Daughter of the Burning City is an amazing dark fantasy novel! It is the story of the travelling circus city of Gomorrah and Sorina, a 16 year old illusion worker in the city’s “freak show”. Sorina has no family of her own, except her adoptive father Villem who runs Gomorrah, so she has built her own family from her illusions. Non-traditional family structures in YA fantasy was the topic of my dissertaion and so this is an aspect I found particularly fascinating. Sorina talks a lot in the book about family and what it means to her and it is a big part of the story.

One day someone starts to murder Sorina’s illusions. She befriends Luca, an unusual character from outside the city and together they investigate the murders. But there is something far more sinister at the heart of Gomorrah that will change Sorina forever.

This novel is gripping from start to finish, and the big twist hits the reader like a tonne of bricks. I finished this a couple of days ago, but I am still not over that ending

What a refreshing change this book made. I have been reading a lot of crud at the moment and this was a wonderful surprise.

Think dark and depraved Night Circus with hints of suspense and lots of 'freaks'.

The story is based around Sorina trying to solve the mystery of who is killing her illusions. 

So first the negative points... the mystery was super predictable and I found the murderer easy to figure out. I use the word mystery loosely, as this book didn't (for me) have the suspense needed to class it as a murder mystery. Now that's out of the way, positive points...

The setting was unbelievably incredible

The premise was easy to read and simple to follow 

All characters were beautifully individual

Romance takes a back seat

Did I mention that the setting was unbelievably incredible. The writing was so beautiful. I could picture the caravans, smell the cherries and hear the crowds. I found myself laughing and crying with the 'family'.

I wish every read was as amazing as this one!!

One of the first things that drew my attention to this book was the cover, I know, never judge a book by its cover, but it really is beautiful! I had also heard a lot about it on social media, and was very excited when I was approved for the e-ARC to read and review.

In all honesty, the first few chapters of the book had me a little confused, and I had many questions, some of which I still did not have answers to at the end of the book - though those questions are relatively unimportant, and as with many fantasy books, we are introduced to situations which and people who simply cannot be. We move on, and still fall in love with the story - the most important aspect of any novel.

Sorina's illusions, created by her to give her a kind of family should not be able to die, she can make them appear and disappear at will, though to everyone else they seem as real as you and I. However all of those beliefs of them being just illusions are turned upside down when she finds one of them has been killed. It sends her down a path which leads her to question her own thinking.

She has involved herself with people in Gomorrah whom many would disapprove of, but essentially, she has done so to provide for her family, to ensure they are comfortable and happy. Her illusions are nearly all she has.

Sorina's journey is decidedly a tough one for any 16-year-old to go through, though she does not see herself as the backbone of the family, she is very much so. A huge weight on her shoulders to keep everyone together following the death of a family member, and at the same time seek out the murderer and keep the rest of them safe, causes her to consider her sanity when she begins to forget meetings with people. Though in reality there is much more to her ability, something which people may wish to benefit from, and take advantage of.

This book is a real page turner, and I ended up finishing it in less than 48 hours. If you're a lover of fantasy, magic, and mystery YA books I would recommend this title to you!

I think the character development of all the characters is very subtle and clever, and you begin to care for them as your would your own family. It spins a tale that has you second guessing yourself too, and I was so shocked to find out who the real villain was (though I should have seen it earlier in hindsight - as with any well written whodunnit novel).

I was very impressed with the overall story, though I felt it was a little immature in places (though as a 21-year-old reading about a 16-year-old I guess that was to be expected for it to be a realistic telling). I would recommend this read and I am awarding this book 4/5 stars. As a first novel by Amanda, I think this is a really fantastic story!

The Hardback will be published on 25th July 2017, and the paperback on the 7th September 2017! I'll definitely be treating my-shelf to a copy! (You see what I did there?)

Quite honestly, this book was a letdown. It was one of those ones that has an amazing idea, and an intriguing synopsis, but when you get down to it, it's just a bit lacking.

It started off so well. There was just the right amount of worldbuilding and plot mixed together, and the characters were interesting and novel. The mystery was introduced early on, and all in all it looked to be heading in the right direction. Sadly, things just went a bit downhill from there on out.

Firstly, there's the romance. It is, frankly, tedious and underdeveloped. Sorina meets Luca about a quarter of the way through the book, and by the halfway point, has effectively fallen in love with him (which covers the timespan of maybe a week or two in the plot). To add to this, he's a dickhead. And there's not much redeeming about him. It's really, really not clear why Sorina at all likes him, beyond for his looks.

