Mary: Hello, fellow YA lovers! This month we’re talking about The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell. This book follows twins (with different fathers?!) Ivory and Rosie as they grow up, work in the circus, and battle against racism against the Fey. It’s a lot. There’s simply a lot going on in this book. What did you think about all the converging plotlines, Emily?
Also, it should be noted, THERE BE SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.
Emily: Well let me just start by talking about what attracted me to this book. It’s a fairy tale retelling set in a circus with a bear. And I heard it plays with gender and sexuality a lot. This is meant to be a retelling of “Snow White and Rose Red,” which to be clear has nothing to do with “Snow White.” People on Goodreads seem to not know that. But yeah, that’s what got me to pick up the book. And I thought for a book this short that a lot would be going on. But it all felt pretty simple and streamlined. Maybe to a fault. Maybe we’ll get into that later.
Mary: One thing that amazed me about this book was there was so much low key (or maybe high key, idk) polyamory in this novel. The twins’ mother was in love with two men (hence the two different fathers), and since she couldn’t decide between them she just took her unborn children and peaced out. Midway through the novel, the two fathers come ask to marry Ivory and Rosie’s mother...together. They both get down on one knee and hold out a single ring. Yes, they are officially proposing a throuple, and I was shook. This book seems to embrace a lot of different things—including polyamory and nonbinary identities. The Fey don’t have gender, and use fe/fer pronouns. Rosie is also in love with Bear, who is a princess secretly trapped in a bear’s body. Did any of this stick out to you?
We love bears
Emily: I don’t really think one polyamorous couple is “SO MUCH” polyamory. I didn’t really feel scandalized by it or anything. Maybe because I’ve read a lot of Francesca Lia Block, an author who also plays with the typical relationship models. I would say there is a lot of polyamory in something like the Weetzie Bat series. This has one polyamorous relationship.
Mary: Oh yeah, I didn’t feel scandalized, but I guess I was surprised? It was a pleasant surprise. I’ve read a lot of FLB too (she’s wonderful) but somehow her books are so trippy it rarely registered to me the types of relationships going on.
I personally felt much less interested in the Fey nonbinary-ness (it’s not hurting anyone and everyone should stop being stupid about it, though I guess the Fey magic was the bigger issue there?) and way more interested in Bear, though we never really get Bear’s full story.
Emily: I agree. Knowing that this was based on “Snow White and Rose Red,” I was assuming Bear would be a really big part of this novel. But she really wasn’t? And I hate that we only really get her story in the last few pages of the story. Too little too late.
Mary: To be honest, there’s a lot of this stuff left on the margins of the novel. I wanted to know more about how the two dads came to terms with wanting to be together and together with the twins’ mom. I want to know about how Bear feels about being, well, a bear. I want to know how Rosie knew who Bear was all along. But the novel doesn’t seem concerned with any of that.
Emily: Rosie’s sections were frustrating. I realize part of her personality is to be evasive, but as a reader, that’s difficult to deal with. And I started to wonder “why are we getting chapters from her perspective if we’re not really going to get a clear idea of what’s going on in her head?” How did you feel?
Unless it isn’t
Mary: I felt perplexed by Rosie’s chapters. Why were they poetry? Were they poetry? They didn’t add a lot to the book, and rarely offered any additional insight. I could’ve done without her chapters, or maybe without as many. I wonder what it would’ve been like if Bear was narrating instead…
Emily: I actually love that idea.
Mary: I’m kind of a sucker for circus narratives, and I love a good cult, so this book packed a lot in that I’m already predisposed to enjoy. Some of the elements felt rushed, though. Like, there’s a cult but what is their deal, really? They just don’t like magic? That seems kind of tired.
Emily: Yes, this book was short, which was initially appealing to me, but somehow a lot was happening and not a lot was happening? I feel like the author could have answered those questions in the amount of pages we’re given, but she just doesn’t. There’s not a lot of world-building here, which I think is a nod to the fairy tale that this is based on. Because fairy tales are not about explaining the details about magic or the world. But at the end of the day, fairy tales aren’t novel-length. So the lack of detail was frustrating.
Mary: That’s definitely true. There weren’t many details throughout the book, which I was partially fine with, I guess. I’ve been reading other books lately that lay on the detail, so it was a nice reprieve, BUT sometimes a lack of detail lead to loose ends. I also wasn’t super sure how it mapped onto an actual tale?
Emily: If you’re curious about the fairy tale “Snow White and Rose Red,” here’s the Wikipedia entry about it, and that gives a good outline of the story. As you can see, there’s not a whole lot the story has in common with this book, aside from there being two girls and a bear. So IDK. That seemed like kind of a waste for me too. Do you think it’s necessary for a book inspired by a fairy tale to have more in common with the fairy tale?
Mary: I think it’s possible to take inspiration from a tale without feeling like you have to be married to it, but in this case the connection just didn’t seem to be there. I think what’s more likely is that the author took inspiration from the fairy tale, but only partially. Then, when it came time to write the promotional material, some intern decided that describing it as a fairy tale was the closest thing to the truth. A lot of books, and maybe especially YA books, seem to have descriptions that deviate from what they’re actually about.
Emily: What did you rate this one? I gave it 3 stars, but now that we’ve talked through it, I like it less, actually. Haha.
Mary: I also gave it three stars, and I’m still not sure that’s the right rating. Maybe it needed to be a two, but also...I did enjoy the book! While reading it, it still felt fun to me.
Emily: Do you want to tell everyone about our next book?
Mary: Yeah! It’s Dear Martin by Nic Stone! Stone has written several other novels since Dear Martin, but gosh it just feels so timely right now. It follows a young man, Justyce, through several terrible experiences; Justyce gets arrested and beaten, then has to deal with other emotional traumas throughout the school year—I don’t want to spoil it! It’s got a lot to talk about and I’m pumped to discuss!
Emily: I’ve been wanting to read this one, and the sequel Dear Justyce comes out in September, so we’re reading this one just in time!
See you all then!