Stars: ★★★/5
Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.
A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.
When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.
But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.
I didn't absolutely love That Time I Joined the Circus, but it was a nice, quick read I think a lot of people will love.
A lot of my bigger issues with That Time I Joined the Circus had to do with my overall feeling. I enjoyed runaway Lexi, and the cast of secondary characters we meet along the way. The circus was an interesting and different setting, one I thought really made my overall impression a positive one. Still, I came away feeling half-empty with the way each and every one of Lexi's relationships were resolved. There was so much potential for Lexi to make decisions in her life that put her first, and I felt that Howard neglected certain opportunities. Lexi had a strong presence throughout That Time I Joined the Circus that I really appreciated, but her spunk always seemed to waver whenever she most needed it.
I think Howard took the easy way out in regards to Lexi's relationship with her parents and friends, especially Eli. I don't really believe how Eli's rejection is explained away, because it leaves him virtually blameless; instead of having made a mistake, he's misunderstood and just a really nice guy. But I don't think he was, and all the glossing over just made me less and less impressed with him as a love interest, let alone a friend. Lexi is still Eli's second choice. Bailey, Eli's girlfriend, is kind of brushed under the rug as a "bad friend" despite doing nothing but be angry her best friend and boyfriend hooked up behind her back. But she's also rich and a little high maintenance, so Howard didn't feel Bailey deserved anything better, I guess. And Lexi’s turbulent emotional history with her mother is literally resolved in one conversation after years of estrangement. Even if Lexi had believed so wholeheartedly in her mother in the end, I found it hard to let go of the fact that they had built such a steady relationship in a week’s time. Everything was put together a little too neatly, and a little too predictably.
That Time I Joined the Circus really could have been a stronger book, but even watered down, I think it's a nice go. What this book really had going for it was Lexi. She felt honest and real, definitely relatable, even when her ultimate decisions bewildered me.
That Time I Joined the Circus was two halves for me: the half I really liked and the other I mostly tolerated. Though it had some bumps for me and a very disappointing resolution, it was a pleasant read that left me tentatively charmed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment