The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers

Description From Goodreads:

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder-a world where women tame magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. But each daring feat has a cost. Bound to her family's strange and magical circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows-until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate love affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2005: Lara Barnes is on top of the world-until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Desperate, her search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother's journals and sweeps her into the story of a dark circus and a generational curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations.

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My Review:

This is the second book I've read by Constance Sayers. This book has been on my TBR list for a while and I honestly forgot about it until I happened upon it at the library a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed this book. Not as much as her other book, A Witch In Time, but it was a nice read.

The pacing in this book was a bit inconsistent. The book starts off really interesting with Laura's fiance disappearing on their wedding day. I enjoyed the little clues that were dropped along the way. The small-town vibe with the gossip and the many theory's around Todd's disappearance was also enjoyable. Once we get to reading Cecile's diary the pacing to me becomes very slow. While reading her entries was fascinating it dragged on the story for me. It was a lot of back story that interrupted the flow of what felt like a race against time for Lara to get to Paris and find The Secret Circus. It was this matter that was implied to be very urgent. The pace picked up again in the third part of the book when Lara finally makes it to the circus and we get the whole picture of why Althacazur has been obsessed with her since childhood and her destiny.

I really liked Lara. I liked seeing her go through her grief and seeing her relationship with her mother. I loved following her through her trying to figure out her family secrets and learning about The Secret Circus. I liked that she was a strong female lead character who was decisive about who she is and her decisions. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was her mild romance with Ben. The author spent little to no time on it which made the chemistry also non-existent. I am a huge fan of romance, but if you're going to put it in there, might as well commit to it even if it isn't the main goal or plot of the story.

Cecile was an interesting character due to her backstory and lifestyle. However, I found myself not having many feelings about her. She just felt very flat to me as a character and didn't have much of a personality. The author tries to contribute it to her memory loss, but just because someone doesn't remember their past or childhood doesn't mean they don't have a personality. It felt like her personality was based on her relationship with her lover and her sister with no other substance.

Overall, despite the pacing, the romance, and the lack of emotions for Cecile, I really enjoyed this read. The twists towards the end really surprised me and brought a lot of excitement. The characters overall were very enjoyable and they flowed well together. I definitely recommend this book if you have read other books by this author or read from authors with similar writing styles. I feel that while this book was good, it would not be an easy introduction for new readers to Constance Sayers.