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Girl in the Shadows

(Cirque American #2)

Gwenda Bond (Goodreads Author)

3.53 · Rating details · 787 ratings · 183 reviews

Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.

When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly cov ...more

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Paperback, 380 pages

Published July 5th 2016 by Skyscape

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· 787 ratings · 183 reviews

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Jun 17, 2016 Rose rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-favorites, arcs

magicians + charming, mysterious love interest + real magic + awesome mc = perfection

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I SEE YOU, MIXED REVIEWS.

But I honestly don't get it, because I totally adored this book. It was fun, fast-paced, the romance was absolute perfection, and all the tricks and magic made it so original.

oh, not to mention the feminist aspects weaved throughout the story that I really, really loved. + how the relationship between moira and dez grew gradually, and was so healthy. + the father-daughter re ...more

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Apr 18, 2020 Jillian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really liked this story it was a bit different in that it revolves around a circus and magician who can do real magic . It has a Las Vegas magicians daughter a secret society and circus drama what more for a quick entertaining story.

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Jun 17, 2016 gio rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss

I received this book through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

It's a 1.5. I'm sorry, but this is really full of tropes and I want to read something enjoyable. Now that I have time to read I don't want to use it to torture myself with books that have more tropes than pages.

I'll try to keep it short:

- the characters are flat. There's not much space for characterisation of whatsoever and I think that overall there was no growth for the main character nor the secondary ones. There was a l ...more

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Jun 24, 2016 Fafa's Book Corner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Mini review:

Wow what a breath of fresh air! Loved the carnival and the magic. The characters were fantastic as were the friendships. The romance was surprisingly done well.

Will definitely be reading more from this author. Highly recommend.

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Aug 15, 2017 Colleen Houck added it · review of another edition

Shelves: setting, espionage-intrigue, risk-taking, magic, secrets, super-powers, suspense, chbc-author, circus, spy

I loved this girl power take on the world of magic. My favorite scene was the disappearing Ferris wheel. So fun to be immersed in the life of magicians and to hear favorite tricks explained as well as as learn about some new ones. The coffin scene made me claustrophobic. I was holding my breath like the audience!

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Jul 01, 2016 Christy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Join the discussion over at Tales of the Ravenous Reader!

The magic business will never fully embrace a woman. It isn't what the audience wants. You can never be a magician, Moira.

Not hard to imagine why Moira feels like she is in her father's shadow...It's also not hard to imagine why she would run away in order to prove herself. So when Moira arrives at the great Cirque American, she's not going to take no for an answer, even if she fumbles her audition thanks to some unexpected magic.

Girl in ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 Karolina Kat rated it liked it · review of another edition

Fast-paced and enjoyable reading. Unfortunately it didn't have the same focus on the atmosphere of the circus as the previous book. A fun book nonetheless. ...more

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Apr 21, 2016 Kris Mauna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, arc-reading, mystery

Girl in the Shadows is full of intriguing magic, fun circus acts, and a bit of mystery surrounding our main characters!

"Magic was well-crafted lies woven into stories no one believed were true, even though they delighted to see the convincing falsehood with their own eyes."

We meet our main character, Moira, as she is getting ready to impress her magician father in order to get a job with him.. But he is not having it. Right off the bat we learn that Moira's father doesn't want her to be a ma ...more

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May 03, 2016 Laura (midorireads) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-arcs

When I'd first requested this book, I had no idea it was the second in a series. But I did find out that this was a sequel in the sense that it was the same world and even included many of the characters from the first. With this knowledge, I decided to go ahead and start this book.

Let me start off by saying that I loved the MC Moira. The fact that she was determined to make a name for herself, and was so in love her craft that she made plans (unbeknownst to her father, who had forbidden her fro When I'd first requested this book, I had no idea it was the second in a series. But I did find out that this was a sequel in the sense that it was the same world and even included many of the characters from the first. With this knowledge, I decided to go ahead and start this book.

Let me start off by saying that I loved the MC Moira. The fact that she was determined to make a name for herself, and was so in love her craft that she made plans (unbeknownst to her father, who had forbidden her from ever becoming a Magician, though he himself was one) to become one of the greatest female magicians ever. This involved her joining a traveling circus, under the pretense that she was spending the summer with a friend, checking out colleges. Moving on, I liked how before every illusion or magic trick, she would tell a small story about the female magicians who came before, and it helped with my understanding her love for magic.

So, as much as I liked Moira, I did not like the instalove she had for Dez, another performer in the circus. It definitely happened quickly, and though the guy did initially pursue her, it didn't seem to take him long to reel her in. Though she didn't trust him completely, she seemed willing to overlook it because she thought he was hot. Yup, that sounds like the makings of a great relationship! The romance was blegh for me.

Now, usually I'd bring up other notable characters at this point, but there really weren't any that stood out for me. Her "friends" were minor roles in this book, and the other people mentioned were also rarely present, and when they were, I didn't like them.

