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Review

4 ‘love is a circus’ stars

 

 

21 year old Thora has one dream in her life – to join the elite athletes in Aerial Ethereal, a Cirque du Soleil-esque acrobatic show based in Vegas. Their latest show, Amour, is a study in love, and they are holding auditions for somebody to perform the ‘passion’ aspect on the aerial silks. So she’s on the first available flight out of Ohio to chase her dream.

Wide-eyed and innocent, Thora’s first night in the big city sees her running into performer, Nikoali (aka the “God of Russia”) at a bar where they have a VERY interesting first encounter. Seriously – WTF? And that makes everything incredibly awkward when she turns up for her audition the following day only to find herself having to work with him.

From the very beginning, there is a palpable intensity between them – is it lust, is it anger, is it Nikolai just being an ass? These questions plagued me for quite a while, but there’s no denying that there is some serious chemistry going on!

“Trust me.”
“I don’t even know you,” I say softly, adrenaline pulsating through my veins. He has led me to the precipice of a cliff, pushed me off, and now he’s clasping my wrist. He can let go at any moment, and I will fall.
“Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me. I’m asking you, right now, to trust me.”

Nikolai is an intriguing character. Born into the performing life, he is 26 years old and is brilliant at what he does, but he is a very tricky one to figure out. It’s very clear that performing is his passion, and in that way he is the perfect person to help Thora as, when it comes to their art, they understand each other completely.

He is power. Man. And strength. He is charm and desire and indestructible things.
I want to emit an equivalent passion. I want to be strength and desire. But I’m not sure how to match him and still move. It’s easy to be confident in the face of average-standing competition. It’s hard to pretend you’re something greater in the face of someone who’s already beyond great.

As much as I liked his mysteriousness, I also liked getting to know him better and seeing the man behind the performer. He is determined to help Thora, but he’s not flowery about it and doesn’t give her false hope. He’s honest and demanding, and he is also encouraging, and I really liked how committed he was to helping her.

“The things greater than us, Thora, they’re not impossible. It’s just fear talking, telling you that you can’t when you can. I know you can.”

“I’d rather feed your hunger than watch you starve”

The book is written entirely from Thora’s POV, and I love her voice! Passionate but sensible, she is charmingly self-deprecating, and I enjoyed her narrative.

When I catch my expression in my floor-length mirror, a dark scowl tightens my facial muscles. It’s my normal look, unfortunately. I have RBF (resting bitch face). It’s one-hundred percent real.

I’m feeling a lot lamer than usual. I mean, I know I’m half-lame most of the time, with flat comebacks and unintentional demonic glares. But I’m reaching new levels.

Sure, she’s innocent, but she is driven and brave, and determined to do anything to follow her dreams. And I love her dedication.

I’m going for it. Every part of my body says to jump and fly, no matter how hard voices like Shay and my parents try to ground me. I understand their realism, but I don’t want to look back and regret not taking the plunge.

The book focuses very much on Thora’s battle to achieve her life’s ambition, while dealing with the threat of failure and the expectations of her family, and I loved reading about her journey. The things that she goes through as a performer are absolutely gruelling, and my muscles were aching just reading about it! I loved the attention to detail when it came to all that is involved in the circus lifstyle, and I’m suddenly inspired to go and see a Cirque du Soleil show :\

And of course, there is also romance. It’s not as prominent as in other Ritchie sister books, but it’s still there, and it’s sweet and tender, but with a lot of depth.

“This was unintentional.”
It became something more without noticing. Without realizing. “Am I a mistake—”
“No, myshka. You’re just the unexpected, beautiful thing in my life.”

And the blossoming relationship also ties in nicely with Thora’s struggle to achieve her goals as she figures out what is important in her life, and what she is willing to sacrifice to get it. 

I really enjoyed Thora’s story! It’s different to a lot of the books I normally read, and I liked the originality of it. There were a few moments that had me raising my eyebrows, but there is no stupid behaviour, and nothing that really annoyed me. I love the tie in with the Addicted series (most of the characters in the book are Princesses of Philly fans), and I really enjoyed the side characters – pessimistic and cynical John was hilarious, and Nikolai’s siblings brought a great family dynamic that the Ritchie sisters do so well.

This is a beautifully told story of a young girl’s ambition to achieve her dreams, and it left me with a big smile on my face.

4 stars.

 

Aerial Ethereal

 

Check out our Krista & Becca Ritchie Author Spotlight for more reads by these authors.