Show Stealer Review

On Friday I reviewed Show Stopper by Hayley Barker and today I am reviewing the second installment of this duology.

Synopsis

Hoshiko and Ben have been on the run since they burned Silvio Sabatini’s 
circus down to the ground at the explosive finale of SHOW 
STOPPER. But Ben’s mother will stop at nothing to track him down 
and get her revenge: backing him into a corner where he is forced 
to sacrifice himself to save Hoshiko. The deadliest show on earth 
has been resurrected and if Ben thought he’d seen into its dark 
corners as an outsider, the true extent of the horrors that lurk 
beneath the Big Top are about to be revealed as he becomes the 
circus’ new star attraction…

Review

I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first one, as it wasn’t as political. Since the world had been set up, I felt that most of thematic development in this story was already complete. This book was very much the actual fighting and taking down the government part of dystopian stories. While I did enjoy this, I did miss the deep exploration of British Society in the first book.

I lived in a bubble. Everything I had was paid for by evil and coldness and cruelty.

Last week, I talked about the insta-romance that was happening between the characters. In this book, a few months have passed, so they have had time to develop proper feelings for each other, as well as have a proper conversation. What is quite interesting is how much further along in the relationship they seem to be, given that they have not had the company of others while they have been in hiding. While the strains of life on the run have definitely made the characters grow up faster, they are also still teenagers, and they act like it. I liked that.

Both of these people are hungry for power, and power-hungry people are always a threat.

I did feel like the resurrection of Silvio to be a little bit weird, but I guess it makes some kind of sense (worse things have happened in other stories) and I think that his and Vivian Baines’ reaction to the destruction of the circus, is realistic to British culture and it’s treatment of other people.

Come on then, let’s go join the revolution.

I give this book 4 stars.