3.75 Stars
I seriously considered DNF-ing this up until about 25% or so but I try to reserve that for books I'm hating rather than ones that just weren't catching my attention so I'm glad I persevered since the book did improve.

There was some beautiful writing in this book but it did have a tendency to be over-the-top and too flowery. I was expecting something else entirely when it came to the competition and that took some time to get past. ". . . a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus" led me to believe that is was going to be a magician vs magician competition, Essen Tasch style from [b:A Gathering of Shadows|20764879|A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1429627728l/20764879._SY75_.jpg|43242915], unfortunately that was not the case. The competition was whoever gave the best performance on stage which would have been an alright alternative had the magic not been so one-sided and one of the other competitors was actually capable of being competition.

I'd have liked more world-building as there was very little and a better understanding of the magic system. There is also, brace yourselves, a love triangle but it actually didn't bum me out. Overall, I consider this to be a successful debut and a lot of the things I didn't care for can be rectified in a sequel.

Thanks so much to the Publisher for an ARC of this book!