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Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy
As an orphaned sixteen-year-old, Lynette was haunted by the ghost of Mirror Boy, the drowned child who replaced her reflection. Ten years later, she’s built herself a new life, but all that is threatened when Mirror Boy returns, warning of danger. A hunter has come for both of them, and unless Lynette can figure out what’s going on, they will both perish.
Read JY Yang's Tor.com Original short story, Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Read JY Yang's Tor.com Original short story, Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
33 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2019
15 people are currently reading
971 people want to read
About the author
J.Y. Yang
59 books1,066 followersNeon Yang is the author of the Tensorate series of novellas from Tor.Com Publishing (The Red Threads of Fortune, The Black Tides of Heaven, The Descent of Monsters and The Ascent to Godhood). Their work has been shortlisted for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Lambda Literary and Locus awards, while the Tensorate novellas were a Tiptree honoree in 2018. They have over two dozen works of short fiction published in venues including Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and Strange Horizons.
Neon attended the 2013 class of Clarion West, and received their MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in 2016. In previous incarnations, they have been a molecular biologist, a writer for animation, comics and games, a science communicator, and a journalist for one of Singapore’s national papers.
Neon is currently based out of Singapore. They are queer and non-binary. Find them on Twitter as @itsneonyang, and otherwise at http://neonyang.com.
Neon attended the 2013 class of Clarion West, and received their MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in 2016. In previous incarnations, they have been a molecular biologist, a writer for animation, comics and games, a science communicator, and a journalist for one of Singapore’s national papers.
Neon is currently based out of Singapore. They are queer and non-binary. Find them on Twitter as @itsneonyang, and otherwise at http://neonyang.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
December 2, 2021
Read this in a car (again). It was okay.
RTC
RTC
April 1, 2019
3.5ish stars? Lynette, aka Circus Girl, a former circus knife thrower/fire juggler, then prostitute (her way of escaping the circus life), then "lowly beauty technician," is startled one day to see "Mirror Boy," a childhood ghost that replaced her image in the mirror for several years until he faded away, staring back at her from the mirror again one day. She wants him to go away again, but Mirror Boy is there to warn her: there's a hunter, a man who's methodically seeking out all of the people Mirror Boy has haunted, and killing them. And now he's after Circus Girl.
This was almost a story that really worked for me. JY Yang has some lovely, evocative language and I really liked the basic idea of the plot. But some of the details grated (like the hunter's religious obsession and constant prayers to Leviathan), and the final resolution, though cheering, doesn't entirely make sense given the rules of the world that Yang set up. Hmm. I need to think about this some more.
Full review to come.
Content notes: some sexual content and a handful of F-bombs.
This was almost a story that really worked for me. JY Yang has some lovely, evocative language and I really liked the basic idea of the plot. But some of the details grated (like the hunter's religious obsession and constant prayers to Leviathan), and the final resolution, though cheering, doesn't entirely make sense given the rules of the world that Yang set up. Hmm. I need to think about this some more.
Full review to come.
Content notes: some sexual content and a handful of F-bombs.
January 1, 2020
WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the FOURTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2019 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
if you scroll to the end of the reviews linked here, you will find links to all the previous years’ stories, which means NINETY-THREE FREEBIES FOR YOU!
2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2018: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
reviews of these will vary in length/quality depending on my available time/brain power.
so, let’s begin
DECEMBER 27
so i guess i'm going to stick to the tor shorts for this project, since—as far as i know—gr has never deleted any of them. i do want to bitch a little about how arbitrary it is, though. i understand not allowing fanfic on here—that's a whole crazy unregulated world of borrowed characters and there are probably some legal headaches that no one really wants to take on. but short stories published in literary journals and magazines and online wherevers where authors have likely been paid and readers would surely like to know they can access—deleting those seems nonsensical. i was going to read a colson whitehead story for this, that was published in the new yorker, but now it is gone from goodreads. all of the future tense fiction stories i discovered on slate are now gone from goodreads. if this is supposed to be a community for readers, what is a better surprise for a booknerd than discovering that an author they love has a story they've never read? i have loved sharing these links with other readers, so they could get as excited as i have been to find new stories by beloved authors and now this is just one more thing that is sad in the world and why can't we just have nice things for once?
anyway, this story.
i don't want to let my grumpy mood get all over my response to this story, because it is a lovely and poignant one—a little magic, a little horror, a little romance, by an author new to me. and THAT is why knowing that free short stories are out there is so great. because now i have sampled an author's work and will likely go out and try more by them and i didn't have to commit to a full-length novel by a stranger-danger in my limited time when i am more likely to reach for someone i already love and have expectations around. booknerds need to know what's out there and what suits them and little snacks whet bigger appetites.
so thanks a lot, gr, and maybe don't delete our OPPORTUNITIES anymore.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2019/01/30/circus...
*******************************************
DECEMBER 1
DECEMBER 2
DECEMBER 3
DECEMBER 4
DECEMBER 5
DECEMBER 6
DECEMBER 7
DECEMBER 8
DECEMBER 9
DECEMBER 10
DECEMBER 11
DECEMBER 12
DECEMBER 13
DECEMBER 14 GOODREADS ERASED THIS STORY AND MY REVIEW FROM THE SITE, SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO READ IT, IT IS HERE. THANKS.
DECEMBER 15
DECEMBER 16
DECEMBER 17
DECEMBER 18
DECEMBER 19
DECEMBER 20
DECEMBER 21
DECEMBER 22
DECEMBER 23
DECEMBER 24
DECEMBER 25
DECEMBER 26
DECEMBER 28
DECEMBER 29
DECEMBER 30
DECEMBER 31
come to my blog!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the FOURTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2019 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
if you scroll to the end of the reviews linked here, you will find links to all the previous years’ stories, which means NINETY-THREE FREEBIES FOR YOU!
2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2018: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
reviews of these will vary in length/quality depending on my available time/brain power.
so, let’s begin
DECEMBER 27
I bled from the palms stealing a shard of factory window for my room, and in that sacred space where no one else was allowed—or no one else dared to go—I spent hours with Mirror Boy. I would sit by the cold glass in the afternoons, in between rehearsals and the start of the night’s performances, and I would let spill all the petty grievances of the day. Who had looked at me the wrong way, who had wounded me with cutting words. Mirror Boy never said much. He listened and told me I was right, or that he agreed with me. And I needed that. As time went on I started talking about my hopes for the future, about how I wanted to leave the circus and leave Darlingfort before it broke me like it broke everyone else. And he would just smile and nod and say he believed I could do it.
so i guess i'm going to stick to the tor shorts for this project, since—as far as i know—gr has never deleted any of them. i do want to bitch a little about how arbitrary it is, though. i understand not allowing fanfic on here—that's a whole crazy unregulated world of borrowed characters and there are probably some legal headaches that no one really wants to take on. but short stories published in literary journals and magazines and online wherevers where authors have likely been paid and readers would surely like to know they can access—deleting those seems nonsensical. i was going to read a colson whitehead story for this, that was published in the new yorker, but now it is gone from goodreads. all of the future tense fiction stories i discovered on slate are now gone from goodreads. if this is supposed to be a community for readers, what is a better surprise for a booknerd than discovering that an author they love has a story they've never read? i have loved sharing these links with other readers, so they could get as excited as i have been to find new stories by beloved authors and now this is just one more thing that is sad in the world and why can't we just have nice things for once?
anyway, this story.
i don't want to let my grumpy mood get all over my response to this story, because it is a lovely and poignant one—a little magic, a little horror, a little romance, by an author new to me. and THAT is why knowing that free short stories are out there is so great. because now i have sampled an author's work and will likely go out and try more by them and i didn't have to commit to a full-length novel by a stranger-danger in my limited time when i am more likely to reach for someone i already love and have expectations around. booknerds need to know what's out there and what suits them and little snacks whet bigger appetites.
so thanks a lot, gr, and maybe don't delete our OPPORTUNITIES anymore.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2019/01/30/circus...
*******************************************
DECEMBER 1
DECEMBER 2
DECEMBER 3
DECEMBER 4
DECEMBER 5
DECEMBER 6
DECEMBER 7
DECEMBER 8
DECEMBER 9
DECEMBER 10
DECEMBER 11
DECEMBER 12
DECEMBER 13
DECEMBER 14 GOODREADS ERASED THIS STORY AND MY REVIEW FROM THE SITE, SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO READ IT, IT IS HERE. THANKS.
DECEMBER 15
DECEMBER 16
DECEMBER 17
DECEMBER 18
DECEMBER 19
DECEMBER 20
DECEMBER 21
DECEMBER 22
DECEMBER 23
DECEMBER 24
DECEMBER 25
DECEMBER 26
DECEMBER 28
DECEMBER 29
DECEMBER 30
DECEMBER 31
come to my blog!
February 8, 2019
Lynette grew up in the circus. After spurning the advances of the escape artist, he chains her up and throws her in the water tank to drown. She is rescued by a boy in a mirror who becomes her boyfriend/companion, even though he is only present as her reflection. He disappears when she is sixteen, only to reappear years later when someone is hunting down anyone with a connection to him. The title of J.Y. Yang’s new story “Circus Girl, the Hunter, and Mirror Boy” is a bit on the nose, don’t you think? I appreciated that all three title characters had a POV section of the story, though in some ways I would have preferred it stay with Lynette, who is the hero and whose section has the longest word count by far. Magic is an accepted part of daily life so there’s a weird casualness to everything that goes on in the story, even when it seems like the characters should act with a little more urgency. The writing has an unforced charm, like most of Yang’s work; I suppose not every story has to ratchet up the tension to 11, even when the protagonist is being hunted by a serial killer.
September 29, 2020
Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy
was entertaining but boring.
I loved the writing style, it was so catchy and entertaining I wanted a few more pages about this novella. The characters were incredible, even when Lynette had a difficult childhood she was badass in her own way just trying to help Mirror Boy.
I didn't feel any chemistry between Lynette and Mirror Boy, it was lame and mundane. The plot was stunning especially when the author puts together fantasy with everyday life but The Hunter's POV didn't make sense at all, introducing a whole new line about religion when no one knew about it, it just came out of nowhere so at the end even The Hunter's goal lost his meaning.
This felt more like a tale than novella.
I loved the writing style, it was so catchy and entertaining I wanted a few more pages about this novella. The characters were incredible, even when Lynette had a difficult childhood she was badass in her own way just trying to help Mirror Boy.
I didn't feel any chemistry between Lynette and Mirror Boy, it was lame and mundane. The plot was stunning especially when the author puts together fantasy with everyday life but The Hunter's POV didn't make sense at all, introducing a whole new line about religion when no one knew about it, it just came out of nowhere so at the end even The Hunter's goal lost his meaning.
This felt more like a tale than novella.
August 5, 2022
When twenty-six-year-old Lynette starts to see the Mirror Boy again out of the blue, she is shocked, to say the least as it's been ten years since she last saw him and she's built a new life for herself. Mirror Boy tells her that her life could be in danger so she has no choice but to team up with him and get to the bottom of the danger that lurks out there.
This was a very interesting and lovely read. I was hooked from the very beginning. It's set up in this very familiar but also very strange world both at the same time. I liked how even in the short story, the author was able to provide the back story of the girl. The only reason it is a 4 star for me instead of 5 stars is that I didn't really like the ending, other than that it's absolutely amazing.
4 stars
This was a very interesting and lovely read. I was hooked from the very beginning. It's set up in this very familiar but also very strange world both at the same time. I liked how even in the short story, the author was able to provide the back story of the girl. The only reason it is a 4 star for me instead of 5 stars is that I didn't really like the ending, other than that it's absolutely amazing.
4 stars
March 26, 2019
I've found a new favorite short story.
I feel like for me it's more difficult to find new favorite short stories than it is to find new favorite novels. Novels will stay with me more easily, but a story? Even if I like the author's writing - and I already knew I liked JY Yang's, because of the Tensorate and Waiting on a Bright Moon - not every story will hit me the right way. I won't get all of them.