It's sad that the MC is the only character I really liked, but overall, this book wasn't that bad, and though I only gave it three stars, there is the chance that my hang ups may not even bother you, so besides the instalove - and lack of characters with real depth - this book really wasn't that bad...

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Jun 05, 2016 Cindy ✩☽♔ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, insta-love, netgalley

*I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

DNF

Rating 2.5

I guess the best thing I can equate this book to is a friend of convenience. The friendship is nice but overall pretty superficial. Like they're someone you can go to get coffee or brunch with, and maybe hang out with from time to time but they're not someone you'd ever really call if you needed something. And in all honesty they are not close enough of a friend that you'd really miss them when they're gone.

Ov ...more

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Jul 06, 2016 Forever Young Adult added it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, contemporary, reviewed-by-mandy-c

Graded By: Mandy C.
Cover Story: Flash Sheet
BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: School of Carolyn Keene
Bonus Factors: The Cirque American, Magic
Relationship Status: Season Ticket Holder

Read the full book report here. ...more

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Dec 08, 2016 Naima rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fast-track-romance, arc, you-re-better-off-not-reading-this, internalized-misogyny, cults, fiction, vaguely-poc-main-character, fantasy, super-pale-main-character, ok-writing-bad-plot

I received this book through NetGalley and Skyscape and Two Lions in exchange for an honest review.

I. Ok, so I'm really disappointed. Like... really disappointed. I'll give you the tldr; right here: the characters are flat, the only explicitly stated recurring character of color is used to jumpstart the white MC's magic career, it's casually homophobic on more than one occasion, and the romance is so rushed that it's unbelievable.

Alright first things first: I was a big fan of Bond after reading ...more

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Aug 07, 2018 Magen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: strong-female-protagonist, childrens, contemporary, female-author, audiobook, fantasy, young-adult

This was a real disappointment. I didn't expect to really enjoy the first book in this "series," Girl on a Wire, for a variety of reasons, but it turned out to be suprisingly good. I was incredibly excited to listen to this book, the next book in the Circe American universe. This book is not a sequel as it follows a different young woman, but there is overlap between this book and Girl on a Wire. The characters from Girl on a Wire are present in Girl in the Shadows, but for the most part, they a This was a real disappointment. I didn't expect to really enjoy the first book in this "series," Girl on a Wire, for a variety of reasons, but it turned out to be suprisingly good. I was incredibly excited to listen to this book, the next book in the Circe American universe. This book is not a sequel as it follows a different young woman, but there is overlap between this book and Girl on a Wire. The characters from Girl on a Wire are present in Girl in the Shadows, but for the most part, they are minor chracters who mostly happen to be walking by. While Moira calls Juliet a friend, they show nothing of their friendship in the book. This book does essentially pick up where Girl on a Wire left off; just a few months ahead at the start of the new season. While it is not strictly necessary to have read Girl on a Wire, I would recommend it since the primary plot line builds directly off part of the plot in Girl on a Wire and while one would be able to understand the plot without the backstory, it would be a limited understanding.

The following is not directly spoilers as I don't mention specifics, but it does hint at some, so read with care
I knew going in that this book wasn't strictly a sequel and that Juliet wasn't going to play a big role, but I did go in expecting a similar arc of a strong, independent, confident, passionate, talented girl pushing herself to be her best and navigating a male dominated world. Immediately, it became clear that this was going to be a different story in significant ways; namely that Moira isn't particularly talented, passionate, or independent. Throughout the book, I thought a lot about whether these aspects of her character were necessary to the storyline and I concluded they were not. In fact, if Moira had been passionate, talented, and independent, it would have made for a much better book. Instead, she starts off as a bumbling magician and later leans way too heavily on dangerous short cuts, something I don't find particularly enjoyable to read. It's frustrating to be yelling at a character in your head for doing something obviously inept or unnecessarily dangerous. This still could have been effective had she grown as a magician and/ or character, but she doesn't really and thus I didn't connect with her.

But the part that bothered me the most, especially knowing that this book is aimed at young girls, is how absolutely dependent she is on a boy's attention. Not only is she pulled in by a smooth talking boy who clearly is a player, but also she endlessly cares about what he thinks of her. Where Juliet had inner dialogues about how she hated women in movies who spent time obsessing about what boys were thinking and whether he liked her, Moira literally does just that. She becomes so dependent on the boy that even though he deeply betrays her and blatantly lies to her, she can't carry out her plans without him, so she forgives him and gives him her full trust. I see that as a dangerous story line to teach young girls. Worse, he is portrayed, many, many times, as the bad boy, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the boy who needs to be saved, the boy she can fix, and the boy who deserves endless chances. Again, this is a dangerous story line to teach young girls, especially since he doesn't want to, or at least doesn't think, he can be saved. Even if Moira does end up saving him in the end (I won't say whether she does), he would be completely dependent on her for a time, which is incredibly unhealthy. I don't want any girl ever to have this kind of relationship and I certainly wouldn't want a niece or daughter reading it. Women can make their own choices, but role models matter to young girls and Moira is a bad role model as a professional, a person, and a romantic partner.

