Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond
Jules is a wire-walker, trained by her father (the best in the business) and passionate about her craft. When her family is invited to join a prominent, up and coming circus, Jules persuades them to agree, even though it means performing with their long-established enemies. Many years ago, mysterious deaths occurred, and Jules’ grandmother – suspected to be able to administer curses – was blamed. Now, strange accidents are happening again, and Jules teams up with the teenage boy from the other family to try and unravel what really happened all those years ago – whether it really was magic, whether her grandmother really was responsible, and how it all ties into to what’s going on now.

This book could be called magical realism. It’s never established 100% whether the curses are really magic, though Jules comes to believe they are by the end of the book (and I believed it as well). This aspect is the weakest part of the book. The performers are a superstitious lot and the curses all come down to an exploitation of those superstitions (an unlucky color sneaked onto a costume, for instance). Where the novel shines is in Jules’ performances on the wire, which are exciting and full of tension. She’s even better than her father, but the psychological effect of the curses is such that she wobbles. While balancing on a wire strung between buildings. With nothing to catch her below. Yikes. Off the wire, Jules wanders around playing detective, trying to solve the mystery of the past, and it’s not terribly interesting. It makes the book seem pretty episodic: a wire walk (fascinating!), then a clue-gathering mission (snooze), then another performance (nail-biting), and more sleuthing (zzzzzz). While I wouldn’t recommend the book to someone wanting a magical fantasy or a scintillating mystery, it should appeal to readers interested in the circus or high-risk professions.

Finished copy provided by the publisher.

The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
This is solid horror with some creative storytelling choices. It’s told from the point of view of Okiku, the subject of the well-known Japanese ghost story The Ring, but her perspective is fragmented, and her story is really a frame for the story of a modern-day boy named Tark. Tark himself is haunted, not only by Okiku, but also by something much more malevolent. Okiku is initially passive in Tark’s story, but she’s drawn further into his life as she observes more of it – as she learns that Tark can sense her, too, and that she has a reason for being there with him. This ghost story is more unsettling than it is scary. It should appeal to fans of Japanese horror, though I thought it dragged a bit. It’s a debut, and I find that pacing is often a weakness in first novels. Still, it’s got a great (creepy!) ending and I appreciated the fresh perspective.

Book borrowed from my library.