My first thought was that this was not fantasy. Other than Fevvers having wings and being part Swan there was nothing really fantasy about this novel. Not to mention there are enough people in this world who's bodies are "freakish" due to genetic coding and the like that it can be explained that way. So, I did not think this was fantasy. It was written as literature and therefore should be labeled as such.

Oh my lord did I struggle with this book. I cannot remember a time where I was less interested in a book than I was in this. It was just so too hard to get into. I have to be sucked in one of three ways: 1. plot. 2. Setting. 3. Characterization. The problem was none of the three were that interesting.

The plot. Was there one? I am still unsure about that. I need more than just a journey that never really goes anywhere. The ending left me a bit confused as Fevvers tells Walser that she fooled him, but you aren't really sure what she actually means by that.

The setting. It was ok. It was a different world (set in Victorian Europe) and the other huge setting was the circus, which was a setting of its own. That part was kind of interesting in how it was written.

Characterization. I did not get into either Fevvers or Walser. Now I can appreciate, what Fevvers as a female went through in trying to have individuality in that period. As a man, it is hard for me to completely understand what it means that women have to go through. We had a lond discussion about this at the book club and that part of the discussion was very good. But the problem I had was with mostly Fevvers. Her character seemed very stand off'ish to Walser throughout the book and then she was in love with him? Now I am not saying that people cannot fall in live quickly, but I never saw the transition and it did not make sense to me at all. As for Walser I did not really get why he put himself throught what he did. This was mostly due to fact that that you did not get enough of his motivation in the text.

As you can tell, I did not really care for this book. :) I love books that make you think, that is (to me at least) one of the biggest reasons I even pick up a book. But what I don't want is to have to figure out what happened in the book. Like the ending where you have no idea what she is talking about. That is just me and I am aware of the limitations it can bring.

My rating system 

My rating.  Average, average, average.  This book was just not interesting me at all.  It took me almost three weeks to read this and it was only 295 pages!  The characters weren't interesting and the plot was pretty much non-existant.