This was raw and at times messed up and ugly and I understood it in ways I didn't expect. It's about a woman who was once a circus girl, and the ghost boy who haunted her during the worst year of her life, who helped her through a difficult time when she was a teen. It gets that feeling I can't put into words - when something from your past, especially early adolescence, comes back to haunt you, and you want to claim it as yours and really don't want to at the same time. It's your history but you also wish you had left it behind while wishing it would come back. A part of you and your history that is more you than everything but you're also ashamed of it.
It's also beautifully written and vaguely witch-y in the best way, and the atmosphere has that kind of rotten ruin charm that I love, especially in stories that have vague tones of aquatic horror.
Anyway: this is for those who like knife-throwing haunted girls, lost ghost boys who fight against their nature, helpful witches with the best aesthetics, and mysterious hunters with an obsession. I loved it so much.
Trigger warning for death of gay characters. I usually would have a problem with this - the main characters' sexuality isn't stated (I think - or maybe I missed it) and you could assume everyone but [dead guy] is straight, but honestly: I don't want to police what openly queer authors who usually write all-queer casts do with their stories and I assumed everyone to be queer anyway, but I recognize it could bother someone.
I feel like for me it's more difficult to find new favorite short stories than it is to find new favorite novels. Novels will stay with me more easily, but a story? Even if I like the author's writing - and I already knew I liked JY Yang's, because of the Tensorate and Waiting on a Bright Moon - not every story will hit me the right way. I won't get all of them.
This was raw and at times messed up and ugly and I understood it in ways I didn't expect. It's about a woman who was once a circus girl, and the ghost boy who haunted her during the worst year of her life, who helped her through a difficult time when she was a teen. It gets that feeling I can't put into words - when something from your past, especially early adolescence, comes back to haunt you, and you want to claim it as yours and really don't want to at the same time. It's your history but you also wish you had left it behind while wishing it would come back. A part of you and your history that is more you than everything but you're also ashamed of it.
It's also beautifully written and vaguely witch-y in the best way, and the atmosphere has that kind of rotten ruin charm that I love, especially in stories that have vague tones of aquatic horror.
Anyway: this is for those who like knife-throwing haunted girls, lost ghost boys who fight against their nature, helpful witches with the best aesthetics, and mysterious hunters with an obsession. I loved it so much.
Trigger warning for death of gay characters. I usually would have a problem with this - the main characters' sexuality isn't stated (I think - or maybe I missed it) and you could assume everyone but [dead guy] is straight, but honestly: I don't want to police what openly queer authors who usually write all-queer casts do with their stories and I assumed everyone to be queer anyway, but I recognize it could bother someone.
October 20, 2020
Paranormal read.
There's a 'wraith', a paranormal being, which is supposed to infect and spread amongst people they choose as host/s.
Then there's the hosts, normal people, who they can take over.
But this particular wraith 'mirror boy' is different as he doesn't want to harm one of his many hosts, the 'Circus Girl'. They share a deep bond over the many years of interaction.
And then there's the 'Hunter' who is out there to kill every host that the wraith has infected or owned.
The Circus Girl has come a long way from a life of misfortunes and the Mirror boy has been her lifelong companion. She needs to be saved.
But the ending is something else.
Even though the plot is good to start with, I find the ending a bit underwhelming and half-planned. I find it rather dull.
What I loved most about this short story is the gripping writing style and the way the characters were developed.
However, the plot lacked direction and as a result the ending was a bit haphazard.
But I enjoyed this one nevertheless.
There's a 'wraith', a paranormal being, which is supposed to infect and spread amongst people they choose as host/s.
Then there's the hosts, normal people, who they can take over.
But this particular wraith 'mirror boy' is different as he doesn't want to harm one of his many hosts, the 'Circus Girl'. They share a deep bond over the many years of interaction.
And then there's the 'Hunter' who is out there to kill every host that the wraith has infected or owned.
The Circus Girl has come a long way from a life of misfortunes and the Mirror boy has been her lifelong companion. She needs to be saved.
But the ending is something else.
Even though the plot is good to start with, I find the ending a bit underwhelming and half-planned. I find it rather dull.
