Happy Monday, bibliophiles!
Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.
My deluge of Goodreads recommendations seems to have slowed down, so I’m currently trying to clean out the older content on there. This was part of the recommendation barrage, but its twist on the traditional dystopian plot caught my eye. It seems to be an inventive shattering of the trope, so hopefully this one will be worthwhile.
Let’s begin, shall we?
GOODREADS MONDAY (1/6/20)–SHOW STOPPER by Hayley Barker
Set in a near-future England where the poorest people in the land are forced to sell their children to a travelling circus – to perform at the mercy of hungry lions, sabotaged high wires and a demonic ringmaster. The ruling class visit the circus as an escape from their structured, high-achieving lives – pure entertainment with a bloodthirsty edge. Ben, the teenage son of a draconian government minister, visits the circus for the first time and falls instantly in love with Hoshiko, a young performer. They come from harshly different worlds – but must join together to escape the circus and put an end to its brutal sport.
So why do I want to read this?
You’ve all heard me rant about how jaded I am with YA dystopia. But the element of the traveling circus in Show Stopper seems absolutely fascinating: a tiny bit Hunger Games-y, in the sense that it’s for the entertainment of the upper class, but creative enough that I’m absolutely hooked. If anything, I’m hoping for a well-needed subversion of the genre. Plus, not gonna lie, but I love the style that the cover was drawn in.
Here’s today’s song:
(God, I love the guitar in this one…)
That just about wraps up this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a great rest of your day, and keep on reading!
The Bookish Mutant 
2 thoughts on “Goodreads Monday (1/6/20)–Show Stopper”