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The Family Fortuna
Lindsay Eagar’s dazzling YA debut welcomes us backstage at the Family Fortuna circus, where wonders lurk in wait to steal your breath away. You won’t believe your eyes!
Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita was born to be a star. Her tent sells out nightly, and every performance incites bloodcurdling screams. She’s the most lucrative circus act from Texas to Tacoma, the crown jewel of the Family Fortuna, and Avita feeds on the shrieks, the gasps, the fear. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his rendering of Bird Girl. Is that all he sees? A hideous monster—all sharp beak and razor teeth, obsidian eyes and ruffled feathers? Determined to be more, Avita devises a plan to snatch freedom out from under the greased mustache of her charismatic father, the domineering proprietor and ringmaster. But will their fragile circus family survive the showdown she has in mind? By turns delightful and disturbing, bawdy and breathtaking, horrific and heartfelt, this electric and exquisitely crafted story about a family like no other challenges our every notion of what it means to be different—subject to an earful of screams—and to step out of the shadows and shine anyway.
Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita was born to be a star. Her tent sells out nightly, and every performance incites bloodcurdling screams. She’s the most lucrative circus act from Texas to Tacoma, the crown jewel of the Family Fortuna, and Avita feeds on the shrieks, the gasps, the fear. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his rendering of Bird Girl. Is that all he sees? A hideous monster—all sharp beak and razor teeth, obsidian eyes and ruffled feathers? Determined to be more, Avita devises a plan to snatch freedom out from under the greased mustache of her charismatic father, the domineering proprietor and ringmaster. But will their fragile circus family survive the showdown she has in mind? By turns delightful and disturbing, bawdy and breathtaking, horrific and heartfelt, this electric and exquisitely crafted story about a family like no other challenges our every notion of what it means to be different—subject to an earful of screams—and to step out of the shadows and shine anyway.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2023
21 people are currently reading
4477 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
December 15, 2022
Someone alert the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest because this has one of the worst first lines of ALL TIME and it continues to get comically worse from there. Sometimes you need a really, really bad book to remind you that you DO know how to determine quality. Here's a selection of a few faves: "I hadn’t fully made eye contact with him yet, but I was inching toward it, my peepers flicking like lizard tongues at their mark. What would happen if I looked?" "His cheeks flushed red as a clown’s pubic hair as he jabbed a shaky finger at a crumpled receipt." There is also no plot to speak of. Candlewick is so funny for publishing this, thanks for the ARC LMAO!
July 3, 2023
Rounding up to a four because I feel like this book is being unfairly dragged.
I will say, this book is not for everyone. This book is maybe not even for me. This book is a little bit weird, sort of surreal, and not your typical YA fare. I, like many readers, picked this book up and sort of expected a typical YA novel. A lot of plot, a lot of romance, some swoony bits, and a general circus background. That's not what this book is. This book is light on plot, heavy on setting and there is little romance unless you count self-actualization.
Avita, our sort of protagonist, is the signature freak in her father's circus. Inexplicably born with feathers and a beak, Avita is the star of an avian horror show where she plays the circus geek and terrorizes audiences. She is the star, and because she is the star, she is often spared from her father's emotional and verbal abuse. She has lived her life in the circus, the circus is what she knows, and this isn't displayed as something that needs to change about her -- it's just a fact. When a talented young painter makes a new portrait of Avita, she is disturbed to realize that the world sees her only as a monster and can't see any of the beauty she sees in herself. This causes a catalyst which makes her analyze things she's taken for granted.
The setting of the Fortuna circus is rich and enveloping and clearly realized. Lindsay Eager's prose is characteristically strong and invites the reader to inhabit this world alongside the circus folks. The circus in question is gritty and a little disturbing to hear about, much like circuses of the 19th century. It's a setting that can be hard to spend time in, but hard to leave all at once. The language is rich and intentional and varied and more literary than the premise might belie.
This book will certainly not be everyone's cup of tea, but I read enough books each year that feel the. exact. same. that I always love a book that feels really different -- and this is one of those books.
