GIRL IN SHADOWS | NOT SO MAGICAL

Girl in the Shadows (Girl on a Wire #2)
by Gwenda Bond
Skyscape | July 5, 2016
eARC courtesy of NetGalley
Status: DNF

       Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas' stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.
       When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly coveted invitation to its intended recipient, Raleigh, her father’s handsome and worldly former apprentice, Moira takes off to join the Cirque. If she can perform alongside its world-famous acts, she knows she’ll be able to convince her dad that magic is her future.
       But when Moira arrives, things take on an intensity she can’t control as her stage magic suddenly feels like…real magic. To further distract her, Raleigh shows up none too pleased at Moira’s presence, all while the Cirque’s cocky and intriguing knife thrower, Dez, seems to have it out for her. As tensions mount and Moira’s abilities come into question, she must decide what’s real and what’s an illusion. If she doesn’t sort it out in time, she may forever remain a girl in the shadows.

The magic in this book/book in general wasn't enchanting and beautiful like The Night Circus. It's almost the same premise, but Girl in the Shadows and The Night Circus are complete opposites. The Night Circus was other worldly, enchanting, enrapturing, beautiful, and glamorous. Girl in the Shadows was very rough and unpolished. No, not a diamond in the rough. It was confusing. The author tried to create mystery by being vague, but it made it hard to follow because she keeps throwing more information at you. It was too subtle and incomprehensible. The writing didn't have a pull to it either. I skimmed 13% of the book and did not like what I read.

The writing is very wordy. I usually don't focus on writing too much, but this the writing in this book stood out like a really big sore that's about to burst. It was a journey to finish a sentence. This book can be further edited. The emerging love triangle and special snowflake character left a feeling of distaste in my mouth. The author tried so hard to make the relationship cute. It's kind of like cashiers begging you to apply for special promotions so they get a special promotion. In layman terms, it was really forced.

On to the special snowflake part. Does anyone remember the Disney movie Now You See It? If you do, that's pretty much the gist of this book's plot. Everyone has "sleight of hand" magic, but Moira has REAL magic. This real magic is dangerous, very rare and it instills fear on certain people. So, yeah... Not exactly new.

The plot was going to be about Moira developing her power and becoming a powerful magician/great performer. She's probably going to have trouble deciding what boy she likes best. But, everything ends up fine and dandy in the end. BAM! Every plot in history!

I didn't read much, so I didn't write much. If you want a good magic book, you know what to read. (It's The Night Circus, if you didn't put two and two together.) I also recommend Poison Study. Similar plot, but executed well.