Show Stealer by Hayley Barker: Blog Tour

Title: Show Stealer
Author: Hayley Barker
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Sent by publisher

Hoshiko and Ben have been on the run since they burned Silvio Sabatini's circus down to the ground at the explosive finale of SHOW STOPPER. But Ben's mother will stop at nothing to track him down and get her revenge: backing him into a corner where he is forced to sacrifice himself to save Hoshiko. The deadliest show on earth has been resurrected and if Ben thought he'd seen into its dark corners as an outsider, the true extent of the horrors that lurk beneath the Big Top are about to be revealed as he becomes the circus' new star attraction...

I am excited to be the next stop on the Show Stealer bog tour. Show Stealer is the second book in the Show Stealer series by Haley Barker. Show Stopper takes place in a not-so-distant future England where the poorest people, considered 'Dregs' and not 'Pure' English have no rights and a terrible way of life. Many Dregs are forced to sell their children into a travelling circus, where they are forced to perform in deadly acts where many of them die. The first book followed Ben, the teenage son of a government minister who visits the circus for the first time and falls in love with Hoshiko, one of the young circus performers. Ben quickly becomes aware of how wrong the society he lives in really is and he works to help Hoshiko escape the circus,

Show Stealer takes place a year after the events of the first book. Hoshiko, Ben, Greta, Jack and Bojo the monkey are still in hiding, having escaped the Circus. Ben's mother is determined to track them down and get Ben back. And the Circus has been rebuilt bigger and more deadlier than before. Ben sacrifices himself and gives himself up, in order to allow the others to escape. Ben finds himself thrown into the Circus, as the new star attraction. Ben's position in the Circus will see him learn more about the deadliest show on earth, and will change everything he thought he knew.



I was immediately sucked back into this story and world in just the first few pages. I enjoyed book one but I absolutely loved book two of the series. It went at such a fast pace, and I was unable to put the book down. I was reading it, not wanting to reach the end. Hayley Barker has a way of writing the circus to life, so you can picture it so vividly in your head that you feel like you are there. I don't want to dive into details of the book because I fear spoiling it for any of you. You won't be disappointed if you pick up this series.

I also love the look at society we get through these books. Hayley was inspired to write this series after seeing an increase in crime and animosity against minority groups in England, especially around the time Brexit was first being discussed. It can make for uncomfortable reading at times, but I love it's overall message of acceptance. I highly recommend this series, especially if you like books set in dark futures, or those set in a circus.