A review by onespaceymother
The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Plot in one sentence: A time-traveler, gay, jewish ringleader leads a 1920’s train circus of superheroes through the Midwest, trying to stop WWII from happening after-work, while outrunning her abusive ex whom she met when accidentally saving him the trenches during WWI. 

This is a WILD sentence. I wanted to love this more. Local author, Midwest locales, etc, but the messaging was heavy handed and the plot tried to do too much for too many characters. Also time travel almost always fucks up a story. There’s so much more that could’ve been done about the Circus King.