For those of you concerned about whether this book is appropriate for young girls, in addition to what I referred to above, there are several things I could see as concerning to parents. I will list them as content warnings at the end of this review because those are spoilers. Overall, I would not recommend this to middle grade or high school girls.

For me, this book fell flat. I didn't particularly like any of the new characters, particularly Moira and her boyfriend, though her parents weren't great either. I found the level of violence disturbing for a middle grade book. Plus, the plot wasn't that good or very compelling. Overall, I recommend a pass on this one.

SPOILER ALERT
Content warning: Torture, graphically depicted; violence, graphically depicted; near death/ very dangerous situations, graphically depicted; young couple spending the night together regularly, not graphically depicted; sex scene, not graphically depicted; codependent relationship, fully fleshed out; running away from home for extended period of time, fully fleshed out; significant lying, fully fleshed out and major plot point ...more

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Apr 02, 2016 Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal-urban-fantasy, reviewed, review-copy, cover-love, healthy-relationship, young-adult, mancers-mages, circus, read-2016-books

3.5 Stars

Full Review:
*I received a free ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

First things first, this is the second book in a series, but it’s about different characters. I don’t think you need to read the first book in order to understand it, but you may be slightly confused about who certain characters are or what they’re talking about in reference to certain events or objects from the first book.

Now for my actual thoughts on the book… I really liked Girl on a Wir ...more

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Aug 01, 2016 Lucille rated it liked it · review of another edition

I already read two books by Gwenda Bond, her two Lois Lane novel that are really great, so I was really excited when I saw that one when scrolling through netgalley. I loved how the cover has the look of a nice shiny circus poster. Now I like it even more as I understand the details after reading the story and that’s my favourite kind of cover. I haven’t read the first book in the series, Girl on a Wire, but Girl in the Shadows is a companion novel so even if I’m sure it’s better to have read th I already read two books by Gwenda Bond, her two Lois Lane novel that are really great, so I was really excited when I saw that one when scrolling through netgalley. I loved how the cover has the look of a nice shiny circus poster. Now I like it even more as I understand the details after reading the story and that’s my favourite kind of cover. I haven’t read the first book in the series, Girl on a Wire, but Girl in the Shadows is a companion novel so even if I’m sure it’s better to have read the first, I don’t think I missed some important things in this one. But after reading the description of Girl on a Wire I sure want to read it to understand some characters better!

I liked how the story combined magical tricks and real magic. I hadn’t read the description when I started this book and was pleasantly surprised when the real magic thing happened! But it lacked a little world-building. We’re only said that real magic exists for an ancient family and… that’s it. The story and the plot unfold without more info about this. It wasn’t really a problem but I thought that we would learn more things later and when we didn’t I felt a little disappointed. Maybe more books in this series will be published and we will learn more each with each books!

I wasn’t a big fan of the instalove trope. It happened so fast I hadn’t time to want them to be together or anything. Not even to get to know them as character. Moira and Dez lacked a certain characterization. They were too much characterized by their status of magicians and performers, and “cocky” and “charmer” are not really enough for me to fall in love with a character. But their story was not problematic, their relationship grew gradually even if it felt a little bit forced and started too early in the book in my opinion. It was great anyway to see Moira enjoy nice things that happened to her without losing her footing and still thinking clearly about what she was doing and who she would trust or not. She was a nice main character to follow, when she wasn’t scaring me with her dangerous illusions! At times I wanted to stop reading –in a good way – because I was too anxious of what was going to happen.

What I loved most is how Moira took the opportunity to talk about lesser known female magicians or circus acts before her own shows. It was very educational and I thank Gwenda Bond for this! Moira was driven by girl power and feminism and I loved this.

In the end, it was a nice story in which I found myself absorbed, but I didn’t care enough for the characters for it to become a favourite. I’d recommend it for the historical elements sprayed into it about female performers and because it’s quite suspenseful.

(Complete review with quotes on the blog https://adragoninspace.wordpress.com/...)
(A review copy (eARC) of this book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley.
Girl in the Shadows was published July 5th 2016, I couldn’t read it sooner as it was a PDF and my ereader couldn’t read this format, I only managed to upload it to my phone a few days ago and to read it asap.) ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Pili rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Girl in the Shadows is the second book in the Cirque American and both builds on what we knew about the Cirque and the characters we met in Girl on a Wire and takes it in a new direction with a new plot and new main characters.

When we meet Moira she's ready to prove herself but it doesn't go as she wanted, and she ends up defying her father in a rather spectacular way and joins the Cirque!

I liked Moira a lot because she's brave and extremely motivated, she loves what she does but she is not ruth Girl in the Shadows is the second book in the Cirque American and both builds on what we knew about the Cirque and the characters we met in Girl on a Wire and takes it in a new direction with a new plot and new main characters.

When we meet Moira she's ready to prove herself but it doesn't go as she wanted, and she ends up defying her father in a rather spectacular way and joins the Cirque!

I liked Moira a lot because she's brave and extremely motivated, she loves what she does but she is not ruthless or backstabbing with competition. She's secretive and that's not always very good for friendships or other relationships, but for the most part, she had a point when secret keeping.

I loved her work with magic and escapism and her drive and love for magic reminded me of Jules' love for walking the wire in book 1. She had quite a few unexpected surprises and revelations and she managed to handle them all pretty well, given what a shocker some of them were!

The moment we met Dez and Moira used the word "rakish" for his smile and attitude... well, I was 100% sold on him! I liked that there was quite a lot more to him that we might have thought at first, and he might not have been entirely trustworthy, but for different reasons than one might suspect upon first meeting. I called it pretty soon with his allegiance but it didn't bother me that Moira didn't suspect as I did, since she was too close and with too many things to worry about.

I loved that we see the relationship between Jules & Remy progress once established, even if it's more in the background, and I loved that Nan and Dita and the rest of the Cirque crew that I loved from the first book still were relevant and part of the story and very much on the forefront of the story at times.

Moira's story has quite a finale and the climax was as satisfying as slightly unexpected (which is usually best) and although it closes her story well enough, there's also enough of an open door to get more stories from the Cirque and hopefully to check on her on those stories too!

If you love the circus, magic, rakish boys, fearless girls and a captivating story, look no further! Very much deserved 4.5 stars to Girl in the Shadows! ...more

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Dec 20, 2017 Alaina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, kindle-unlimited, historical-fiction, mystery, 2017, romance, young-adult, fiction, paranormal

Yes, I'm writing the reviews out of order for this series but I don't think it really matters since the books have completely different characters in it. Just go with it.

Girl in the Shadows was pretty good but I guess I was just expecting more since the first book, Girl on a Wire was really good in my eyes. I don't really know how else to explain it other than the fact that I was just sort of expecting more from this book in a way.

What I really liked about Girl in the Shadows was that it had a f ...more

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Jun 26, 2016 CeeMarie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: net-galley-arcs-reviewed

I liked this better than OK but not by much. This is more 2.5 stars for me. I liked the stage magic settings, the characters of Moira and Dez, and the ending, but I didn't really care about much else.

I received a review copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Caroline rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: light-reading, oooooh, finished-but-just-barely, very-meh

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm so disappointed.
The first time I started reading this book (back when I didn't give a shit that there was a first book and read until page 100-ish before realizing that I probably actually do need to read it get a full idea of what was going on), I really liked it. I liked the idea of a girl who was in her father's shadow and wanted to be a magician and did everything in her power to get at what she wanted. I liked the flirting between Moira and Dez and I liked the magic tricks and I liked t ...more

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May 27, 2016 Elizabeth Mathis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-contemporary, reviewed-paranormal, reviewed-fantasy

Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.

When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly coveted invitation to its intended recipient, Raleigh, her father’s handsome and worldly former apprentice, Moira takes off to j

...more

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Jun 17, 2016 Nina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

Copy provided by publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Agh I hate when the concept is great but the execution falls just short of making it so, and I think Girl in the Shadows is one example of that. Magic and the circus? Yaaas sign me up! But I felt like it never really came off the pages. The circus world is there when convenient, but not really explored, Moira and Dez as characters are flat and their romance didn’t make sense to me, and the only interesting characters didn’ ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Dani (Dani Reviews Things & Love in a time of Feminism) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, kindle-copy, lgbtqia, lol, silly-teenagers, young-adult, blog-tour, swoon, read-2016, 2016-release

This is the second book in a series. Read my review of the first book, Girl on a Wire, here.

In a sentence
Girl in the Shadows continues a year after Girl on a Wire with the same level of mystery and rich history that was so enjoyable in the first book.

In Girl on a Wire, we were introduced to the Cirque American and Jules Maroni, a wire walker. In Girl in the Shadows, we return to the Cirque American with Moira Mitchell, daughter of a world-renowned Vegas magician and aspiring magician herself. ...more

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Jul 07, 2016 JoLee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, intellectual-recreation, young-adult, review-copy, 2016

Featured on Intellectual Recreation.

Before I get started with my thoughts, why don't we just take a moment to appreciate the splendor of this cover! I love everything about it. I love the font and the colors and how it is all arranged, but I also love the little details of the mask, the playing cards, the knives, and the hearts, all of which are significant to the story. Bravo cover designers! Bravo!

Girl in the Shadows is a companion novel to Girl on a Wire, the first book in Gwenda Bond's Ci ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Erin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review, young-adult, fantasy, read-in-2016

"The coffin might sound morbid, but I wasn't planning to die in it. I was planning to live. Forget college or a normal future. I wanted to be a magician: The Miraculous Moira."

