Mechanique

A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti

By: Genevieve Valentine

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Come inside and take a seat; the show is about to begin....

Outside any city still standing, the Mechanical Circus Tresaulti sets up its tents. Crowds pack the benches to gawk at the brass-and-copper troupe and their impossible feats: Ayar the Strong Man, the acrobatic Grimaldi Brothers, fearless Elena and her aerialists who perform on living trapezes. War is everywhere, but while the Circus is performing, the world is magic. That magic is no accident: Boss builds her circus from the bones out, molding a mechanical company that will survive the unforgiving landscape. But even a careful ringmaster can make mistakes.

Two of Tresaulti's performers are entangled in a secret standoff that threatens to tear the circus apart just as the war lands on their doorstep. Now the Circus must fight a war on two fronts: one from the outside, and a more dangerous one from within.

©2011 Genevieve Valentine (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

If you're into Steampunk...

This is a different sort of book. The characters are complex and loveable. The storyline is nonlinear. The setting is unusual and surreal. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook very much. I don't want to give anything away because it's such an unusual book. I've read LOTS of books and LOTS of genres, and if you love a good bedtime story you'll enjoy Mechanique. My only complaint is that it could have been longer - there is so much more I wanted to know!

Beautiful, tragic and grotesque

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story becomes compelling the longer you listen.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

This is one of those fantastic story lines where you simply suspend disbelief (really how could she possibly replace bone with copper tubes???) because you are simply drawn into the charaters' plight. The fact that the story manages to be compelling and horrific at the same time certainly helps keep you listening.

An absolute favorite

This is my third time reading this book, and it just gets better. One of my all time favorite stories 💖

Bleak & a Bit Too Depressing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The writing style of this book reminded me a little bit of the Dreamhunter Duet, in that the actual story is not apparent until the end. Each scene, in the story, is told and then retold from the view of the different characters. So, it took me a little while to catch the rhythm of the story to be able to follow along. Overall, I found the writing to be good. However, the story itself was too bleak and depressing for my taste.

Not quite the copycat I thought it would be

I will admit, I only had any curiosity about this book because it seemed to come right on the heels of "The Night Circus", of whose summary it seemed extremely similar to. Coupled with the additional "steampunk" quality it boasted, I was initially convinced that this was nothing more than a cheap shot riding two very popular coat tails.

That may or may not be true of this book, but I can say that the story itself was more unique and interesting than I expected.

The narrator, unfortunately, was awful. I will never listen to anything Scott Aiello narrates again. If I were stumbling across this for the first time again, I'd buy the book, not the audio.

Magical story, meh narration

I loved the story, particularly the way that the different character points of view wove a kind of tapestry of wonder. I didn’t find it confusing nor the ending abrupt. I do wish it would have gone on longer, but I think that’s just a good sign that the book held me captive.

I didn’t like that the narrator changed voices for narration. It made it harder to discern dialogue. And since some of his voices were annoying, notably all the women’s voices, that made their whole chapters sound annoying when they didn’t have to.

Disjointed and Half-baked

I really wanted to like this book after reading "Water for Elephants" which was also about a circus and a superb story which I enjoyed it immensely! However, "Mechanique" came across to me as a dark, disjointed story with the characters wandering around angry and waiting to 'do each other in'. I eventually had to stop listening as I got to frustrated and depressed with not knowing the characters and losing the plot as it was not clearly defined by the author. If you like dark depressing books, then this is for you.

I'm not sure yet...

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I might like it better if i read it...i don't think the performance fit the story so my mind often went astray.

What didn’t you like about Scott Aiello’s performance?

He was fine...just not for this story. These were weird "people" set in a weird time. He sounded too normal...(my opinion)

garbage

imagine River from TV's Firefly wants to tell you an 8 hour story...its about a steampunk circus and 4 hours in there is no plot, not so much as an emotional attachment to any character.

I'm more than halfway through this book its discombobulated garbage, the narrator keeps jumping times, without so much as a paragraph break.

if I could only get a refund.

What would have made Mechanique better?

The story seemed flawed from the onset. Poor character development. Flash forwards and flash backs made an already disjointed story even worse. How this is supposed to be steampunk, I'm not really sure. It had a more supernatural/post apocolyptic twist to it then steam punk.At one point I forgot to turn off my audio player. I came back 15 minutes later and I was actually glad I didn't have to suffer another 15 minutes of that story. About 10 minutes later I decided to not suffer anymore of this horrible story.

What was most disappointing about Genevieve Valentine’s story?

The disjointedness of it didn't allow for any story flow.

What didn’t you like about Scott Aiello’s performance?

He did the best he could with what he had.

Any additional comments?

Sorry if my review is poorly worded. I submitted it from my cellphone.