwing off the flow. I also felt the author was trying too hard to use synonyms in certain areas. For instance, in one brief conversation, she may use “said”, “spoke”, “questioned”, and “articulated”, which also damaged the smoothness of the reading.
I had such high hopes for this story, so it is with a heavy heart that I must rate this book 1 out of 4 stars, for all the reasons listed above.
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Dark Circus: The Astonishing Return
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