In this lush and terrifying debut--perfect for readers of The Hunger
Games and Children of Blood and Bone--Camila Victoire creates a future
where cruelty and spectacle hold the keys to subjugating humans on a
ravaged earth.
At the end of the twenty-first century, climate change and famine almost
ended humanity--until the discovery of the Klujns, a barbaric, humanoid
species with strangely colored eyes and even stranger abilities. Their
crystal claws and bones fertilize barren soil, and their tender meat is
a super-protein. Klujns are both humans' saviors and natural-born
enemies, meant to be hunted and used.
When sixteen-year-old Ava finds herself on the wrong side of a military
fence erected to protect the North American Territory, she's captured by
Klujns and made to participate in the Blood Race, a macabre tradition
where young human hostages compete to the death for Klujn amusement. At
first, she is terrified, but as Ava observes Klujn behavior that
contradicts what she's learned, she begins to wonder: Are Klujns as
different as she was led to believe? And, as she fights for her life,
does it matter?
Inspired by four years on the road with a traveling circus, where the
word itself embodies an entire culture built on dark spectacle, Camila
Victoire delivers a twisted coming-of-age tale that combines elements of
fantasy, magical realism, and suspense. Blood Circus will capture fans
of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games and Tomi Adeyemi's Children of
Blood and Bone. Its masterful worldbuilding, plot twists, and
boundary-pushing Blood Race are wholly immersive--and compel readers to
call their own long-held assumptions, values, and belief systems into
question.
