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* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
3.5 stars. This was a cute YA read with some stereotypical high school tropes while still having enough originality to be something fun and different. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I liked it just the same. Corey is a trapeze artist who gets ripped from her life following a fire at the circus she performs in. She winds up living in the town of Sherwood, California and attending the local high school. This shift in her life is difficult and she finds herself in several new situations that she isn't quite sure how to respond to. It's a bit of a stumbling journey for her.
I liked this book well enough, but in the end found a few things lacking for my own tastes. With the title of "Trapeze", I expected much more of the circus atmosphere, but that dissolved rather quickly and it was moved to the side as things swayed into more of a stereotypical high school YA novel. The writing was good, I will admit and I stayed fairly hooked with the narrative despite the movement away from the element that drew me to the book in the first place.
The character of Corey was created well enough, with her personality fully displayed and her emotional journey well explored. However, the supporting characters felt a little flat to me and sometimes their character shifted in a way that felt unnatural to everything that had been developed so far in the story. This happened in particular with Luke and, on one notable occasion, with Kim. I needed more plot development on these side characters.
In fact, the plot was where most of my issues stemmed. The pacing moved really well for about 2/3 of the book, but seemed to go completely out of whack for the last 1/3. It moved overly quickly and things tumbled together in a way that felt a little overly contrived. I wanted it to be a bit more convoluted and complex. And...as is oh so often my juggernaut, the ending just didn't suit my tastes. It was handled well enough and everything was more or less tidied up and explained without being overly perfect, but it just didn't sit right with me. I'm not sure what exactly I needed other than I needed more.
Overall, a good and quick YA read. I just was left a little underwhelmed.
3.5 stars. This was a cute YA read with some stereotypical high school tropes while still having enough originality to be something fun and different. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I liked it just the same. Corey is a trapeze artist who gets ripped from her life following a fire at the circus she performs in. She winds up living in the town of Sherwood, California and attending the local high school. This shift in her life is difficult and she finds herself in several new situations that she isn't quite sure how to respond to. It's a bit of a stumbling journey for her.
I liked this book well enough, but in the end found a few things lacking for my own tastes. With the title of "Trapeze", I expected much more of the circus atmosphere, but that dissolved rather quickly and it was moved to the side as things swayed into more of a stereotypical high school YA novel. The writing was good, I will admit and I stayed fairly hooked with the narrative despite the movement away from the element that drew me to the book in the first place.
The character of Corey was created well enough, with her personality fully displayed and her emotional journey well explored. However, the supporting characters felt a little flat to me and sometimes their character shifted in a way that felt unnatural to everything that had been developed so far in the story. This happened in particular with Luke and, on one notable occasion, with Kim. I needed more plot development on these side characters.
In fact, the plot was where most of my issues stemmed. The pacing moved really well for about 2/3 of the book, but seemed to go completely out of whack for the last 1/3. It moved overly quickly and things tumbled together in a way that felt a little overly contrived. I wanted it to be a bit more convoluted and complex. And...as is oh so often my juggernaut, the ending just didn't suit my tastes. It was handled well enough and everything was more or less tidied up and explained without being overly perfect, but it just didn't sit right with me. I'm not sure what exactly I needed other than I needed more.
Overall, a good and quick YA read. I just was left a little underwhelmed.