Review: Pantomime by Laura Lam

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

This book has a secret, a big secret. I won't tell you what that secret is, I will make this review very cryptic just so that I don't even let out any clues about that secret, but just remember that this book has a secret. It's a pretty awesome secret that makes this book amazing and twisty and completely unique and yet this book will appeal to so many fans of YA fantasy fiction. So yeah, I will start this review by saying that you should read this book. It's pretty amazing.

Strange Chemistry have this knack for picking out appealing and original books and this one is no exception. I swear that I went into this book expecting something magical and fun and came out feeling very shocked and twisted but not disappointing at all. This book was everything that I never expected it to be and more, in the best possible way. Keep doing what you're doing, Laura Lam and Strange Chemistry, I have a feeling that you'll be impressing me for a long time.

The characters in Pantomime just jump off the page, the main characters, Gene and Micah are both fantastic characters that seemed so real. Gene's story of living in a world that she doesn't quite fit into and Micah's story of running away from something in his past are emotionally written and when the two stories cross the result is amazing. I liked the secondary characters as well; Drystan the clown is a fun and multi-dimensional character, I never quite knew what his intentions were but I always sure that he was a good and caring person, I also grew to like Aenea, Micah's romantic interest despite disliking her towards the beginning.

The pacing of this book was great, though it does have a bit of a slow start. By about three chapters in I couldn't put this book down and it pulled me out of an awful reading slump. The ending was fantastic and this book had a fantastic climax.

Overall, Pantomime was an amazing book that kept me gripped. The characters and plotlines were both written superbly and the twist in this book is just shocking and unique. I've never quite read anything like it, and I loved it.

Overall Rating: A

Book to be released February 5th 2013 by Strange Chemistry
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)