This book was like a 3.5 or 3.75 for me. 
 This is the story of two competitors pitted against each other at a young age before they knew each other or what the competition was. Through this story we also get the tale of twins and their friend Bailey as well a bit of second person experience of the circus. 
 Now that I've had a few days away from the book I feel like I'm in a better place to write about it. I did enjoy it but the book was, for my tastes, far too long and drawn out. This book focuses on details. Lots of details as well as the feel the circus, transporting the reader into this place. 
 The book starts in second person which was jarring and every time we had another section in second person I was cringing ready for them to be over. They are peppered randomly though the book, though there aren't many, thank goodness. I just didn't they seem necessary as the story could have easily stood alone without them. 
 The beginning was slow but piqued my interests, Why are these two men pitting using children in a competition, what is the point of it all, what is this circus business. The middle section was interesting but could have been seriously shortened, this book is around 15 hours and it just hit a point of excess. 
 The end though was good, and satisfying sans the unnecessary few minutes of second person story telling at the end.