Joint Review: Pantomime by Laura Lam

Title: Pantomime

Author: Laura Lam

Genre: Fantasy, LGBT, Young Adult

Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Publication date: February 2012
Hardcover: 392 pages

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Stand alone or series: First in a series

How did we get this book: Review copy from the publisher via Netgalley

Format (e- or p-): eARC

REVIEW

Ana’s Take:

I will start by simply saying: Pantomime’s cover copy is supremely misleading. One would think that this is a run-of-the-mill PNR YA featuring two protagonists that seem to be about to fall in love with each other whilst a secre–zzzz, BORING. I would never had picked up this book based on this blurb had I not known from the get go what it is really about.

Allow me to rephrase the blurb slightly:

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

An intersex teen¹, Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, raised as the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Gene’s parents wish to force a decision on which gender Gene will spend the rest of Gene’s life as, so Gene runs away from home, assumes the identity of Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Now, doesn’t that sound infinitely better? You’re welcome. There is a discussion to be had about whether my reworded summary is spoilery or not but since we don’t really think this impacts on the reading of the book AT ALL, we moved this discussion to the Additional Thoughts below.

So, Pantomime. It’s mostly a very familiar coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a Fantastical world that hints to long-forgotten magic and knowledge and whose “different” protagonist joins the circus.

Of course, what makes it really distinct is the fact that the protagonist is intersex with very particular struggles that sets Micah/Gene apart. I absolutely loved Micah/Gene as a character but more than that I absolutely loved and appreciated the care given to Micah/Gene’s story-arc. The story alternates between past and present and presents Gene/Micah’s history as a mix of shame and acceptance (specially the brother Cyril), the terrible ordeals with doctors and potential suitors, the need to keep secrets. Most of all it portrays sensitively Micah/Gene’s attempts to understand, define and accept not only hir own body but hir own identity. How does hir body impact on hir gender identity? Is Micah/Gene, a boy, a girl, both, or neither?

Further, I loved how the story makes it very clear that there is an intricate but separate relationship between not only body and gender identity but also between the latter and the roles traditionally attributed to different genders. So for example: if Micah/Gene feels she is a girl but doesn’t like “girly” things like sewing and dancing does that make any her less of a girl? Can he identify as a boy if he likes dresses? What if Micah/Gene feels like hir is both? Gender identity is also different from sexual identity and thankfully this is also treated separately here and it seems that Micah might actually be bi, feeling attracted to both male and female. And that attraction shows up in the narrative in a very cool, uncomplicated way so for example when sexually aroused Micah/Gene mentions both penile and nipple erections.

For me, Micah/Gene’s arc and portrayal is the novel’s main point and its claim to success.

That said, I am not so sure about the rest of the novel and the way that Micah/Gene’s personal narrative intersects with that of the Circus as well as with the overall Fantastical background. For most of the book, as much as I appreciated Micah/Gene’s arc, I felt that the book was going nowhere. There is a world building that seemed interesting – with the long-forgotten magic and different mythologies – but barely touched upon to the point where it makes Pantomime read like a prequel, and this feeling becomes stronger upon the novel’s cliff-hanger ending. There is a question of pacing as well, very slow chapters leading to a monumentally hectic ending.

Finally, in spite of the care given to Micah/Gene’s portrayal I am unsure about the “magical” nature that intersex characters might have in the context of the novel’s world-building. It is hinted that intersex beings have existed in the past and where considered the epitome of the “complete” human and where worshipped as Gods. This is in a way extremely empowering. BUT doesn’t underlining differences reinforce otherness? I am curious and intrigued to see how the story proceeds and how the treatment of this mythology is examined in the sequel.

As an aside: Pantomime also made me think of Circuses books in general and how interesting it is to see that most books about circuses show them as a haven, a safe place for outsiders and “freaks” when real-life circus – specially the “Freak Shows” – were anything but. Coincidentally, just yesterday there was an article online about a woman’s seemingly terrible, harrowing existence as the “ugliest woman on Earth”, whose mummified body was just recently allowed a final resting place.

Overall, in spite of any misgivings, I truly enjoyed Pantomime and especially the protagonist’s incredible journey.

Thea’s Take:

I have to fully, completely, 100% agree with Ana’s assessment. The marketing copy for this book frankly bothers me. Deeply. The copy does sound like this is a story about two struggling runaways that either a) Fall in Love and find each other thanks to a Magical Circus (yes, because all circuses are romantic and magical); or b) Discover they are long lost Magical Siblings, who will together unlock the secret magic of the past. We will discuss this at length below, but it bears mentioning again:

This is not even remotely what Pantomime is about.

So. Onto the rest: Pantomime features an intersex protagonist and details Gene/Micah’s arc as both a young noblewoman debutante, and an aspiring trapeze acrobat (aerialist) at Bal’s traveling circus. Gene is raised as a girl, put into dresses and ribbons, taught to dance and play music and embroider, while zir mother drags her to physician after physician looking for a “cure.”² As Micah, Gene reinvents zirself as a boy and makes a daring leap to join the circus as an apprentice Aerialist. Here, Micah is hazed as a newcomer and hides zir past – but it is here that Micah feels happier and more complete than ze ever has before. Where Pantomime excels is in Gene/Micah’s character – like Ana says, Laura Lam does a fantastic job of creating a nuanced, relatable character who is struggling with enormous issues of identity and finding zir place in the world, and accepting zirself. I love that Gene/Micah is an intersex character that is both male and female, that does not want a sacrifice or a “cure.” And, as Ana mentions, Gene/Micah is attracted to both men and women, loves dancing and music just as much as ze loves climbing trees and racing through the woods. The questions of self-perception, self-acceptance, and self-worth are all examined in-depth with Pantomime, and I loved ever step of Gene/Micah’s heartbreaking, wonderful arc as a character. The other characters are pretty great too – my favorites being Gene’s brother Cyril and the clown Drystan (ok, aerialist Aenea, too).

On the plotting side, however, things start to get a little more muddled. The book alternates between Gene (past) and Micah’s (present) storylines – we see Gene as ze struggles with zir societal debut as a marriageable young woman, and we see Micah as ze fights to earn zir place in the Circus. I like the alternating style of the book and the way the novel builds to join the two storylines, as we finally learn why Gene runs away from home and becomes Micah. It is a horrific, heartbreaking reveal and I think done very well. That said…the two storylines drag out a little bit too long (Gene’s in particular), and there is some clunkiness when it comes to the integration of the two, especially where the fantasy elements are concerned. Similarly, the frenetic ending of the book after such a long slow overlapping series of alternating chapters feels…abrupt. Similarly, the setting of the circus is really well done, but it’s kind of tired – a magical circus, capturing the wonder of all who enter has been done, and done, and done.

There is one real concern and problem I have with the book: the fantasy elements. While these elements of the book are interesting, they are not particularly well fleshed out (and for the vast majority of the book aren’t even necessary). Pantomime is set in a land called Ellada, where ancient magical ancestors left behind artifacts (Vestige) whose workings are mysteriously shrouded to Ellada’s now human and decidedly non-magical inhabitants. As part of the magical cast of gods that existed to create this land, there are a group of demi-gods called Kedi – both male and female, and according to the Byssians, believed to be the only creature that is ever complete. The Kedi are super strong, with heightened senses, and believed never to be ill, and worshiped alongside the Chimaera (divine humans mixed with animals – mermaids, minotaurs, men with wings).

And this is the real, significant problem I have with Pantomime, because this awesome, wonderfully portrayed intersex main character is ultimately made to be something magical and actually compared to mermaids and centaurs. Intersex people exist. They are real people. Making them magical does reinforce otherness, and this deeply bothered me. At the same time, I understand that the intentions here are good, and that one could interpret Gene/Micah’s unique magical abilities as a positive and empowering message. Personally? It bothers me.

Overall, Pantomime is a wonderfully written book, with a fantastic main character and I truly enjoyed reading it…with some reservations. Definitely recommended, and I will be around to read the next book in the series.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: You can read an excerpt HERE.

Additional Thoughts:

As promised: we wanted to talk about the misleading blurb and the hidden LGBTQ aspect of the novel which from what we gather has been treated as a “spoiler” and a “twist” as a marketing decision.

This unfortunately does not sit that well with us. First of all, it is slightly disingenuous because there isn’t really a twist at all – it is very clear from the get go that Micah and Gene are the same person so it doesn’t even make sense that blurb leads to believe that they are two different people. To try and play this as well as the fact that Micah/Gene is intersex as a secretive plot twist is to expect this news to be shocking and mindblowing. To us, this reads at best as exploitative and at worst as playing into the self-fulfilling assumption that readers need to be tricked into reading a LGBTQ novel.

The “secret” surrounding the intersex character also frustrates us in the way that it makes it difficult for people interested in LGBTQ themes to find this novel and it shouldn’t be. Cass, reader/reviewer of mostly LGBTQ-focused LitFic and non-fiction at Bounjour,Cass recently wrote a guest post for Smugglivus in which she was bemoaning exactly how difficult it is to find LGBTQ books:

For whatever reason (which I would encourage debate on), publishers are still wary of promoting YA (and even mainstream adult titles) by mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity. Muddling through Amazon, catalogs, Netgalley, and websites that discuss LGBTQ books, I realized how extremely difficult it was going to be to form a list that didn’t involve me writing, “I’m PRETTY sure, based on hints from the blurb and some guessing based on my knowledge of other blurbs from books I know contain LGBTQ characters, that this book features a ____ character.”

(…)

The other hint [commonly found] is “deepest, darkest secret,” which when it’s not referring to werewolves or vampires generally means “gay” (and, less often, “transgender”).

(…)

It shouldn’t be that difficult to find books.

Micah/Gene’s story is wonderful and it would have been great if the truth of this character had been out and proud in the blurb of the novel.

Rating:

Ana: 6 – Good, leaning toward 7

Thea: 6 – Good, leaning towards a 7

Reading Next: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Buy the Book:

Ebook available for kindle US, kindle UK, nook, kobo & sony