4.5 stars 
 "The most difficult thing to read is time. Maybe because it changes so many things." 
 I have owned this book since I was 16. I am now 21 and I've only just got around to reading it. I figure I have 4 reasons for this: 
 1)	I don't like circuses. They freak me out. 
 2)	It's kind of long. 
 3)	I kind of categorized it as 'popular ya books that are all the same' although I'm aware it's not really ya. 
 4)	I'm lazy. 
 I finally got round to reading it purely because my friend really likes it and I promised I'd read it before we went back to uni so I kind of had to. 
 I should have read this when I was 16. Guys, it's actually really good. That shouldn't be a surprise I suppose since so many people love it but my brain works in stupid ways. I kind of loved this and that really did surprise me. 
 The books I love tend to be more character focused and this isn't that so much as I'd usually like - I didn't fall in love with the characters the way I like to, though I did really like a good number of them. Instead, this is one of those rare books that I love because of its other attributes - the plot, the world, the writing. Somehow, despite being set in a dreaded circus, I liked the world. It was a good circus, though I can't explain why exactly. Maybe because there were no clowns? I don't know but I liked it. 
 I was also concerned going in that I wouldn't like the writing - I'd heard that it was very high on the whimsy, I'd even heard it described as overly pretty so I expected to find it pretentious and annoying. I didn't find that at all - it was nice writing, but not over the top. If I hadn't had expectations going in, I probably wouldn't have even noticed it was anything unusual. It was good though - nicely atmospheric while not overly flowery or difficult to understand. 
 This isn't a completely perfect book, I did have a few problems with it but I really wanted to keep reading and I really enjoyed reading it and I really have to admit that my low expectations were completely unfounded. 
 "The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones."