Birthday present 2012, from Ludwig. TBR!

First impressions: The paper quality and overall layout of this book (use of print space!!) make it very hard to read. What a shame. Will proceed nonetheless, because I'm curious.

Also, I hate it when the second person singular is used in books. I hope that passage was a glitch and it won't happen again - unfortunately the style suggests otherwise.

RECAP:
Some scenes of this book are set in a highly stylised (super safe, barely relevant) 19th Century London (and similar cities), but most of it takes place in a non-place, the Circus of Dreams. It's all (overdone) aesthetic and barely any plot (everything smells of caramel, everything is smothered in swathes of silk, most nouns seem to get two (!) adjectives, one of which is often a colour), and it does remind me of the stories I used to think up as a teenager. Nothing but escapist kitsch. Which is okay for readers who want that, but really not for me. I honestly thought I could feel my brain go to sleep. Besides, in my opinion the plot is barely enough for a 20 page short story - so why is it stretched over a bit more than 500 pages, interspersed with nothing but empty filler: descriptions of the characters' clothes, descriptions of various sweets and sickly-sweet drinks, descriptions of circus acts and circus attractions that are oh-so-romantic and dream-like and don't seem to serve any purpose (including narrative purposes!). And the love story is too bland for a cheap paperback romance. (If it had at least been chick-lit quality, then I would have gotten some laughs out of this.)
Anyway, I'm glad I'm done with this wad of literary candy floss. To be released.

Hello! BookCrossing is an online community of book lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. We are curious to see where our books will travel and how their readers like them. Kindly make a journal entry to let us know this book has found a new reader.

Feel free to read and keep this book, pass it on to a friend, or leave it back on the shelf or somewhere else for the next reader. If you journal this book as a member, you will hear from future readers as it keeps on travelling the world. Happy reading!

Retrieved from the LOGO, since it was only collecting dust on their shelf. Relocating to the OBCZ Café Scherbe. Maybe it will find new readers among the clientele there.

Hello! BookCrossing is an online community of book lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. We are curious to see where our books will travel and how their readers like them. Kindly make a journal entry to let us know this book has found a new reader.

Feel free to read and keep this book, pass it on to a friend, or leave it back on the shelf or somewhere else for the next reader. If you journal this book as a member, you will hear from future readers as it keeps on travelling the world. Happy reading!