What I loved most about this short story is the gripping writing style and the way the characters were developed.
However, the plot lacked direction and as a result the ending was a bit haphazard.
But I enjoyed this one nevertheless.
June 16, 2020
Circus Girl, The Hunter and the Mirror Boy was seriously good! From the start, the world build, the presentation of the girl's past, how she met the boy and the present, were all so nicely constructed. And, somehow, the author managed to twist everything up and give a proper ending, which, by the way, I didn't see coming!
February 2, 2019
When I saw JY Yang wrote this one, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve read The Black Tides of Heaven and enjoyed it, but it was pure fantasy.
This is more of an urban fantasy ghost story and it felt pretty unique. I liked the elements of witchcraft, the way the story of Mirror Boy unfolded naturally. The writing was great and the ending was pretty fantastic.
It definitely has me wondering what else Yang can do. I’d be excited to see other work outside the Tensorate series from them.
This is more of an urban fantasy ghost story and it felt pretty unique. I liked the elements of witchcraft, the way the story of Mirror Boy unfolded naturally. The writing was great and the ending was pretty fantastic.
It definitely has me wondering what else Yang can do. I’d be excited to see other work outside the Tensorate series from them.
May 13, 2022
I'll also put the name of the story here, in case Goodreads decides to merge it into some other work:
Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy by Neon Yang (former known as J.Y. Yang ) - 2.5-3/5★
A story about an orphan girl and a wraith that fights its call to take over its host, and a hunter that wants to end the wraith.
The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2019 edition and can also be read on Tor.com.
Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy by Neon Yang (former known as J.Y. Yang ) - 2.5-3/5★
A story about an orphan girl and a wraith that fights its call to take over its host, and a hunter that wants to end the wraith.
The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2019 edition and can also be read on Tor.com.
April 16, 2019
Read this review and others on my blog!
Again this week I returned to Tor.com to peruse their short fiction, and boy am I glad I did. No need to mince words here—this story was fantastic from start to finish, and eeeee, this author has an entire trilogy out as well as more short fiction, and wow wow wow wow wow, did I love this. (Also, can we take a second to appreciate the excellent artwork that accompanies each Tor story? Maybe there’s something to be said about a lack of a book cover being one reason why many readers overlook short fiction.) You can read the short story here…
So everything about this story is great—I have literally zero complaints. (Hell must be freezing over, huh?) The language was perfect: appropriately poetic when it needed to be, sometimes experimental, sometimes matter-of-fact. Plot-wise, we’re thrown into a near-futuristic world much like our own but with witches and spirits, etc. (Sidenote that all these ghouls and ghosties seem to have only existed for twenty years, and I want to know moooooooore in the best way possible. Can we get some longer fiction set in this world? Pretty please?) Yang’s voice keeps us feeling grounded without relying on an info-dump slog, and the main character right away feels like someone we can root for. And our MC has a problem—she’s woken up and every mirrored surface shows not her reflection, but instead a dude she’s aptly named Mirror Boy. She used to see Mirror Boy back in the day as well, but then he went away as her life became more stable. Now he’s back, with some pretty bad news: a serial killer is on the hunt for the MC, ready to make her his latest victim.
Also there’s some very cool ocean-based mythology woven throughout.
Does this seem like a lot for a short story? Don’t worry, I promise that everything wraps up at the end beautifully. Please, read this, then join me in feeling that achey, oh no it’s over feeling. Misery loves company.
