The Quick Cut: Two illusionist assistants find their lives entertwined when they meet one another in the process of their jobs.
A Real Review:
Thank you to Entangled Publishing for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a young kid, I was always fascinated by magic. The ability to deceive in a way to delight your audience has always intrigued me and made me wish I had the stage presence and personality to do the same. It meant I watched every magic special on tv and read books on hand tricks. In this historical fiction, the reader finds magic is more real than you realized when given a window into the lives of Thomas and Saverio.
Set in the late 1890s, Thomas and Saverio both work for illusionists. Thomas works for the latest hit illusionist named Neville Wighton who performs a trick where he jumps off the stage and reappears in a balcony box. It's a trick that has brought him plenty of attention along with filled audiences. However, Thomas isn't nearly as simple as an assistant and has his own secrets that he's keeping...
Saverio meanwhile works for a competitor of Neville's named Paolo il Magnifico. Paolo allows Saverio to remain in England for one purpose: determine the secret behind Neville's reappearing trick. Wanting to break away from his master and make his own way, Saverio is willing to go to great lengths to make his dreams happen. When he finds that emotional connections get in the way personal goals, what comes first?
The book itself is broken into three parts, with the first taking up over fifty percent of the length. Everything (except part 3) is written in diary entries with newspaper headings and fliers interspersed through. Part one is where the story is setup between Thomas and Saverio along with their emotional connection. While I appreciate that the setup can be vital, it was also a complete drag.
This didn't hold my interest for very long and although I liked the style it was written in, I never could get entirely entranced in the storyline. Truthfully, I hoped that more of the magic pieces would be talked about along with the romantic angle. Instead it turns into an afterthought and that is unfortunate since this could be so much bigger.
A romantic tale with magic, it drags during the beginning to leave you struggling to keep your interest.
My rating: 3 out of 5