See reviews first on my blog

Moira has always wanted to be a magician just like her father, but he refuses to let her do it, or even be a part of his act. So instead she does what any young woman would do, sneak around and learn tricks on her own until she is sure they are good enough to show and prove to him that she can b "The coffin might sound morbid, but I wasn't planning to die in it. I was planning to live. Forget college or a normal future. I wanted to be a magician: The Miraculous Moira."

See reviews first on my blog

Moira has always wanted to be a magician just like her father, but he refuses to let her do it, or even be a part of his act. So instead she does what any young woman would do, sneak around and learn tricks on her own until she is sure they are good enough to show and prove to him that she can be a magician to.
Once Moira becomes a part of the circus and gets her act going though, she realizes that something isn’t quite right and that maybe she really does have magic. Along the way she makes friends, and even gets a boyfriend, who is a smooth talker and potentially into dangerous things.
"Beware the smooth-tongued boys, the ones who flattery comes easy to. There's nothing wrong with wanting to believe it, even with believing what they say is true-you are beautiful, you are smart, you are unique, these are good things to believe- but it's foolish to assume it means anything beyond pretty words. Sweet Nothing was an apt phase. Taken seriously, sweet nothings become bitter regrets.”
She also starts looking for her absent mother who she has always wondered about, but never had been told much of anything. This causes problems as well, and makes the story even more interesting because of what her mother is involved in.
I was a bit apprehensive about reading another circus book, after being disappointed in the night circus. This was so much better than that though. I loved the characters, it was an easy read, and nothing got confusing. Moira is a strong female character who takes insane risks in order to do her magical acts and somehow talks her boyfriend in to being her assistant even when it means doing stunts that could kill her if she doesn’t make it out in time. When she was doing those magical acts, I couldn’t wait to see if she was able to pull it off and I couldn’t stop reading until the act was done to see if she was hurt or not. Plus the mystery behind his friends and what exactly the boyfriend was involved in was a nice spin on the story to.
"I keep telling you, where I come from, it's not like wherever you're from, lovely Moira. We believe in fairy tales. Magic coins, fair ladies, evil witches, tyrant kings, and benevolent queens."
The ending where Moira figured out what to do was amazing as well. She brought everyone together, in order to stop something bad from happening, and in the process realized who she really was and what she really wanted out of life.
"Maybe we would fail miserably. But we would do it together. For once, I was in a situation that seemed truly inescapable."

Overall I loved this book, and will recommend it to everyone looking for a good circus/magic book. In the future I hope to read many more books by her, including the first one in this series/duology. I don't think it is necessary to read the first one though, because I was still able to understand who everyone was.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-Arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. ...more

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Jun 26, 2016 Bailey Loveless rated it liked it · review of another edition

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I had a moment of extreme cover love, which ultimately led me to requesting this book. Isn't the cover gorgeous?

Unfortunately, the cover is my favorite part about this book.

Girl in the Shadows is the second book in a series, but can be read as a standalone. I hadn't read the first book, but I can say that it doesn't refer back to it in any major way, and the ending is clean.

Moira is the daughter of a renowned Vegas strip magician, dying to make a ca ...more

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Apr 29, 2016 Alicia (A Kernel of Nonsense) rated it it was ok

*I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, which does not influence my review.*

Gwenda Bond’s Girl in the Shadows, the sequel to her novel Girl on a Wire, tells the story of a girl who longs to be a magician like her father, but is destined for an even bigger stage. I haven’t read the first book in this series, so I was a little nervous going into this one, but this novel focuses largely on a different character and doesn’t necessarily require you to read the first. Moira wants more than *I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, which does not influence my review.*

Gwenda Bond’s Girl in the Shadows, the sequel to her novel Girl on a Wire, tells the story of a girl who longs to be a magician like her father, but is destined for an even bigger stage. I haven’t read the first book in this series, so I was a little nervous going into this one, but this novel focuses largely on a different character and doesn’t necessarily require you to read the first. Moira wants more than anything to work magic for audiences, but her father has always been against the idea, despite the fact that he is a talented magician himself. I admire Moira’s drive, even with her father’s disapproval, she still continues to pursue her dream and becomes a gifted magician. One major drawback for her character though is her relentless need to take huge risks that didn’t feel necessary. She never seemed to learn from her past mistakes and even when another character pointed out that she didn’t need to take certain risks, she would inevitably do it anyway.

Moira’s love interest Dez was a character that felt largely incomplete and also graded on my nerves. When we first meet Dez, he’s exactly what you’d expect from a run-of-the-mill cocky, hot love-interest. His smiles are irresistible, his attention is flattering, and he’s hiding this softer side that only the female protagonist can see. What really annoyed me the most was that Dez was in constant need of reassurance. He continually would point out to Moira that he wasn’t good enough for her, that he didn’t deserve her, and they were too different. She in turn had to continually tell him he was worth it. This would have been fine if it happened once, but it felt like it kept happening over and over. I did not care much for their relationship, as it takes off rather quickly and really felt like it had no real depth.

