Audiobook Review – Girl on a Wire (Cirque American, Book 1) by Gweda Bond, Narrated by Marisol Ramirez (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 10 hours and 41 minutes
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Release Date: October 1, 2014
ASIN: B00NHY0GUU
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Cirque American series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 2/5 stars
“A ballerina, twirling on a wire high above the crowd. Horses, prancing like salsa dancers. Trapeze artists, flying like somersaulting falcons. And magic crackling through the air. Welcome to the Cirque American!
Sixteen-year-old Jules Maroni’s dream is to follow in her father’s footsteps as a high-wire walker. When her family is offered a prestigious role in the new Cirque American, it seems that Jules and the Amazing Maronis will finally get the spotlight they deserve. But the presence of the Flying Garcias may derail her plans. For decades, the two rival families have avoided each other as sworn enemies.
Jules ignores the drama and focuses on the wire, skyrocketing to fame as the girl in a red tutu who dances across the wire at death-defying heights. But when she discovers a peacock feather—an infamous object of bad luck—planted on her costume, Jules nearly loses her footing. She has no choice but to seek help from the unlikeliest of people: Remy Garcia, son of the Garcia clan matriarch and the best trapeze artist in the Cirque.
As more mysterious talismans believed to possess unlucky magic appear, Jules and Remy unite to find the culprit. And if they don’t figure out what’s going on soon, Jules may be the first Maroni to do the unthinkable: fall.”
This is the first book in the Cirque American series and I just wasn’t a fan of this one. I didn’t realize that this was by Gweda Bond when I got it, just read the title and synopsis and thought it sounded cool. I have read another Gwenda Bond novel (Blackwood) and didn’t enjoy that book either. I will endeavor to stay away from her books in the future.
I did listen to this on audiobook which probably made this worse The narrator sounded very stiff and didn’t do a good job of keeping track of character voices. For example she’d say something in Jule’s voice but then it would be Remy who said it.
Everything about this book was just poorly done. The two main characters were okay but didn’t have much depth. None of the side characters were developed at all. The dialogue felt forced. The ending was completely predictable and anti-climatic, it was seriously disappointing to me.
I was hoping for a story in a circus setting but I got more of a mystery about cursed objects causing issues at the circus. It was just kind of awkward and didn’t have any the magic I was hoping for.
Overall I almost stopped listening to this multiple times because it was just so mediocre and awkward to get through. Not recommended. This is the second book by Bond that I have been disappointed in, she just isn’t for me.