I will say, this book is not for everyone. This book is maybe not even for me. This book is a little bit weird, sort of surreal, and not your typical YA fare. I, like many readers, picked this book up and sort of expected a typical YA novel. A lot of plot, a lot of romance, some swoony bits, and a general circus background. That's not what this book is. This book is light on plot, heavy on setting and there is little romance unless you count self-actualization.
Avita, our sort of protagonist, is the signature freak in her father's circus. Inexplicably born with feathers and a beak, Avita is the star of an avian horror show where she plays the circus geek and terrorizes audiences. She is the star, and because she is the star, she is often spared from her father's emotional and verbal abuse. She has lived her life in the circus, the circus is what she knows, and this isn't displayed as something that needs to change about her -- it's just a fact. When a talented young painter makes a new portrait of Avita, she is disturbed to realize that the world sees her only as a monster and can't see any of the beauty she sees in herself. This causes a catalyst which makes her analyze things she's taken for granted.
The setting of the Fortuna circus is rich and enveloping and clearly realized. Lindsay Eager's prose is characteristically strong and invites the reader to inhabit this world alongside the circus folks. The circus in question is gritty and a little disturbing to hear about, much like circuses of the 19th century. It's a setting that can be hard to spend time in, but hard to leave all at once. The language is rich and intentional and varied and more literary than the premise might belie.
This book will certainly not be everyone's cup of tea, but I read enough books each year that feel the. exact. same. that I always love a book that feels really different -- and this is one of those books.
September 6, 2023
I had a really hard time finishing this book. There wasn't a plot and there was no form of conflict or climax of the story until I was 72% done with the book. The ending was really bad and I am still trying to figure out what the hell I just read.
January 17, 2023
"The Family Fortuna" is a carnival story reminiscent of Angela Carter's "Night at the Circus" or HBO's "Carnivale" series; it's about a monstrous bird girl who yearns for freedom. Other reviewers have commented on the unusual word-choices of this work but I actually really enjoyed it - it sold both the time period as well as the otherwordly aspect of the story.
Unfortunately, I found the whole thing rather slow in pace although it picked up considerably at the end. I found myself skimming as I went; at 400 pages this could have used a more-aggressive editor. Still - I thought this was a promising debut, and fans of Ava Reid may very much enjoy this one, as it had a "dark horror-tinged fairy tale" kind of vibe.
Unfortunately, I found the whole thing rather slow in pace although it picked up considerably at the end. I found myself skimming as I went; at 400 pages this could have used a more-aggressive editor. Still - I thought this was a promising debut, and fans of Ava Reid may very much enjoy this one, as it had a "dark horror-tinged fairy tale" kind of vibe.
May 13, 2023
I went in expecting a meandering read and that is what I got! Beautifully written with fantastical elements. If you're looking for something fast paced and plot driven, this is not your book. If you're looking for slow descriptive read that is written beautifully (don't know how else to describe it), this is more like it!
April 23, 2023
Shoutout to Libro.fm ALC program for the free download of the audio version of this book.
Sadly this one didn't do it for me. While the premise was promising, the execution was poor. Some of my biggest complaints were: 1) the amount of profanity. I can get behind a well-use four letter word here and there, but after awhile it's just a cover for poor writing. 2) The amount of ridiculous similes and metaphors. Unless Eagar was simply trying to mirror the outrageousness of the circus life, her word choices were baffling. 3) The multiple perspectives. I typically love a book with several points of view, but because the first half of the book stayed with Avita, when the perspective shifted, I felt like her storyline was being robbed. 4) The detail with which the main character talked about her sister's body was so explicit and awkward. I kept wondering why we needed the reminder so many times and why it was permissible in a YA book. Okay, last one. 5) The lack of accountability for the father character. Dude was so horrible, and all of a sudden in the end we're just supposed to forget about that and see him as a loving dad. Sorry. No.