Again this week I returned to Tor.com to peruse their short fiction, and boy am I glad I did. No need to mince words here—this story was fantastic from start to finish, and eeeee, this author has an entire trilogy out as well as more short fiction, and wow wow wow wow wow, did I love this. (Also, can we take a second to appreciate the excellent artwork that accompanies each Tor story? Maybe there’s something to be said about a lack of a book cover being one reason why many readers overlook short fiction.) You can read the short story here…
So everything about this story is great—I have literally zero complaints. (Hell must be freezing over, huh?) The language was perfect: appropriately poetic when it needed to be, sometimes experimental, sometimes matter-of-fact. Plot-wise, we’re thrown into a near-futuristic world much like our own but with witches and spirits, etc. (Sidenote that all these ghouls and ghosties seem to have only existed for twenty years, and I want to know moooooooore in the best way possible. Can we get some longer fiction set in this world? Pretty please?) Yang’s voice keeps us feeling grounded without relying on an info-dump slog, and the main character right away feels like someone we can root for. And our MC has a problem—she’s woken up and every mirrored surface shows not her reflection, but instead a dude she’s aptly named Mirror Boy. She used to see Mirror Boy back in the day as well, but then he went away as her life became more stable. Now he’s back, with some pretty bad news: a serial killer is on the hunt for the MC, ready to make her his latest victim.
Also there’s some very cool ocean-based mythology woven throughout.
Does this seem like a lot for a short story? Don’t worry, I promise that everything wraps up at the end beautifully. Please, read this, then join me in feeling that achey, oh no it’s over feeling. Misery loves company.
September 9, 2020
Probably more of a 3.5.
I love the author but I didn’t even know about this short story until I saw it nominated in FIYAH’s IGNYTE awards, and I had to read it immediately. It has a bit of a spooky vibe and I don’t usually go for such stuff, but I enjoyed the main character’s desire to have a better life and the mirror boy’s intention of helping people during some of the worst times of their lives, doing so by against his true nature. They both do make a good duo. Beautiful writing as always and it really makes you feel every word.
I love the author but I didn’t even know about this short story until I saw it nominated in FIYAH’s IGNYTE awards, and I had to read it immediately. It has a bit of a spooky vibe and I don’t usually go for such stuff, but I enjoyed the main character’s desire to have a better life and the mirror boy’s intention of helping people during some of the worst times of their lives, doing so by against his true nature. They both do make a good duo. Beautiful writing as always and it really makes you feel every word.
December 24, 2025
☑️Circus Girl, the Hunter, and Mirror Boy/ J.Y. Yang/ 2019
☑️ کتاب دربارهی لینت (Lynette یا Circus girl) هست که الان ۲۶ سالشه و داخل سالن زیبایی کار میکنه. هماتاقی خوبی داره و ظاهرا زندگی آروم و خوبی رو میگذرونه.
اما یه روزی متوجه میشه که رفلکشن خودش رو توی آینه نمیبینه!! و یه پسر (mirror boy) به جاش میبینه. البته این اولین بار نیست. قبلا وقتی ۱۶ سالش بوده (ده سال قبل که توی سیرک کار میکرده) هم درحالی که غرق میشده اون رو دیده و اون پسر کمکش کرده نجات پیدا کنه. و این بار هم Mirror boy برگشته تا بهش هشدار بده که یه قاتل سریالی (the Hunter) دنبالشه....
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⚪️ من صرفا بر اساس عکس جلدش تصمیم گرفته بودم بخونمش. بعد که بازش کردم متوجه شدم ۳۳ صفحهست و کوتاهه. در کل جالب بود.
با وجود کوتاه بودنش هویت Hunter (همون قاتل سریالی داستان) و آخر داستان برام قابل پیشبینی نبود.
شاید یه سری ضعف ها داشته باشه ولی در کل جالب بود برام.
🟢 در کل میخواستم ۳ ستاره بدم ولی چون از یه سری quote هاش خوشم اومد بهش ۴ ستاره دادم.
- I’m a cancer. You were my first. Site of metastasis, I mean.
- “I wanted you to be real,” I told him.
“I know.”
- “I’m a pretender,” I said, knowing Mirror Boy was listening. “When I stop to think about my life I get the sense that I’m just borrowing someone else’s. So I don’t.”
“A borrowed life is better than none,” said Mirror Boy.
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⭐️ در کل 4 از 5
☑️ کتاب دربارهی لینت (Lynette یا Circus girl) هست که الان ۲۶ سالشه و داخل سالن زیبایی کار میکنه. هماتاقی خوبی داره و ظاهرا زندگی آروم و خوبی رو میگذرونه.
