The Scarlet Circus

Despite the name, no circus appears in this book. Instead, myth, magic, and romance all come together in this collection of short fantasy stories all by the same author, several of which are published here for the first time. Each story is different, with different plots and different characters. Some were more enjoyable than others, but there was only one I didn’t like, mostly because it was very confusing to me.

Some of them are based on well known stories, such as The Legend of King Arthur and Alice in Wonderland, and some are based on real people and events in a fun fantasy way and, of course, with a romantic twist. But some weren’t traditional romance; instead, they touched on family love, traditions, and duty. So, maybe advertising The Scarlet Circus as a romantic fantasy isn’t quite right.

There were a variety of characters, boys and girls, strong heroines and common girls. I loved the fact that many of the girls aren’t heroines of any sort; rather, they looked at the situation and said, “I can do something about that.”