There is an element of real magic to the novel that probably would have been more interesting if Moira had met someone with the same kind of ability she had, who was also an ally for her. Instead the protagonist must discover how to use her abilities on her own, with only vague clues to work with. The magical system felt very incomplete as a result. The adults were another part of this book that I didn’t like. Most of them seemed to be either infuriatingly passive or frustratingly overbearing. For the most part, they functioned as obstacles in Moira’s story and didn’t feel well-rounded enough. One saving grace for the novel is Moira’s dedication to her female role-models. Before every performance, she would take the time to dedicate her show to a real life female magician that she drew inspiration from. ...more

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Jul 04, 2016 Marguerite rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, net-galley

2 Stars.

Girl in the Shadows delivered on cool magic acts, but fell down when it came to character development and the romance. In general, this book felt flat for me - I could see where the author wanted to go, but it just didn't come off. Okay, into the nitty gritty of the review.

Characters: Ah, the MC, Moira - on one level I understood her frustrations, and on another level I felt she went about it all the wrong way. Why did she just walk into that house? How stupid are you? Of course somethin 2 Stars.

Girl in the Shadows delivered on cool magic acts, but fell down when it came to character development and the romance. In general, this book felt flat for me - I could see where the author wanted to go, but it just didn't come off. Okay, into the nitty gritty of the review.

Characters: Ah, the MC, Moira - on one level I understood her frustrations, and on another level I felt she went about it all the wrong way. Why did she just walk into that house? How stupid are you? Of course something bad was going to happen! Scope out the area, don't storm in! Why didn't she just grill Dez about it? He totally would have cracked... anyway, I digress. Because I felt Moira was really silly at times, I just couldn't relate or connect - I didn't feel invested and just felt 'meh' about her in general. Her one positive feature - she is aces at escape magic illusions, which were a blast to read! The other characters - Dez was alright, Brandon was a jerk, Raleigh was *shrugs* confusing really (did he like her or not? Or is he just slightly jerky in general?) and everyone else... blurred a little. This may be because they were established in the first companion novel (which I haven't read), so that may be completely my fault, but I didn't feel the friendships were as developed as they could have been with Moira. At times, there were just too many people and I forgot some of their names. Finally, I think that Moira's dad was just trying to do the right thing - she didn't have to go volcanic on him.

Setting: So cool! I loved the circus world - really well developed and enjoyable to read. The magic mythology only confused me and I didn't know what was going on - I got the gist, but I don't feel that I really got it. Like, who were the secret society really? If only one person - the queen- had magic, how does that work? Ah, it was just confusing.

Plot: The writing flowed well - I found it easy to read, but I never doubted that stuff wasn't going to work out. On reflection, though, I felt it was a little choppy? The magic illusions were fun, but apart from that, it snapped around a lot. The romance was so flat and sometimes, plain creepy to me. It was obvious from second one that they were going to end up together - where is the tensions? The gorgeous slow-burn? The obstacles? Nothing.

All in all, I found Girl in the Shadows to be a passable read - the magic was fun and that was it. I would recommend the series for people wanting to read magic illusion/circus books, because you might enjoy it more than me!

*Thank-you to Skyscape and Two Lions and Net Galley for this ARC. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review* ...more

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Jul 01, 2016 Kari Rhiannon (Moon Magister Reviews) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-2016, modern-fantasy, young-adult, romance, female-protagonist, circus, paranormal

I received an ARC copy from 'Skyscape and Two Lions’ in return for an honest review. There seems to be a little confusion in the reviewing community as to whether it should count as book two and therefore should be read after 'Girl on a Wire’ or whether it can be read as a standalone. My personal opinion is that it should be read after 'Girl on a Wire’ because you get so much more out of this book if you’re familiar with the characters of the previous book.

I enjoyed this book…it was a little cha I received an ARC copy from 'Skyscape and Two Lions’ in return for an honest review. There seems to be a little confusion in the reviewing community as to whether it should count as book two and therefore should be read after 'Girl on a Wire’ or whether it can be read as a standalone. My personal opinion is that it should be read after 'Girl on a Wire’ because you get so much more out of this book if you’re familiar with the characters of the previous book.

I enjoyed this book…it was a little chaotic, some of the time I struggled to follow where the plot was careering off, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Moira, the main characters is a bolshy, stroppy young woman after my own heart and, maybe I’m just yearning for romance, but Dez, the love interest didn’t disappoint me either. Both characters are the living embodiments of rose bushes, beautiful but with protective thorns the size of daggers to stop themselves from getting hurt. Watching the barriers slowly come down between them, their uncertainness and subsequent joy at not being betrayed, was probably my favourite part of the book.