Sadly this one didn't do it for me. While the premise was promising, the execution was poor. Some of my biggest complaints were: 1) the amount of profanity. I can get behind a well-use four letter word here and there, but after awhile it's just a cover for poor writing. 2) The amount of ridiculous similes and metaphors. Unless Eagar was simply trying to mirror the outrageousness of the circus life, her word choices were baffling. 3) The multiple perspectives. I typically love a book with several points of view, but because the first half of the book stayed with Avita, when the perspective shifted, I felt like her storyline was being robbed. 4) The detail with which the main character talked about her sister's body was so explicit and awkward. I kept wondering why we needed the reminder so many times and why it was permissible in a YA book. Okay, last one. 5) The lack of accountability for the father character. Dude was so horrible, and all of a sudden in the end we're just supposed to forget about that and see him as a loving dad. Sorry. No.
August 11, 2024
4,5/5 🎪
J'ai beaucoup aimé 👌
Ce roman est assez particulier, assez unique, et pas fait pour tout le monde 🤷🏻♀️
J'ai trouvé que c'était bien écris, et même si dans l'ensemble il se passe quasiment rien, c'est prenant et j'ai eu du mal à lâcher. J'ai trouvé la psychologie intéressante, cette quête d'émancipation des enfants d'Arturo et pour Avita, de ne pas être cataloguée uniquement comme un monstre, mais changer le regard des autres sur elle, de retirer cette étiquette et être bien plus !
Tout n'est pas tout blanc ou tout noir, tout est un peu compliqué, mais c'est touchant à sa façon, et on veut savoir comment les personnages vont réussir à grandir en dehors de l'influence de leur père et cette vie qu'ils ont toujours connue
Bref. Un roman vraiment intéressant 🙌
J'ai beaucoup aimé 👌
Ce roman est assez particulier, assez unique, et pas fait pour tout le monde 🤷🏻♀️
J'ai trouvé que c'était bien écris, et même si dans l'ensemble il se passe quasiment rien, c'est prenant et j'ai eu du mal à lâcher. J'ai trouvé la psychologie intéressante, cette quête d'émancipation des enfants d'Arturo et pour Avita, de ne pas être cataloguée uniquement comme un monstre, mais changer le regard des autres sur elle, de retirer cette étiquette et être bien plus !
Tout n'est pas tout blanc ou tout noir, tout est un peu compliqué, mais c'est touchant à sa façon, et on veut savoir comment les personnages vont réussir à grandir en dehors de l'influence de leur père et cette vie qu'ils ont toujours connue
Bref. Un roman vraiment intéressant 🙌
August 29, 2023
The reviews of this are terrible, but I actually quite liked it. The most criticism I see is of the vernacular and the unconventional figurative language, both of which I thought fit with the time and circumstances of the characters lives. 🤷🏼♀️
January 22, 2024
The cover of this book is so beautiful. All in all I'm not mad that I read this book, I'm just confused about it. What was this book about? It was about... nothing?? Maybe I just don't get it...
October 30, 2024
why is the cover so stunning
idk it was an okay book , but nothing really grabbed me . the main character had no real stakes , besides her selfacceptance . and nothing was really resolved . the change in pov in the book felt out of place .
the amount of times i had to read the word kootchie ... or read a father and a sister objectify their daughter/sister was just weird .
idk it was an okay book , but nothing really grabbed me . the main character had no real stakes , besides her selfacceptance . and nothing was really resolved . the change in pov in the book felt out of place .
the amount of times i had to read the word kootchie ... or read a father and a sister objectify their daughter/sister was just weird .
June 6, 2023
Good book.
May 26, 2023
I had to DNF this book just shy of 200 pages in. This is written in such a way that this book is trying so hard to be something extraordinary. It was becoming a pain to decipher some of the phrases and what she’s actually meaning. I was so excited to read this book and I am so disappointed.