اما یه روزی متوجه میشه که رفلکشن خودش رو توی آینه نمیبینه!! و یه پسر (mirror boy) به جاش میبینه. البته این اولین بار نیست. قبلا وقتی ۱۶ سالش بوده (ده سال قبل که توی سیرک کار میکرده) هم درحالی که غرق میشده اون رو دیده و اون پسر کمکش کرده نجات پیدا کنه. و این بار هم Mirror boy برگشته تا بهش هشدار بده که یه قاتل سریالی (the Hunter) دنبالشه....
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⚪️ من صرفا بر اساس عکس جلدش تصمیم گرفته بودم بخونمش. بعد که بازش کردم متوجه شدم ۳۳ صفحهست و کوتاهه. در کل جالب بود.
با وجود کوتاه بودنش هویت Hunter (همون قاتل سریالی داستان) و آخر داستان برام قابل پیشبینی نبود.
شاید یه سری ضعف ها داشته باشه ولی در کل جالب بود برام.
🟢 در کل میخواستم ۳ ستاره بدم ولی چون از یه سری quote هاش خوشم اومد بهش ۴ ستاره دادم.
- I’m a cancer. You were my first. Site of metastasis, I mean.
- “I wanted you to be real,” I told him.
“I know.”
- “I’m a pretender,” I said, knowing Mirror Boy was listening. “When I stop to think about my life I get the sense that I’m just borrowing someone else’s. So I don’t.”
“A borrowed life is better than none,” said Mirror Boy.
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⭐️ در کل 4 از 5
May 3, 2019
A borrowed life is better than noneThis hidden gem I found through Tor. J.Y. Yang brought forth such depth and suspense in so few pages. I was highly impressed. If I run into any other short stories by J.Y. Yang I'll be sure to read them.
Once upon a time I was a circus girl, just like my mother. Once upon a time I had an apple-cheeked face and an easy, gap-toothed smile. Once upon a time I used to throw knives and juggle and spin fire
February 1, 2019
A good and somewhat dark story written beautifully, but it didn't speak to me on a personal level.
Read it here!
Read it here!
May 12, 2020
Nice and sweet. The first JY Yang story I liked, to be frank *runs from their fans*
February 21, 2019
Intriguing take on (demonic? alien?) possession as a symbol of gender reversal. But this wisp of a sketch of a world really deserves to be fleshed out more. Great sex scene though.
December 6, 2020
I have the sensation I have read this story before but at the same time, I know I haven't.
Anyway, I love it very much.
Anyway, I love it very much.
July 22, 2021
We are throw into action, the little pieces of world building leave you wanting more. There is only quick paced action which I follow with confusion. I would like to read a more detailed version with greater description of world.
January 24, 2020
Free at Tor.com: https://www.tor.com/2019/01/30/circus...
I saw this come up on Twitter today and, on a whim, clicked on it. I'm SO glad I did. This was a fantastic short story - with the perfect amount of world-building and character depth for its length. I could easily see many stories set in this world, or with these characters.
Honestly, to say too much would be to give it all away. Go read it. It's unique, compelling, and excellently written.
I do know I'll definitely be getting more from J.Y Yang to read soon.
I saw this come up on Twitter today and, on a whim, clicked on it. I'm SO glad I did. This was a fantastic short story - with the perfect amount of world-building and character depth for its length. I could easily see many stories set in this world, or with these characters.
Honestly, to say too much would be to give it all away. Go read it. It's unique, compelling, and excellently written.
I do know I'll definitely be getting more from J.Y Yang to read soon.
February 24, 2021
This was beautiful and exciting, and it surprised me with where it was going. I loved that the author steered away from exposition and let the world-building take place by incorporating details in the natural course of things, allowing the reader to build the world through inference rather than hand-holding. CW:
November 25, 2022
*2,5*
Μου άρεσε πολύ το πρώτο μέρος που ήταν από την οπτική του κοριτσιού. Τα άλλα δύο μου φάνηκαν αρκετά μπερδεμένα. 😬
Μου άρεσε πολύ το πρώτο μέρος που ήταν από την οπτική του κοριτσιού. Τα άλλα δύο μου φάνηκαν αρκετά μπερδεμένα. 😬
June 28, 2020
Yo no soy fan de las historias de fantasmas, pero no le puedo decir que no a J.Y. Neon Yang, es un autore que nunca me ha decepcionado.
