Well, I haven't read any of Broken People series yet, but that is definitely going to change, after having read The Nightingale Circus! These seven character build ups are fantastic. The variety of people that convene to become the circus is amazing, and their backstories absolutely haunting. I want, no NEED more of this in my life!

Ioana Visan knocks another one out of the park!!!

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Where does the person end and the machine bits begin? Does it matter? These are broken people indeed. Not without sacrifice, and sometimes incredible pain, but each and every one has found their own way of becoming whole, and unbroken. Their stories are as varied as they are but they all have one thing in common. They survive together. ( )

*I recieved this book in exchange for an honest review*

The Nightingale Circus is a novella prequel to the series Broken People, telling the backstories of the main characters and performers of the circus. I am yet to read the first novel, so I don't know more about the characters and the story as a whole. However, in saying that, this prequel really pulled me in and I will definitely be continuing the series.

Because I didn't have much context or setting due to having never read Broken People, I was a little lost, but putting aside this, I found that the six stories gave a very interesting insight into the characters, and how they ended up in the circus. There was an air of mystery surrounding each one, which added to the desire to read the first book.

The story takes place in a semi-dystopian world where a war in Asia is slowly seeing Japan take over the entire world. Most people in society are fitted with various prosthetics, which enhance certain aspects of their bodies and lives. The performers of The Nightingale Circus all have prosthetics and enhancements that help them create amazing performances each night as they travel across Europe.

The circus is made up of 'The Nightingale' a singer whose voice gets inside people's head; 'The Blade Masters' two ex-army men who are super strong and work on prosthetics; 'The Magician' a telecharger who is avoiding conscription; 'The Swan' a ballerina who has a prosthetic heart and lungs; 'The Firebird' a poll dancer who is repaying her surgery debt; 'The Rocket Girl' a discarded Japanese bot powered by a girl, that is launched out of a canon; and 'The Golden Lady'` a girl who has golden prosthetic arms and legs.

Pros: Ioana's writing style makes these characters so mysterious and the world that they live in so interesting. These stories make me want to read more about their lives and continue with the first book, and this is something all great prequels should do.

Cons: Personally, I think it would be best to read Broken People before this novella, as it would help set the scene and context of the entire story. Other than that, this story had no other drawbacks.

Overall, I highly recommend that you check out The Nightingale Circus and Broken People. I have not explored the dystopian genre that much, but I thoroughly enjoyed this, and can't wait to read the first book in the series.

{Published on My Books Are Me: www.mybooksareme.weebly.com} ( )

I received a copy of this book from a LibraryThing giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Each chapter focuses on the story of one character, all of whom are involved in some way with the Nightingale Circus. I really enjoyed learning about the background of each person, it was so entertaining and I felt the characters were developed so well. Each one had such a compelling tale.

I realized in the middle how much some of these individual stories connect to each other as they aren't in chronological order, so it's probably worth several read-throughs to get the most out of the book.
As well, the circus is set in the future and there are a number of technological changes that are at work in this world. I found it confusing trying to understand this new technology, as it was explained piecemeal through several stories, but by the end of the book I had a better sense of what was going on. It would have been easier to have more of an explanation up-front so I wasn't struggling through the first couple chapters, but again, another reason for another read-through.

I can't wait to read Broken People and encounter each of these characters again! Really a well-written, imaginative book; I highly recommend it!! ( )

Nightingale Circus is a wonderful collection of character sketches and a great companion to Broken People. A quick and exciting introduction to the dystopian reality these characters live in.

I truly enjoyed the read, though I did find it a little incomplete. I thought that the storyline that pulls all the characters together could have be developed a bit more, and woven through the disparate sketches to turn a collection of stories into a single story a bit more effectively. This became even more apparent after reading the wonderful Broken People. ( )