Just So Stories

Riveted Press

July 2025

Distributed by Simon & Schuster

ISBN13: 9781763526099

RRP: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 19.99

I have taken my time with this, both the reading of it and the writing of the review. So much so, that I was strongly reminded of my Oddity review, four years ago, when I wrote: I read this well over [weeks ago] but hadn’t yet written the review. Not because I didn’t absolutely love it but because, really, it is so completely unique in my experience that I have struggled to know exactly how to describe it.

It is a thrilling mixture of [] fantasy, adventure, thriller, and supernatural (so try putting it into a ‘genre’ – arggghhh!) with characters the like of which you have never yet encountered and a plot that is utterly original, quirky and gripping.

Helen Edwards and Kate Gordon have collaborated on this multi-layered narrative with complete seamlessness, bringing to readers a narrative that will intrigue them and fully captivate their imaginations.

Emme and Ivy are two girls separately running away from grief: one from the loss of her best friend and her mother, the other from the abandonment by her family.

Seemingly by chance, they stumble upon a huge crimson circus tent quite literally in the middle of nowhere. But this is no ordinary circus. It is comprised of strange ghostly creatures, many of them long extinct, and even (presumed) mythical beasts such as dragons.

The whole is commanded by a fearsome and very strange Ringmistress, who is erratic, unpredictable, beautiful and terrible, and, above all, compelling. She demands the girls ‘audition’ and urges them to discover their talents, though both are equally sure that they possess none fit for a circus.

Little by little, Emme and Ivy begin to unravel the mysteries of the circus, and discover that it is not just fading due to lack of audiences, but the gradual disappearing of the performers and the circus itself, is somehow linked to their own grief and personal histories. The revelation of the Ringmistress’ own all-consuming grief and her desperate search to recover that which she has lost, is as equally terrifying as their attempts on the highwire.

The girls must look within themselves to find their courage, and put their faith in each other, to win through for the circus creatures, as well as their own salvation. It really is a fantasy adventure that stands out from the usual, and astute readers will relish it. Once again Tamlyn Teow’s cover art is truly sensational – what a talent she is! I would be book-talking it to my capable and deep-thinking kiddos from around Year 5 up to easily Year 7, even 8. I’m putting it right up there with Oddity, which is a book once read is never forgotten. I believe for many readers it will be the same with this one.

It very much deserves a death-defying aerially talented 5 🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪rating.