Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
A darkly irresistible new fantasy set in the infamous Gomorrah Festival, a traveling carnival of debauchery that caters to the strangest of dreams and desires.
Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival's Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that--illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn't actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca. Their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina's illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all her loved ones disappear.
Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival's Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that--illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn't actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca. Their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina's illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all her loved ones disappear.
Amanda Foody's Daughter of the Burning City is the authors debut novel. 16-year old Sorina is the protagonist for this story. Not only is she the adopted daughter of the Proprietor of the Gomorrah Traveling Festival, but she's also the girl who sees without eyes. She's what's called a jynx-worker who has the ability to create characters, or illusions, who may actually be alive. Each of her characters have different characteristics and different mindsets. Sorina considers each of her characters to be members of her immediate family.
Sorina is the leader of the Gomorrah Festival's Freak Show where she makes her characters like Tree, Crown, Gill, Hawk, Blister, Unu & Du, Venera, and Nicoletta come alive and entertain the masses from Up-Mountain as well as Down-mountain. After all, Gomorrah is all about sin, and your deepest, darkest fantasies. Even though she has the power to put them away after a show, she still feels more connected to them than she does actual human beings. But, when her family is murdered one by one, Sorina must work with a stranger named Luca to expose the darkness behind the Gomorrah Festival's underbelly before any one else is taken away from her.
Daughter of the Burning City is such a creative and imaginative story, with even better world building. Foody's characters are larger than life, and Sorina is really clever as well as brave, when it comes to imagining that her illusions come alive. Imagine being born without eyes, yet still being able to see? Gomorrah is a city that moves up and down mountain. It is the city that appears to be on fire, and that might be because of his long history of being in the center of some really bad wars. Foody also uses illustrations that depict each of the characters she has created. Very cool addition indeed.
The story itself should appeal to those who love authors Leigh Bardugo and Maggie Stiefvater, as well as Stephanie Garber's Caraval. Foody blends a sinful, evocative carnival setting with lush fantasy details, magic and a layer of dark mystery. Daughter of the Burning City explores the classic themes of family, belonging and coming of age in a unique and utterly captivating fantasy setting. There is a subtle
romance in this story, but nothing that overwhelms everything else that happens over the course of the story.
OOh nice! I've been curious about this one for awhile now! Sounds like it would be a good mystery! Glad it was a nice read for you! Nice review!
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