Tampoco leo cuentos y heme aquí.
Resultado: un mundo complejo, un sistema de magia establecido en el que se lidia con fantasmas todo el tiempo y tres historias entrelazadas.
Sólo espero que este se me quede pegado y no se me evapore como me pasa con los cuentos.
Tampoco leo cuentos y heme aquí.
Resultado: un mundo complejo, un sistema de magia establecido en el que se lidia con fantasmas todo el tiempo y tres historias entrelazadas.
Sólo espero que este se me quede pegado y no se me evapore como me pasa con los cuentos.
June 23, 2019
Although it is a short story this was far too rushed. This plot reads like a novel and not a short story. Too much happened in sequence for the impact to be felt. I didn't have any relationship with the characters and this made it difficult to invest in their lives.
March 25, 2025
I stumbled upon this accidentally when looking for "circus reads" and it thoroughly surprised me with a well crafted story with paranormal elements and a satisfying ending.
I couldn't help but empathize with both the circus girl and mirror boy in their respective journeys. A thrilling action scene at the end is one of the highlights. A few twists here and there keep the pace going.
I couldn't help but empathize with both the circus girl and mirror boy in their respective journeys. A thrilling action scene at the end is one of the highlights. A few twists here and there keep the pace going.
December 24, 2020
I loved the setting, particularly the continual emphasis on water. I didn't quite connect to the characters, although I appreciated the switching first person perspective in a short story.
March 1, 2023
DNF at 40%
December 6, 2020
The internet can be a murky place when searching for decent short fiction, with dodgy fanfic and worse just waiting in the ether for the unsuspecting reader to stumble upon. But I would never have expected to find something so painfully amateurish as this available on Tor.com, which has a long history of publishing some exceptional sci-fi and fantasy shorts via its short fiction programme (P. Djèlí Clark's A Dead Djinn in Cairo, for one).
There was way too much going on. The main character was in the circus and was a whizz at knife-throwing and juggling. She was attacked and ran away - but not before becoming possessed by an unrelated, water-dwelling spirit who has now taken over her reflection. Now there are murders happening in her old town and she's been marked by the killer... it's a lot. Whilst everything is explained (poorly, at points), it doesn't mesh together well and what it really needed was some severe editing. The author bit off far more than they could chew in trying to fit all of these ideas into one short story.
On top of all of that, we have witchcraft, a redemption story (of sorts), a love story (of a weird sort) and a melting pot of references that left me unclear of whether this was set in our world/a world like it, or a completely different, fantasy world (there was some mention of what appeared to be a sea-based religion, several mentions of squid in various contexts and it seemed to be based in a city like Venice, but absolutely nothing was clear.).
The whole story felt confused, overly ambitious and gave the impression of a rejected script for an episode of some supernatural serial on TV.
I wish I could say it had potential or some redeeming quality, but alas. Sometimes you strike gold, and sometimes you strike out.
There was way too much going on. The main character was in the circus and was a whizz at knife-throwing and juggling. She was attacked and ran away - but not before becoming possessed by an unrelated, water-dwelling spirit who has now taken over her reflection. Now there are murders happening in her old town and she's been marked by the killer... it's a lot. Whilst everything is explained (poorly, at points), it doesn't mesh together well and what it really needed was some severe editing. The author bit off far more than they could chew in trying to fit all of these ideas into one short story.
On top of all of that, we have witchcraft, a redemption story (of sorts), a love story (of a weird sort) and a melting pot of references that left me unclear of whether this was set in our world/a world like it, or a completely different, fantasy world (there was some mention of what appeared to be a sea-based religion, several mentions of squid in various contexts and it seemed to be based in a city like Venice, but absolutely nothing was clear.).
The whole story felt confused, overly ambitious and gave the impression of a rejected script for an episode of some supernatural serial on TV.
I wish I could say it had potential or some redeeming quality, but alas. Sometimes you strike gold, and sometimes you strike out.
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