Gedris' debut begins a new series featuring an engineer-fortune teller and her newly deceased sister, who sticks around as a ghost. After Anna's sister is murdered, other odd, paranormal things start happening around the circus they travel with, and she is suddenly imbued with the ability to speak with other ghosts, who are more than eager to share their stories. The book features a lively cast exactly what you'd expect from a circus troupe complete with a bearded lady, a snake-conjuring opera singer, and a charismatic contortionist, all of whom are depicted in a spectacular palette of rich colors. Gedris' thick-outlined, stylized figures add to the mood and vibrant tone of the story. Tension runs high when their leader is hauled off by the local deputy sheriff, and they have to come up with enough money to bail him out and move on. There's a lot to love here, and fans of comics featuring diverse casts or readers looking for mystery or paranormal comics will be delighted.--Pino, Kristina Copyright 2018 Booklist

Webcomic artist Gedris (YU+ME: dream Omnibus Book Two, 2014, etc.) delivers a compelling tale of supernatural mystery set in the Old West.Brown-skinned, curly-haired identical twins Anna and Kat are inseparable members of the Samson Brothers traveling circus. Anna is a pragmatic inventor working as the carnival fortuneteller, while Kat is an impulsive and performative knife-thrower. But when Anna wakes to discover Kat has been murdered--literally stabbed in the back--she is unsettled to find that Kat's soul hasn't moved on. Represented as a translucent, green, floating version of herself, Kat takes up residence in her sister's body, finding safety and security there while she teams up with Anna to solve her own murder. Gedris' expressive lines and bold colors bring to life the Old West setting, and the characters have varied skin tones, gender presentations, and body shapes. The marginalized identities of troupe members are hinted at but rarely explored, with the exception of a Chinese immigrant's experience working on the railroad. The cliffhanger ending satisfies, opening up just the right number of questions.Humorous and heartfelt, creepy and captivating; readers will eagerly hope for another volume. (Graphic fantasy. 12-adult)

Gr 9 Up-Bold lines surrounding panels with equally bright colors are appropriate foils for an audacious story about a travelling circus. Anna and her twin sister, Kat, were taken in as members of the Samson Brothers Circus. Kat can throw knives with-usually-accurate precision. Lacking her sister's keen hand-eye coordination, Anna has compensated by "telling fortunes." Intellectual and skeptical Anna initially balks at working as a psychic, so she creates a conjecture engine that calculates probabilities and helps her reach scientifically based conclusions. Her life takes a tragic turn when she finds Kat murdered in their shared train car. Kat begins to inhabit Anna's mind and body as both of them attempt to find Kat's killer. Worse still, Anna discovers that she can see other ghosts, including the victims of a corrupt sheriff in one of the show's whistle-stop towns. Gedris makes a conscious effort to incorporate ethnically and religiously diverse characters and takes full advantage of the circus context to explore otherness with the circus "freaks." The abrupt cliff-hanger ending will leave readers anxiously awaiting the second installment. VERDICT While this title isn't explicitly YA, the plot, fascinating cast of characters, art, and strong protagonist will appeal to fans of paranormal and mystery plots.-Jodeana Kruse, R.A. Long High School, Longview, WA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.