I’m going to be honest and say that the magic plot line didn’t really do it for me. I loved Moira’s daring escapes but anything about her mother and the secret society/family of overentitled magic users left me a little cold. It’s odd, because I’m usually all for pages and pages of magical theory but here I just wanted more time for Moira and Dez and their relationship.

Another of the reasons I think you should read 'Girl on a Wire’ first is that it shows more of the grand circus set pieces that you need to see to understand where exactly Moira and Dez sit in the hierarchy of the circus. One of my favourite parts of both books was the exploration of the decidedly unglamorous parts of circus life, the early mornings, the constant travelling and life in RVs. But even in 'Girl on a Wire’ you were dealing with the upper echelon, the higher ranked performers, 'Girl in the Shadows’ is much more about the crew, the performers outside the tent and how they live in the chaos of the circus.

So, overall, I really enjoyed this book, though maybe more for the characters than the plot. I would very much suggest reading 'Girl on a Wire’ beforehand, this book makes so much more sense and is just so much more enjoyable with the context that the first book brings.

3.5 Stars ...more

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Oct 25, 2020 Hazel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, 2020, owned-ebook

3.75 stars.

I really wanted to give this four stars, and by the middle of the book I thought I would, but while the middle 50% of the book was solid, the first and last 25% of the book didn't enchant me as much. It took me a long time to get through the first quarter, but I think part of that was my fault. I had read other reviews where people were saying it wasn't that good and that the characters were flat and the trope of insta-love is used, and I think that made me less interested in the book 3.75 stars.

I really wanted to give this four stars, and by the middle of the book I thought I would, but while the middle 50% of the book was solid, the first and last 25% of the book didn't enchant me as much. It took me a long time to get through the first quarter, but I think part of that was my fault. I had read other reviews where people were saying it wasn't that good and that the characters were flat and the trope of insta-love is used, and I think that made me less interested in the book. Once I got through the first quarter it started picking up for me. I did feel that there was insta-love and that the main relationship wasn't as well developed as it could have been. I feel like if I had read this back in my middle school days or early high school, I would have given it five stars. I just think I've learned to be more critical of what I'm reading, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.

I did still enjoy this book, though. It felt sort of similar to Girl on a Wire, where the main character joins Cirque American against her family’s wishes. In this case, Moira’s dad doesn’t want her to be a magician, and he says women don’t usually make it as magicians. Along the way, the main character discovers some secrets and there is magic involved. I have to say that this one fixed one if my problems with the first book which was that I wanted more magic. Magic ( both fake and real) abounds in this one. I really appreciated how Moira dedicated her acts to female magicians, spreading awareness of these forgotten women as sort of a way to prove her dad wrong. I think the plot of this one was more interesting than the previous book, though many of the characters from book one also play a role in this story. The plot was a bit more out there and involved more magic than that of just a few objects.

I would have liked to have seen more of the relationship between Moira and her dad before she left for the Cirque. He doesn't support her desire to perform magic, but I didn't know whether he was otherwise supportive. It seemed like it, but I felt I was grasping at straws. Moira herself said that he otherwise supportive, but then he made some choices late in the book that made me question how he could claim to be a supportive parent. All I saw was him being controlling.

I didn't have a problem with the relationship between Moira and Dez, other than the fact that it started out with insta-love. It felt like they barely knew each other and they already wanted to be in a relationship. I felt it could have developed more over time, since they are spending the summer together. I never felt that their relationship was totally solid, but there were other factors I think that subtly influenced this. I was fine with their relationship, but I wasn't gushing over it, and it wasn't necessarily OTP material.

Spoilers!

Even though Moira herself says her dad supports her in things other than her desire to perform, I didn't see that late in the novel. I really disliked him because he tried to make Thurston get rid of Moira and make her come home, and I think that was incredibly controlling behavior, and it was unsettling because he was trying to control his adult daughter. Moira is still young, but she is legally an adult who can make her own choices. I'm glad Thurston stood up for her and said that he would not force her to leave. I think her dad's behavior went beyond being protective. I was thinking the whole time when Moira was worried about her dad finding out about her lie that technically he couldn't legally make her come home because of her age. The only thing he could do was exert his power and influence within the industry.

I felt like I wasn't totally all-in on the relationship between Moira and Dez because Dez wasn't either. In part because of his loyalties as part of the Praestigae, but also because of his own insecurities that come out late in the book. He's grown up thinking he's a failure and that he has to make up for what his dad did. It doesn't seem like he has experienced love before, and he is put down a lot by the Rex, so of course he would question whether he is worthy of love. He put on a bravado of sorts, a pretend rakishness, as Moira called it, but it was to hide his own insecurities. I do think their relationship and characters developed over the course of the novel because he didn't reveal this side of him at first, not even to Moira. I don't know if other people felt this way about their relationship and whether it was an intentional choice, but it felt kind of genius.

