Early Review – The Misty Circus by Victoria Frances (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: All Ages
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 80 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-1616550899
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Misty Circus series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. Thanks to Dark Horse and NetGalley for giving me a chance to review this book. This book was full of absolutely stunning illustrations paired with a gothic and sweet story.

The story is about a young boy named Sasha who has been abandoned by his parents. He ventures into the woods and befriends a black cat. Together they stumble upon the Misty Circus. As part of the Misty Circus they go on a number of adventures.

The illustrations throughout this book are absolutely stunning and beautiful. They all have a very beautiful gothic, sweet, and melancholy tone to them which matches the story perfectly. I really enjoyed looking at these beautiful and somewhat odd pictures.

The story is simple, sweet, and magical. The story has a gothic flare to it with deep dark woods and witches. The Misty Circus is a magical place. This book features two smaller stories. The first is about Sasha finding the Misty Circus. The second is about Sasha journeying to a land full of witches and befriending a lonely young witch. The story has a heavy French overtone to it, the poems are in French (with translation to English) and the pictures have a French flare to them.

These are stories that would be appropriate for all ages. Younger children might be a bit scared at the idea of Sasha’s father abandoning him and also maybe a bit scared of the witches.

Overall I really really enjoyed this book. It has beautiful pictures and a gothically sweet story. Sasha is a young boy that is a bit different and finds his place in life at the Misty Circus. The friendship between him and his cat is touching as well. I highly recommend this to those who love fantasy graphic novels; although this is more of a picture book than a true graphic novel.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– 150+ Reading Challenge
– Debut Author Reading Challenge