Once I found the romance tedious and underdeveloped, I started seeing the plot as a whole as that too. It claims to be a mystery, but there is very little actual investigating that goes on in the narrative - it's all hidden from the protagonist, and all done by Villiam and Luca. Not to mention that whenever Sorina is investigating with one of them, they always take over everything so she ends up doing nothing, actually seeming a bit boring in terms of characterisation in the end. And she believes whatever they tell her (which, fair enough, sets up the finale but doesn't make for that interesting a story for me).

There was also the initial plot twist that Luca was a spy, which I honestly saw coming a mile off. To be fair, I didn't see the rest of it coming, and I was momentarily interested to see whether the author had the guts to stick to Luca being a spy, and not having some deus ex machina moment where it turns out that he's a) framed, or b) redeemed. Unfortunately, she didn't. Then it also turned out that Luca was an illusion too, and yet the romance continues. No offence, but it seems a little... iffy? He claims he's his own person etc, etc, but can that really be confirmed? She can control him because he's an illusion. It seems messy to me.

There were definitely some other promising plotlines. The whole part with the Alliance was so interesting, but because it fell outside of the Festival's bounds, it was done away with in a quiet manner, which was disappointing.

I also love when authors slot in some diversity, almost as an afterthought. Sorina is bisexual, but it's only mentioned once at the beginning and then never touched on again. It would be nice to see some evidence of that in the text. Even worse for me though was the mention that came about 85% through about her anxiety,

"How could I possible lead Gomorrah when I can't even protect my family? When my anxiety threatens to send me into a panic every night?"

Which had never previously been shown in the book, let alone mentioned. So, apologies for not considering this to be good rep.

My least favourite thing about this book was the whole "it makes sense he likes her because only a "freak" can like another "freak" in that way" narrative. She actually twice says something along these lines, the second case of which is:

"He was made to love me. That's the explanation. Only someone forced to could actually love a freak like me."
Given that she's a "freak" in part because of a physical disability, I'm really really uncomfortable with this rhetoric. And, guess what, it's never called out or challenged. She's just allowed to think that.

I did like one thing about this book: there was some diversity in sexualities. As previously mentioned, Sorina is bisexual, but Nicoleta is also a lesbian. As well as that, Luca is demi. So it's a more interesting foundation than other fantasy books I've read recently, but it's really only ever mentioned, and I kind of need more than that.

So overall, I was disappointed by this book. It promised so much, but in the end returned so little.

I was lucky enough to be accepted to get an early e-copy to review on NetGalley and I also managed to get my hardcover early via Amazon!

‘Welcome to the festival of burning desires.’

Daughter of the Burning City is a standalone, as far as I know, it was a well rounded ending and I suppose the author could go back to it if she wanted, this was an incredible dark fantasy book with a Freak Show Festival, this book was one of my anticipated reads of July so when I saw it on NetGalley I had to request for it! The cover is beautiful and with purple being my favorite colour, that was an added bonus! I don’t know if I prefer the paperback cover though but they’re both just beautiful.

Sorina is a sixteen year old illusionist who is working at a freak show, she creates her own family of illusions, they’re not real, it doesn’t matter how lifelike her family seem, so that means they shouldn’t be able to die… right? No. Her illusions start getting murdered and Sorina doesn’t understand how. How can anyone kill someone who isn’t real? Sorina investigates the murders of her illusions with her father, Villiam to find out who was behind it but behind her fathers back she meets Luca who is a gossip-worker and she also investigates with Luca, in both investigations Sorina looks at the murders in two completely different lights but she doesn’t know who is right.

I thought the first chapter was a tiny bit slow to begin with but once I got past the first chapter I really got into and from there it was wild until the end this book was just, oh my god, 😶😮😦😨😱, the mystery of who has been killing off Sorina’s illusions to the revelation of who the murderer was, I was so shocked and surprised I wasn’t expecting it, there were just so many plots and twists it was so fantastic, I loved this story so much, I can’t wait to see what Amanda’s next book Ace of Shades which comes out 24/04/2018, has in store for us! This was the perfect read for me because ever since Caraval came out and I read that I’d been wanted to read more books based on carnivals/festivals/circuses and this help quench my thirst for it!

‘wicked, wicked to the core, the city will burn forevermore.’

Hmm. I'm a little bit torn on this one. There were parts that I absolutely loved and it's wonderfully original and dark but there was something about it that didn't quite work and I found it a little jarring at times.

I loved the idea of this travelling carnival that's as big as a city. I loved the diversity of those that live and work there, the different types of magic, the performers, vendors, guards and the thieves and assassins who all consider themselves equal. Most of all I loved the mystery and just how dark and twisted it was.

It's called Gomorrah for a reason. There are prettymen and prettywomen (prostitutes), con artists, thieves and assassins. All visitors to the carnival do so at there own risk and literally within the first few pages one person is robbed and another fairly central character murdered.

Sorina made for an interesting main character. The only illusion worker in Gomorrah she's considered a bit of a freak and outsider in a city of freaks and outsiders. She has no eyes but can see via her illusions (something I still don't quite understand). She has however used her illusion work to create a family of "freaks" and together they have quite a happy life until one of them is suddenly murdered. So begins the mystery of who is behind the murder and also how do you kill an illusion.

In many ways I did like Sorina. She's quite a lonely character and just wants to be accepted. She wants the fairytale romance but doesn't believe anyone will be interested in her. She does get a little annoying with the woe is me all of the time and being so easily influenced by others but it's not too bad.

I have to confess I found her family/illusions confusing in the beginning. I have a goldfish like memory and was extremely tired at the time so I suspect it may just have been me who couldn't remember who was who and what they did (I think the physical book has drawings so that will make it easier). I also didn't feel the connection between them. One is a baby, the other like a grandpa, one the best friend/sister but while I knew this it didn't feel real to me. Maybe because they are illusions but I suspect it was because there was more telling than showing, something I think the book was guilty of in quite a few places.

The author has created this big and complicated world with a whole city/carnival that moves from place to place across the continent. I think it was perhaps overly complicated particularly for one book. We have the city of Gomorrah to try and understand with its very distinct areas and layout and all of its people/magics. There are the different places they visit, the world as a whole, politics and religion. It's a lot to cram into around 380 pages and to me led to a lot of info dumping, something I struggle with.

There are some wonderful descriptions of the carnival and times when you are in the moment but these were a little too fleeting. I wish it had been kept simpler allowing more time for character development and relationships to develop. I didn't feel any of the connection between the characters and consequently a lot of the events had less of an impact (the murders for example).

The storyline is good and I loved the idea of a YA fantasy with a murder mystery. There were however some issues on timing and it felt a little disjointed at times. There were certain events that felt unnecessary and others that were rushed over and didn't make sense.

There are plenty of twists and turns and I did for the most part enjoy it. I just wish it had been a little simpler with a little more show.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. As always all views are my own.

Anyone who has been following me for a while will know that ‘Daughter of the Burning City’ is one of my most anticipated books of the second half of 2017. So, when I got the chance to read an advanced reader copy, courtesy of HQ and Harper Collins, I was very very excited.

Sorina is an illusionist, a rare type of jynxworker who can wish creatures of her imagination into physical form. The adoptive daughter of the Proprietor of the magical travelling Festival of Gomorrah, Sorina runs an act alongside the ‘freakish’ creations of her mind. As much as her creations are somewhat of a found family for her, she has never truly believed that they are real. However, her understanding of just what these creatures are is sorely tested when one of them is murdered, sending ripples through her entire adopted family.

Into this uncertain world steps Luca, a gossip broker and jynxworker whose gift protects him from physical death. Initially uninterested in Sorina’s plight, something changes in him and he offers his services to help Sorina find the killer of her creations. Blunt, clever and a little eccentric, Luca is viewed with mistrust by several people close to Sorina due to his UpMountain Origins and his avoidance of sexual interactions. But as time passes and Sorina and Luca grow closer, she realises that she can see little of the young man that other people seem to be seeing.

The world of ‘DOTBC’ is split into two key areas. The ‘UpMountain’ and ‘DownMountain’ regions, which refers to their geographical proximity to a spine of mountains which splits the continent. The countries North, ‘up’, of the Mountains are united by worship of a hardline warrior God, who believes in expansionism and the ‘eradication of sin’. The Festival of Gomorrah, with its drinking and song, revelry and prostitution, is far from the UpMountain ideals, with the festival allowed harbour infrequently and under strict regulation. The UpMountain religion considers jynxworkers to be creatures of demon magic, calling for their eradication throughout the continent. Perhaps most critically for Sorina, who was born without eyes, the UpMountain religion also considers physical deformities to be a sign of internal sin, making the world a thoroughly unwelcoming place for her.

daughtermidimage copy

Sorina, our protagonist, is not a perfect person and I think that’s honestly why I enjoyed reading from her perspective so much. She’s impulsive yet deeply unsure of herself and struggles with anxiety throughout the novel. She sees herself as someone who it is impossible to love, creating these illusions around her almost like a found family. She spends much of the novel thinking that they only care for her because she made them that way, undermining herself but also the independence and agency of her ‘creatures’.

