Upon a re-listen, I was reminded how much I really enjoy all the world building and the world of the circus! Unfortunately I'd forgotten how much I disliked Marco and the romance portion of the story, and my feelings on that really haven't changed. Maybe I should give The Starless Sea a try to find out if that story works better for my taste. Jim Dale's reading is honestly so lovely that even with my visceral dislike of Marco, I still really enjoyed the re-listen. Anyway, I know I'm in the minority on this one which is okay.

Original review: 
Things I liked: The circus, the clock, the circus, the food, the circus, Poppet, THE CIRCUS
Things I didn't: The romance, the two main characters, the ending. That made the story a bit of a difficult sell, I guess.

I will say this is the first work book club book that I've enjoyed even a little bit, so YAY. I'm tempted to give it another star just for that. Also, after listening to Jim Dale read the audio, I enjoyed this more. I think I like the world and the fashion and the food and the details almost enough to say I like the whole book? But I still really don't care for the core elements of the story so maybe not.