Blood Circus

By: Camila Victoire

Narrated by: Kyla Garcia

An Indie Next Kids' List Great Read

In this lush and terrifying debut—perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Children of Blood and Bone—Camila Victoire creates a future where cruelty and spectacle hold the keys to subjugating humans on a ravaged earth.

At the end of the twenty-first century, climate change and famine almost ended humanity—until the discovery of the Klujns, a barbaric, humanoid species with strangely colored eyes and even stranger abilities. Their crystal claws and bones fertilize barren soil, and their tender meat is a super-protein. Klujns are both humans’ saviors and natural-born enemies, meant to be hunted and used.

When sixteen-year-old Ava finds herself on the wrong side of a military fence erected to protect the North American Territory, she’s captured by Klujns and made to participate in the Blood Race, a macabre tradition where young human hostages compete to the death for Klujn amusement. At first, she is terrified, but as Ava observes Klujn behavior that contradicts what she’s learned, she begins to wonder: Are Klujns as different as she was led to believe? And, as she fights for her life, does it matter?

Inspired by four years on the road with a traveling circus, where the word itself embodies an entire culture built on dark spectacle, Camila Victoire delivers a twisted coming-of-age tale that combines elements of fantasy, magical realism, and suspense. Blood Circus will capture fans of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone. Its masterful worldbuilding, plot twists, and boundary-pushing Blood Race are wholly immersive—and compel listeners to call their own long-held assumptions, values, and belief systems into question.

©2023 Camila Victoire (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Good narration, heavy handed rhetoric

Very heavy handed climate change rhetoric. I am very much all for saving the planet and do everything I can, but the climate change tones were a very "this is humanity's fault, and by extension, you as the reader's fault" which made me very uncomfortable. There is nothing about circuses, it's more gladiator based. The story was entertaining enough, but the narration saved the whole thing for me.

More please!

I absolutely loved it... new dystopian twist. Not a circus... Not Hunger games... So much more than that. The story and characters were easy to get lost in. My only disappointment is having to wait for more. Please let there be more! I'm already a diehard fan of this new author! Great job with the narration as well.

Vibrant and Stirring

It's a cheek clencher! Experiencing this dystopian future through Ava's eyes had me ecstatic for every chapter.

Very Good Debut Novel

This story has rich and vibrant world building and characters that are engaging. Overall I enjoyed the audio book and the narrator Kyla Garcia did an excellent job with different voices and accents and cadence. There was blood and gore and violence mixed with dystopian theme of humans at their worst killing each other and the planet. The concept that another humanoid species, who were healing the planet, had became the humans’ choice of protein set the stage for cannibalism between species. I think Camila Victoire was trying to get a lot of concepts of Veganism, transgender roles, identity, environmentalism and misogyny related through an action packed story. It was a lot to take in and manage but she weaves it into the story arcs well. There were some typical first author mistakes with cliche references but overall worth the read for older YA or NA readers. Would not recommend younger sensitive readers for this story as it has a lot of violence, combat and murder between teenage girls.

Where to start....

I put this book down.

I love books and I typically finish all books. Both the ones that feel like you're being treated to a gourmet meal and ones that feel like you decided to eat junkfood.

This book is like you went to eat at a mid-grade restaurant and they swapped out random aspects of the meal. Wanted a drink? You got yogurt. Wanted a piece of chicken? It's tofurky. It's like going to take a bite of something sweet and finding out it's savory. Not the shock you wanted. And while pizza and ice cream are great. I don't want ice cream that tastes like pizza.

This book is pervaded by 'themes'. "All good stories have themes!" Yes. But this book waterboards you with these themes. Veganism is great. I'm all for veganism. But I don't like being waterboarded with the concept. I would have preferred the delivery of thoughts/ideas to be once or subtly executed. I love the fantasy genre, but I hate when the author (I assume unintentionally) overly pushes a thought or idea.