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About the Book

Welcome to the Circus of the Fantasticals. 

Ringmaster – Rin, to those who know her best – can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odets, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. With the scars of World War I feeling more distant as the years pass, Rin is focusing on the brighter things in life. Like the circus she’s built and the magical misfits and outcasts – known as Sparks – who’ve made it their home. Every night, Rik and the Fantasticals enchant a Big Top packed full with audiences who need to see the impossible. 

But while the present is bright, threats come at Rin from the past and the future. The future holds an impending war that the Sparks can see barrelling towards their Big Top and everyone in it. And Rin’s past creeps closer every day, a malevolent shadow Rin can’t fully escape. It takes the form of another Spark circus, with tents as black as midnight and a ringmaster who rules over his troupe with a dangerous power. Rin’s circus has something he wants, and he or stop until it’s his. 

If you knew how dark tomorrow would be, what would you do with today. 

About the Author

J.R. Dawson (she/they) is a writer and educator who has published shorter works in places such as F&SF, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Lightspeed. She lives in Omaha with a loving spouse and three dogs. Having earned a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Stonecoast, Dawson works as a teaching artist. Her clients include assorted Midwestern Jon-profits that teach kids the power of performance and storytelling. 

What it has been compared to – aka if you like these you should try The First Bright Thing

A spellbinding debut for fans of The Night Circus

Caraval

The Greatest Showman

and The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

I personally also feel like it sounds like it shares vibes with Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston.

“Like if The Night Circus smashed into the X-Men and formed a found family that welcomed every reader with open arms. A beautiful novel.” John Wiswell, Nebula Award-winning author of Open House on Haunted Hill.

“The First Bright Thing will break your heart and stitch it back together, again and again. A nearly perfect amalgam of Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and The X-Men” Rita Woods, author of Remembrance and The Last Dreamwalker.

I will leave the last word for now to Travis Baldree, New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes:

“A celebration of artistry and wonder as essential talismans we wield against despair – and with which we triumph against it….I for one am here for the show.” 

My review will follow…

Do check out the rest of the tour stops to see what everyone else thought. Thanks to Black Crow and the Publisher for the ARC. I will share my review as soon as I can. Unfortunately I’ve crashed with my Long Covid and am struggling to read other than audiobooks right now.