Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a 'semifamous' local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her-who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves-Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she 'like-likes' but who had pined for Ellis instead. Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. The magic-and-carnival combination make for a pleasant if not spectacular diversion.Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. Both of the romantic leads are people of color: Mara is mixed race, of Egyptian and Indian heritage Latino Gabe’s father is Venezuelan. Though the immediate setting reads more generic small-town than southern Louisiana, the overall magic world is entertaining. Sometimes the plot seems to be in a holding pattern (as, after attacks, the carnies and performers reiterate the fact that they need the money too badly to leave), but that works well in the buildup to the physical consummation of Mara and Gabe’s relationship-less well, though, in the climax, final reveal, and seemingly stand-alone ending that passes too quickly. Mara has a chance run-in with a hot local, Gabe, but what chance does love have when she knows she will move on at the end of the week? That is, if she survives-some mysterious creature is attacking the campground where the carnies are staying in ways that increasingly seem to be targeted. Right away, though, the supernaturally sensitive pick up on something strange. Luckily, they have a gig booked in the small town of Caudry, Louisiana. The traveling carnival that Mara calls home has seen better days-a dry spell’s left them in danger of completely running out of funds. In 1987, a traveling carnival sideshow with supernaturally gifted performers faces a deadly threat.

Freeks amanda hocking