A Lesson for the Cyclops

A Lesson for the Cyclops

by Jeffrey Getzin

Dare to Hope?

Maria leads a lonely existence of silent misery. Horribly disfigured, she earns a meager living as a sideshow freak. Her very existence is one of mockery, contempt, and ridicule. She has no hope, no dreams. No future.

But when a dashing swordsman stumbles onto the circus grounds, wounded and feverish, Maria is able to imagine a life beyond the confines of her dreary world. Could a swashbuckling hero ever fall for a freak like her?

*****

5 stars

What a delightfully fun book. I have to admit that I have a habit of downloading lots and lots of books all at once and then days later looking through them and randomly picking one out to read. And because my memory is way worse than a goldfish I never remember what the book is suppose to be about when I start reading it. Sometimes this is a bad thing because I get a chapter in and start thinking to myself that I must have been crazy when I downloaded the book or, like the case with this book, I get a wonderful surprise and then wonder why I didn't start reading it sooner.

With that out of the way even rereading the synopsis of this book I still wouldn't haven't have expected everything that happened. It was how I would imagine a circus to really be run, especially the treatment of the freaks. Then of course there is always that one woman that thinks to much of herself and makes life harder on those around her, and her poor husband that can't see past her. 

D'Arbignals character was amazing, I loved everything about him. He did just the kind of things I like to read about, and had a great personality. I didn't expect much from him in the beginning but the more I read the more I grew to really like him, and by the end I wanted to swoon with all the rest of the women that followed him around.

Then there is poor Maria, I felt so bad for her and how she had to live, but I would have never in a million years guessed at her back story. It really opened your eyes to understand to why she was the way she is, and honestly I really did think she was a freak right up til she told me other.

The ending was unexpected, though I did think that there was going to be something surprising, just not as surprising as it was. I have no complaints with it at all, mainly because it made me smile right up to the very last sentence.

If I had one thing to complain about it would be that it was to short, though that is me being picky because really it was the perfect length. To much more would have ruined it, I just wanted to read more about D'Arbignals, which I can because there are more books with him in it.

Would I recommend this book? Sure, its a fun read short read that is packed with all the things I love to read about.

I'm going to but my playlist of music that I was listening to when I wrote this review up, this is something I just spur of the moment that I decided to do, and I will only be doing it on my blog cause its mine and I can do anything I want with it, well really it is because one of the songs that popped up on Pandora while I was writing this review gave me pause and then I laughed cause it seemed to fit a few of the characters found in this book.

Bright Lights- Matchbox Twenty

Caress Me Down- Sublime (this is the song)

Heart-Shaped Box- Nirvana

Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin

Under the Bridge- The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Born On The Bayou- Creedence Clearwater Revival