July 31, 2024
I rated this 5 stars because… This is a 3.04 and that feels harsh. In all honesty it’s closer to a 4 than 5 for me, but this doesn’t deserve such a low rating. I dived into the reviews thinking maybe there was something problematic about the story, and I couldn’t find anything. The prose is a tad …violet. There is intense reliance on metaphor and simile. It becomes clunky at times. It also has one of Kara’s biggest pet peeves: a historical or semi historical setting that has modern speech patterns. This is set in the 1890s and the phrase “a dick move” is moved. But…
I am obsessed with these characters. The Family Fortuna is a circus, but the actual family, mom, dad, older sister, middle brother, and little sister are the heart of the circus empire. We mostly hear from Avita, our protagonist with her beak and feathers, a wonder, a miracle of modern science, queen of the Freakshow tent. What I loved about her character was that she had no shame for how she looked. She was proud of her horror. And that endears you to her as her family and all of the other circus folk, who have their own miracles, all treat her normally. However, at the age of 16, she is starting to see how the rest of the world will treat her. At first you think her parents are kind of wonderful. They started a circus, made it a success, and raised their daughter to have no shame in her avian features. We soon realize her father is obsessed with showmanship. He delighted at having a daughter born this way. And it has little to do with loving her so much as having the prize of the most sought after act in the circus world. A rival circus competes with the Fortunas at one point in the book and while they have more money, more animals, they don’t have an Avita. She walks through her life, thinking she is the apple of her father’s eye and we watch her journey towards realizing he loves her, but his priority when he looks at her is that the show must go on. Her mother, a superstitious, retired sharpshooter, unfortunately enables her father. Her other siblings both envy and pity Avita. They see their father more clearly, but still crave his presence and approval. I won’t forget this book! It broke my heart in a good way.
I am obsessed with these characters. The Family Fortuna is a circus, but the actual family, mom, dad, older sister, middle brother, and little sister are the heart of the circus empire. We mostly hear from Avita, our protagonist with her beak and feathers, a wonder, a miracle of modern science, queen of the Freakshow tent. What I loved about her character was that she had no shame for how she looked. She was proud of her horror. And that endears you to her as her family and all of the other circus folk, who have their own miracles, all treat her normally. However, at the age of 16, she is starting to see how the rest of the world will treat her. At first you think her parents are kind of wonderful. They started a circus, made it a success, and raised their daughter to have no shame in her avian features. We soon realize her father is obsessed with showmanship. He delighted at having a daughter born this way. And it has little to do with loving her so much as having the prize of the most sought after act in the circus world. A rival circus competes with the Fortunas at one point in the book and while they have more money, more animals, they don’t have an Avita. She walks through her life, thinking she is the apple of her father’s eye and we watch her journey towards realizing he loves her, but his priority when he looks at her is that the show must go on. Her mother, a superstitious, retired sharpshooter, unfortunately enables her father. Her other siblings both envy and pity Avita. They see their father more clearly, but still crave his presence and approval. I won’t forget this book! It broke my heart in a good way.
April 26, 2024
I have very mixed thoughts about the book. It's a character driven story and the plot is pretty meh. I think it was confusing to have the first half of the book be from Avita's perspective then to suddenly add chapters from the POV of other family members. Further, the other characters' stories didn't even have real endings.
I didn't love the writing style. The amount of swearing and over the top metaphors felt a little too crass for a YA book.
I also didn't like her father's "redemption" at the end. He's nothing but a horrible person the entire book and then you see some glimpse of him as a decent human being in the final chapter. It just didn't track.
Overall, I'm disappointed in this book. I'm not sure what I was hoping for, but this wasn't it.
I didn't love the writing style. The amount of swearing and over the top metaphors felt a little too crass for a YA book.
I also didn't like her father's "redemption" at the end. He's nothing but a horrible person the entire book and then you see some glimpse of him as a decent human being in the final chapter. It just didn't track.
Overall, I'm disappointed in this book. I'm not sure what I was hoping for, but this wasn't it.
July 1, 2023
This was a weird book. But it kept me intrigued honestly I can’t lie. I, the queen of DNFing did not DNF this! Even in the middle of the book you keep thinking there’s no plot. But there is. You realize by the end of the book. It’s very character driven. Basically the story of that family. I would have liked a better ending maybe.
September 22, 2023
Pretty terrible. The whole first chapter reads like a character explanation sheet leftover from the planning stage of the book. The content was pretty cringey as well, leading to my DNF. Not worth a read.
January 8, 2026
RTC, idk how to explain it but fuck this book was PERFECTION
May 27, 2023
Yeah...no.
That was really inappropriate and kind of weird.
That was really inappropriate and kind of weird.
August 23, 2023
A Dnf. Just couldn’t.
January 8, 2024
I spent the entire book waiting for something to happen and when it finally did the book was over and I was left incredibly underwhelmed.
Read
February 20, 2025I didn't care about this at all, honestly. Which is unfortunate cause I enjoyed Eagar's other title
September 4, 2023
There are also small, throw away details that would pull me out of the story — in those rare moments where the story actually had me. For example, there's a description of decorations that include helium balloons. Helium didn't become the gas of choice for balloons until 1922 because of a change in the law.
If I'm spending more time obsessing over the minor details than being absorbed in the narrative, that's a major red flag for me. I'll admit that I ended up reading other reviews to confirm I wasn't the only one struggling with The Family Fortuna. Curious, I skipped to the end. My final thought on the book is that at it's most basic roots, it's a YA retelling of Dumbo with a bird girl instead of an elephant.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2023/comm...
If I'm spending more time obsessing over the minor details than being absorbed in the narrative, that's a major red flag for me. I'll admit that I ended up reading other reviews to confirm I wasn't the only one struggling with The Family Fortuna. Curious, I skipped to the end. My final thought on the book is that at it's most basic roots, it's a YA retelling of Dumbo with a bird girl instead of an elephant.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2023/comm...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2025
After reading the reviews for this one, I’m going to say it gets an unfair amount of hate. This book is about the circus, plain and simple. A lot of reviews say that it doesn’t have a storyline, but the story builds and crescendos into how the family fortuna rises and changes and adapts within a world of uncertainty and show-business. I really genuinely enjoyed this book and don’t think it is deserving of all the negative reviews it has. 4 stars!
February 23, 2023
Check out my review here!
July 31, 2023
Maybe I would give it a 2.5 for effort?
The set up and backdrop of this novel have so much to offer and her depiction of a travelling circus in late 1800s American is really quite immersive. Unfortunately, the author burdened what could have been beautiful writing with a desperation to be meaningful to the point where it starts sounding like overindulgent nonsense. It also lacked any clear - or creative - storyline or purpose. There were attempts to be, I don't really know - artistically bold? - with language and the sexualization of some characters that mostly just made it awkward.
The characters themselves were very strongly wrought at the beginning, however the author failed to develop or connect them in any meaningful way. It was full of too much time spent on cheaply creating a really distasteful character - the father - at the expense of doing anything real with the others. The only flashes of depth came - not with the main character - but the randomly inserted viewpoints of her siblings. And the few moments of interaction between characters are most likely described as awkward/weird/unnatural/inappropriate - without creating any connection that could have helped drive a story that had so little plot.
I imagine this story is supposed to be about self-actualization of the main character. However, she just goes from one pitiable desperate state to please her irredeemable father to another - only highlighted by the choices of her siblings to escape and choose their own lives. And while the story revolves around her being born with feathers and a beak - an attempt at mystical realism? - this literary choice served little actual purpose and due to its mishandling just came off cheesy and overdone. The ending was equally a let down - she still seems weirdly both aware and blinded to how terrible her father is, but doesn't manage to develop the agency to break free of him. Instead, we're supposed to believe she is liberating herself with a big new act in their failing circus that is...her singing a song in a borrowed fancy costume? And, while not biting off chicken heads is a definite improvement, she remains in an unhealthy relationship with her father instead of carving her own life. And honestly, I don't even know why the mom is there.