I wasn't at all surprised by the revelation that Dez's "family friend" and Moira's mom were part of the Praestigae, or that Brandon and Dez were too. some of the dead giveaways for me were the the names. I knew Rex was latin for king, and Regina queen. When Dez said where he came from the believed in kings and benevolent queens, I immediately knew he was part of it too. I don't know if it was supposed to be shocking but it wasn't for me. I still thought it was really clever, though. I love when the meaning of the names is important for the plot. What did surprise me was the Raleigh was searching for the coin. I hadn't ruled him out, though I was suspicious of him because his trailer hadn't been rifled through and he was talking a lot about the notes being misdirection. I guess that should have been my clue that he was the real culprit.

I felt the story was strongest in the middle. After the 75% mark it started losing me a bit again. I wasn't sure that I totally understood the plan and how it was going to work, even before her dad went and complicated things. I still had some questions about Regina as well. Is her name actually Regina, or did she have another name? She mentioned the Regina has to reproduce or they're cursed. I assume her mom was the previous Regina, so did she name her daughter for the role she would take? Can Regina have more kids and pass her power on, or would their power die out because Moira won't be the next Regina? I like how their society was led by women because women hold the magic. I also wondered whether Regina was on Moira's side all along or whether she was also in it for the ulterior motives and not just because of the Rex. It seems she is sort of entitled because of how Dez described her as not ever paying for anything and always using illusions, though whether that was because of the Rex we never learn. She is still a very mysterious figure at the end of the book, which is fine.

I feel like at times, Moira makes some rookie mistakes, not all of which make sense within the story. For example, she learned about the Praestigae from Nan, yet only at the end does she ask Nan for information about them. She even tried searching the internet first and found nothing. I was questioning the whole time why she didn't ask Nan, who seems to know a bit about them. She may have distrusted Nan at the beginning, but she later came to trust her because she went to Nan first when she knew someone was looking for the coin, instead of going to Thurston. Also, Moira's not really good at playing Nancy Drew because when she follows Dez and Brandon, she waltzes right into a strange house instead of trying to look in the windows to figure out what's going on. I feel like it's her own fault that she got in the situation she did. ...more

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Jun 19, 2016 Brenda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Girl in the Shadows is mediocre. I honestly thought that this was going to be a favorite for me; I absolutely love stage magic. I had a big fat crush on Lance Burton when he performed in Las Vegas and I got to go onstage. I had my own little magic set. I watched all those Fox Family (back when it was still Fox Family) specials where it was just nonstop magic.

So going in, I believed this would be fantastic. It's not. Moira was the kind of strong-willed that irritates the hell out of me in a main Girl in the Shadows is mediocre. I honestly thought that this was going to be a favorite for me; I absolutely love stage magic. I had a big fat crush on Lance Burton when he performed in Las Vegas and I got to go onstage. I had my own little magic set. I watched all those Fox Family (back when it was still Fox Family) specials where it was just nonstop magic.

So going in, I believed this would be fantastic. It's not. Moira was the kind of strong-willed that irritates the hell out of me in a main character. She only wants to do magic. She wants to do magic so much, she's literally willing to risk her life (in numerous ways) to do it. It was really hard to justify this attitude when all she had to do was go somewhere different. For example.... go to New York or Los Angeles. You know, where the Magic Castle is? Instead of staying in the traveling circus that has real magic threatening your life? So you don't die, and you can keep doing magic? It was a weird way of staking her independence and I her justification was just idiotic. She was ridiculously stubborn when she didn't need to be.

The romance did nothing for me, as usual. I felt no connection between the two and there was very little in the way of development before they admitted their attraction for each other. This isn't really a deal breaker for me anymore since basically all YA has this now, but still. It was just another small bad taste in my mouth while reading.

The plot itself is painfully slow. I think it was around page 260 or so when something finally happened related to this secret society looking for the coin. Everything else before that is just a lot of description of Moira's escapes and how she keeps unnecessarily risking her life for tricks she hasn't figured out yet. And the resolution for the big baddie was just...lukewarm. Not a dramatic finish but not terrible either. It's honestly the sort of thing I'll forget as soon as I start my next book.

Overall it's just sort of bland all around. I didn't like the characters much and the plot was slow to start and slow to finish. It kind of breaks my heart to say that too because I love magic, dammit! ...more

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About Gwenda Bond

Gwenda Bond

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Gwenda Bond is the author of many novels, primarily for young adults. Among others, they include the Lois Lane trilogy, which brings the iconic comic book character front and center in her own YA novels, and the Cirque American trilogy, about daredevil heroines who discover magic and mystery lurking under the big top. She and her husband author Christopher Rowe also co-write a middle grade series, ...more

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Cirque American (2 books)

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Quotes from Girl in the Shadows

“I’d forgotten to account for the dystopian hell zone that was LA traffic.” — 1 likes

“Magic was well-crafted lies woven into stories no one believed were true, even though they delighted in seeing the convincing falsehood with their own eyes.” — 1 likes

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