THE CIRCUS OF STOLEN DREAMS

A circus of dreams seems like a wonderful escape for a grieving girl, until it turns into a nightmare.

Shortly after their parents’ divorce, Andrea’s little brother, Francis, vanished during the night. Three years later, Andrea still feels constant sadness and guilt. When a magical circus called Reverie appears in the woods, she learns it is a place where she can forget her troubles. She simply has to give up a dream as the price of admission for one night. Inside, circus tents are filled with other children’s dreams, from the excitingly magical to the thrillingly scary. When she discovers a tent with her brother’s recurring nightmare, Andrea begins to suspect something isn’t right and the man in charge, the Sandman, is not who he seems. As the dream world becomes a nightmare, Andrea has to remember and face her pain if she is ever to get out. Although this debut is full of appealing elements, the story as a whole falls as flat as its characters. Dreamy prose is sometimes evocative but mostly overwritten, bogging down the pace. Worldbuilding is underdeveloped, and, as in dreams, it doesn’t always make sense. Reverie is filled with children from all over the world, but main characters all present White.

The magic just isn’t there.