The set up and backdrop of this novel have so much to offer and her depiction of a travelling circus in late 1800s American is really quite immersive. Unfortunately, the author burdened what could have been beautiful writing with a desperation to be meaningful to the point where it starts sounding like overindulgent nonsense. It also lacked any clear - or creative - storyline or purpose. There were attempts to be, I don't really know - artistically bold? - with language and the sexualization of some characters that mostly just made it awkward.
The characters themselves were very strongly wrought at the beginning, however the author failed to develop or connect them in any meaningful way. It was full of too much time spent on cheaply creating a really distasteful character - the father - at the expense of doing anything real with the others. The only flashes of depth came - not with the main character - but the randomly inserted viewpoints of her siblings. And the few moments of interaction between characters are most likely described as awkward/weird/unnatural/inappropriate - without creating any connection that could have helped drive a story that had so little plot.
I imagine this story is supposed to be about self-actualization of the main character. However, she just goes from one pitiable desperate state to please her irredeemable father to another - only highlighted by the choices of her siblings to escape and choose their own lives. And while the story revolves around her being born with feathers and a beak - an attempt at mystical realism? - this literary choice served little actual purpose and due to its mishandling just came off cheesy and overdone. The ending was equally a let down - she still seems weirdly both aware and blinded to how terrible her father is, but doesn't manage to develop the agency to break free of him. Instead, we're supposed to believe she is liberating herself with a big new act in their failing circus that is...her singing a song in a borrowed fancy costume? And, while not biting off chicken heads is a definite improvement, she remains in an unhealthy relationship with her father instead of carving her own life. And honestly, I don't even know why the mom is there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2024
Things this man said about his CHILD DAUGHTER in the first chapter:
‘Avita, my kitten, any girl can be beautiful. But it takes a special girl to be as ugly as you’.
"Gorgeous women make the world go round, my sweet," he said. "People will pay good money to see a pair of pretty ankles, pretty thighs, a flash of tit ... anything a girl is willing to show for a buck. But you, Avita - in our line of work, you're worth a thousand whores."
Other parents would be ashamed to have their daughter work as a glorified stripper, but my father himself sized Luna up for the Tent of Wonder when she turned twelve and her breasts became too big to fit inside the clown costumes.
"A body for enticing men to empty their wallets," my father told her,
This is the quickest I’ve ever dnf’d a book.
‘Avita, my kitten, any girl can be beautiful. But it takes a special girl to be as ugly as you’.
"Gorgeous women make the world go round, my sweet," he said. "People will pay good money to see a pair of pretty ankles, pretty thighs, a flash of tit ... anything a girl is willing to show for a buck. But you, Avita - in our line of work, you're worth a thousand whores."
Other parents would be ashamed to have their daughter work as a glorified stripper, but my father himself sized Luna up for the Tent of Wonder when she turned twelve and her breasts became too big to fit inside the clown costumes.
"A body for enticing men to empty their wallets," my father told her,
This is the quickest I’ve ever dnf’d a book.
July 7, 2023
Hard pass for me on this one. I finished the book because I am compelled to never leave a book unfinished and I was looking to see if a plot ever developed- which it did not.
There was no real plot, each chapter was basically a random moment in this family's traveling circus but never really fit together or had a point.
Also there was a large amount of creep going on here with the father grooming his 12 year old daughter to strip for men and how to be and move seductively which was kind of awful and the book made it seem super normal- even the main character would look at her sister's moments sexually and it was odd.
I do not recommend this and I wish I was not drawn in by the pretty cover
There was no real plot, each chapter was basically a random moment in this family's traveling circus but never really fit together or had a point.
Also there was a large amount of creep going on here with the father grooming his 12 year old daughter to strip for men and how to be and move seductively which was kind of awful and the book made it seem super normal- even the main character would look at her sister's moments sexually and it was odd.
I do not recommend this and I wish I was not drawn in by the pretty cover
July 3, 2023
It's gonna be a no from me, dawg.
October 25, 2023
I am going to burn this
Read
November 25, 2023Read for Cybils YA Speculative fiction. Did not nominate.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews