Jill Shultz

I originally read the synopsis for this book on a Librarything.com member give away, which I applied for. My initial fist impression was ooh sic-fi futuristic version of The Night Circus with leopard shapeshifters. And of course I was completely and utterly wrong. Then I got excited when I found the book on Netgalley with a read now available. And as it turned out, I won the librarything.com member give away too.

As it turned out my interpretation of the synopsis was wrong, but that didn't matter as I fell completely in love with the book anyway. A vivid, engaging story with a wonderful human cast of characters set in a futuristic world. Turns out the "leopards" in the books were people with spots on their skin supposedly held responsible for a deadly disease. The main female character is one of these leopards and a brilliant trapeze performer.

I won't go into too much detail of the plot as it would be spoilerful and basically rehashing the story. It was incredible, dark in places, and fascinating future world to read about with some social issues and problems that made you pay attention and want to know how everything came out in the end. Gripping characters, beautifully written, vivid and engaging. I loved it from start to finish.

Thank you Netgalley for the read now ARC, and thank you Librarything.com for the member giveaway.… (more)

I periodically found it difficult to follow the anaphoric references - the kinship relationships in particular were confusing when birth/heart family members were not spelled out explicitly. Other than that it was amazing what this book did right - solid world building with a compelling story about racism and the consequences of trading freedom for safety with enough subtlety that it doesn't feel like you're getting hit over the head with the moralizing. I can't decide if I'm hoping for a sequel or not because the ending was lovely, but there is also the potential for much more story to tell.… (more)

I received this as a review copy and really liked it. It is a sort of Romeo and Juliet story featuring Amandine a Leopard who has to hide what she is under her circus makeup and Nikos a Titan. The rulers of the planet blame the leopards for the disease that ravaged their planet. Nikos is a doctor who doesn't believe this and wants to help change this believing all should be treated the same. Amadine only really feels free when she is working at her craft as an aerialist in the Circus and not gets involved in the rebellion some of the other leopards are fighting. Throughout the story they struggle to find away to be together as who they really and end up changing the world they live.… (more)