Show Stopper by Hayley Barker
Sep. 14th, 2017 10:57 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
Welcome to the deadliest show on Earth.
Our country has turned its back on inclusion: the descendants of immigrants have been denied status and security and must sell their children to a travelling circus – to perform at the mercy of ravenous lions, sabotaged high wires and a demonic ringmaster.
The ruling class – the Pures – visit the circus as an escape from their structured, safe, high-achieving lives – to experience pure entertainment with a brutal, bloodthirsty edge.
Ben, the teenage son of a draconian government minister, attends on opening night and falls under the spell of Hoshiko, a tightrope walker and the star attraction. But as he steps beyond the sparkle and spectacle of the circus, to reveal the horrors that lurk beneath, can he find the courage to resist, to rebel, to help end the cruelty and the carnage?
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Hayley Barker’s debut YA dystopian novel is a blunt polemic with an unconvincing vision of the future (it’s a future where the technology is not much more developed than our own) and which suffers from two-dimensional lead characters whose inevitable romance is not earned while the plot hits every dystopia cliché.
SHOWSTOPPER was released in the United Kingdom on 1st June 2017. Thanks to Scholastic for the review copy of this book.
Our country has turned its back on inclusion: the descendants of immigrants have been denied status and security and must sell their children to a travelling circus – to perform at the mercy of ravenous lions, sabotaged high wires and a demonic ringmaster.
The ruling class – the Pures – visit the circus as an escape from their structured, safe, high-achieving lives – to experience pure entertainment with a brutal, bloodthirsty edge.
Ben, the teenage son of a draconian government minister, attends on opening night and falls under the spell of Hoshiko, a tightrope walker and the star attraction. But as he steps beyond the sparkle and spectacle of the circus, to reveal the horrors that lurk beneath, can he find the courage to resist, to rebel, to help end the cruelty and the carnage?
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Hayley Barker’s debut YA dystopian novel is a blunt polemic with an unconvincing vision of the future (it’s a future where the technology is not much more developed than our own) and which suffers from two-dimensional lead characters whose inevitable romance is not earned while the plot hits every dystopia cliché.
SHOWSTOPPER was released in the United Kingdom on 1st June 2017. Thanks to Scholastic for the review copy of this book.