The Contortionist
Harrow Faire, Book 1
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The Contortionist
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Narrated by:
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Hollie Jackson
About this listen
Come one, come all, to Harrow Faire...and greet your sweetest nightmare.
Cora Glass’ humdrum existence as a bank teller flips upside down when a long-abandoned circus mysteriously returns to life. But the entry fee to this big-top show is far more than Cora bargained for.
A deal struck. A soul...stuck.
As Harrow Faire shines a spotlight on Cora, she discovers there are far more secrets in that three-ring nightmare than she could possibly imagine. Trapped in the world of the fiendish and alluring man known as the Puppeteer, Cora finds herself caught in a war between him and the reclusive Mr. Harrow. Both parties will stop at nothing - even murder - to get what they want.
And what they want...is her.
©2021 Kathryn Ann Kingsley (P)2021 Podium AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Contortionist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- No One
- 01-01-24
Fantastic!
The story is spellbinding. It contains real elements of circus arts and chronic illness (she had me at “either it hurt or it hurt more”) and is a fascinating look at a “be careful what you wish for” tale that I was actually all for until about ch 17. Well worth the credit, second book already bought.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- S.R Barnes
- 11-06-21
Come One Come All...
🖤 Review 🖤
Book: The contortionist
Author: Kathryn Ann Kingsley @kathrynannkingsley
My rating: 4⭐
From the back of the book:
Come one, come all, to Harrow Faire...and greet your sweetest nightmare. Cora Glass's humdrum existence as a bank teller flips upside down when a long-abandoned circus mysteriously returns to life. But the entry fee to this big top show is far more than Cora bargained for.
A deal struck.
A soul...stuck.
My 💭
Okay so for me as a huge Kingsley fan this series has rocketed to the top as one of my favourites. Kingsley has done it again! I didn't think I would find a book of hers I loved as much as The Masks of Under series. But this came real close.
I adored Cora. She was an emotional character. The descriptions of her chronic pain really echoed with me as a person with daily pain myself.
Simon has been one of my favourite male characters Kingsley has ever written.
Kingsley cas captured the eerie quality of a fair and combined it with a tense story.
Something is always happening!
The foreshadowing was brilliant. I love how the Tarot reading at the beginning is all the titles of the books in the series.
There were moments in the book where I felt genuine panic.
The threat to Trent... seriously mentally screaming... "please not another Nick!"
I've also now gone through the audiobook and as a person who typically prefers a male narrator I was pleasantly surprised. And honestly the way the narrator plays simon was refreshing. Finally a woman who can do a convincing male voice! I loved the lilt that she put on it.
A solid 4⭐ read and an eager reader for the rest of the series.
(Read the book December 2020 finished the audiobook May 2021)
🖤
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Morgan
- 17-06-23
Spellbinding
I have been wanting to get into more circus genres ever since finishing Caraval last year. And what could be more perfect than a dark romance, with a mysterious circus open to the public once every 5 years, only to turn to ruin again after the circus' last performance?
It wasn't groundbreakingly phenomenal, and the narrator was slightly too loud, bordering on shouting at times, but something, something really captured, and held my interest.
Despite circus romance's being far and few between, I thoroughly inhaled practically every word. Every sentence, and every back and fourth banter between each character.
Simon is SUCH an intriguing protagonist. He has depth to him many characters lack in certain story's, but not in this one. EVERY character infact had so much depth, I wanted to peel back their layers and uncover some hidden secrets I'm sure will be surfacing in the coming books. Their pain was palpable, and felt so real. Despite having a slightly magical, fiction feel to the world building, the characters struggles were not so farfetched from our own struggles, which only made you connect with them more.
Our female protagonist was great and likeable. There is a chronic illness rep I absolutely loved, which takes me back to my last point regarding depth. You are missing out on an excellent story by scrolling away, trust me on this one.
I am beyond thrilled to open up book two and discover more fascinating truths and lies Harrow Faire has to offer. I'm sure it will be epic!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pola
- 26-03-22
Interesting
Dark romance comedy. That's first for me. But I like it!
This book feels like prolog to the story. It is easy to dismiss it, I know I almost did. But after the second book I'm glad I sticked around.
It's steamy and cheesy, oddly satisfying combination.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DAVID G ROGERS
- 14-11-22
Utterly new, award-worthy creative ideas: gripping
Dark indeed. One reviewer wrote " steamy " but I have no idea why - it's not - there are only hints. It is superbly written fantasy because it is so utterly different from the norm - and I was gripped. If you like your fantasy to have a predictable happy ending, try elsewhere ... but you will be missing something truly original.
The narration is as good as it could be with only one woman voicing several very different men as well as the eponymous female contortionist; the narration (but not the excellent narrator personally) gets a star short of 5 for that reason only.
I've already bought book 2.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Becci
- 03-02-24
Dark carnival or twisted circus vibes
This book was exactly the topsy-turvy slice of surreal escapism l hoped it would be. I loved it thoroughly. It has the Night Circus and Caraval vibes, albeit with a modern time period and main character.
The descriptions were deeply immersive, pulling you in to the dark carnival setting. You really felt the contrast between dilapidated & abandoned places, antiquated & old fashioned objects and the modern world we live in. There was as much creepy as there was cozy, both were deliciously twisted together.
The MMC was as unpredictable and morally grey as they come, mad as a hatter and somehow still had his endearing moments. I loved the rep for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which was a prominent part of the storyline.
I enjoyed the use of tarot throughout, though I’m not usually a fan of new decks being created for a book, I think this author did a great job of weaving actual tarot cards and meaning into new depictions of the archetypes and they make sense within the story perfectly, giving you additional insight if you’re familiar with rider waite/card numbers.
I wasn’t expecting the cliffhanger ending but I guess now I have 4 more books to devour in this world. Books are available on Kindle Unlimited and this one is on Audible Plus for a limited time too.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- July Moon
- 28-11-23
Interesting storyline
The story would have been excellent if only the author hadn’t repeated the same sentences. Once I had heard the Cora had bone pain I didn’t need to be reminded time and time again. It resembled stuffing, as if the author didn’t know where to take the story so just reminded us how much Cora was in pain.
The storyline reminded me of two films that had similar themes and lots of themes from other like-minded books. However, I will listen to the second one in the series, I always think first novels often dip their pages in the ocean and wait to see if a shark gobbles it up. Maybe, this one had a few chomped pages but hopefully the second one will shine.
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