I picked this book up on a whim at Tesco while I was supposed to...

I picked this book up on a whim at Tesco while I was supposed to be buying my lunch. The cover (the British one with the golden starburst) made me think of a darkly magical carnival (yes, misreading the title a little), and upon reading the blurb, found this was basically the story (it’s what a good cover is supposed to do). I bought the book and read it all in a few days. For the first time in a while, I was excited to read something.

Yes, the story deals with a darkly magical game, hot descriptions of guys, and some pretty shady parental figures. Some of the villainous characters were a bit one-dimensional.

While I enjoyed the book the way I enjoy a chocolate bar (i.e. enjoyable, but not nutritious), some parts became repetitious, and the main character's (spoiler) got old fast. Granted, the plot spans only a few days of her life, and she does grow as a character, but I lost a little faith about halfway through.

I also got the impression the author was a big fan of Frozen; one line in particular, (spoiler) really took me out of the story. Also her “shades of color” descriptions of emotion reminded me pretty heavily of Fifty Shades of Grey.

This was an entertaining read, though, and as it looks like the beginning of a series, I might pick up the next one. The imagery she described was beautiful and makes me think a movie version would be spectacular.

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