I’d argue that her illusions are some of the most human characters in the book. They have foibles and flaws but they care for each other in a deep heartfelt way. Their abilities and appearances are really fascinating and illustrated by little drawings throughout the story. There was also something deeply philosophical about the question of their existence, were they their own entities or just part of Sorina’s mind?

I think one of the parts of the book that I have the most thoughts about is the bisexual and demisexual representation. Our protagonist, Sorina, shows attraction to more than one gender in the novel and vocally opposes a character who makes the assumption she is only attracted to men. Luca is also canonically shown to be on the ace spectrum, saying that he only experiences attraction to those he already ‘cares’ about. It’s not explicit in book as to whether that attraction is romantic, sexual or more queerplatonic, though he and Sorina do kiss on page. One thing that I really liked about how Luca’s identity is dealt with is that the protagonist Sorina does something which is pretty unforgiveable, she kisses him impulsively, without consent, without appreciating anything about what other characters have said about his reduced attraction, and he backs off, he doesn’t talk to her and he is obviously very unhappy with what she did. Luca isn’t ‘cured’ by the kiss of an allosexual character, it obviously puts him in very real turmoil and when he does talk to Sorina again it is with boundaries and with the understanding that although he has some kind of attraction to her, it may never be the same kind of attraction that she feels. A kiss without consent is shown to be awkward, cold and just really grim, whilst the kiss with consent between the two same characters chapters later is warm and requited. It definitely flips the idea that a lot of media has where it’s somehow ‘sexy’ to kiss someone without asking them.

There is one reveal towards the end of the book that left me a little confused and uncertain. I don’t want to go into it in depth here as it’s a major spoiler, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it considering the rest of the book had been so hot on consent. It’s not anything that you’re thinking it might be, I wouldn’t have supported a book with rape or dubious consent or anything like that in it. It’s more…about agency and independence. There’s a lot in this book about consent and agency and I suppose how you feel about those issues in book will have a lot to do with how to feel about the ending. I, personally, was a bit disappointed but I know that other reviewers have felt differently.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read. I agree with some other readers that the pacing was a little off and sometimes left me wondering how long had passed between scenes, but it didn’t bother me too much, it was only something I thought about when looking over the book retrospectively. It’s a really interesting world, with engaging characters and a lot of avenues that I’d love to explore in more detail. As I was watching the pages tick down I found myself really sad that the book would soon be over and I would be leaving the world behind me. If Foody decides to write anymore stories in this world then they will honestly be an autobuy for me.

So, if you enjoy circus stories with dark settings and liberal dashings of the occult, I definitely recommend picking this book up!

Many thanks to Harper Collins and HQ books for a copy in return for an honest review.

Roll up! Roll up!
Welcome to Gamorrah the largest travelling festival full of dark wonder and delights. The main protagonist
Sorina, is the daughter of the festivals owner Villiam, and she's also the last Illusion-worker. She has a rare talent that allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch. But no matter how life-like they seem they are just illusions... until one of them is murdered. How can you murder some one who is not real? With the help of her father and a young gossip-worker called Luca ( that she keeps secret from her father), dark secrets start to unfold.
The beginning was a bit confusing in parts but once I got into the story I really enjoyed it.

It was the cover that drew me in and I'm glad that the story was just as great. This is such a unique story that had me guessing throughout. It's full of twists and turns. I've never read a book like this before.

Daughter of The Burning City tells the story of Sorina – a unique kind of jynx-worker with the ability to create incredibly life-like illusions. Together they comprise her family, with which she performs in the Gomorrah Festival’s Freak Show. However, Sorina’s creations might be her family but they are still illusions and illusions cannot die. At least, that’s what she believes until one of her family members is murdered. If Sorina wants to protect her family and find out how you can kill someone that doesn’t actually exist, she must first find the one responsible.

I went into this book completely blind. All I knew about it is that it’s set in a circus, which was a perfect enough selling point by itself. In my opinion, my lack of knowledge made the story that much more entertaining. While, the book itself didn’t capital letters WOW me, it did keep me awake for a night and that’s enough for me to know I’ve enjoyed it.

Let me start off with saying, personally, I feel like this book could’ve been at least 100 pages shorter. The pacing was wobbly and uncertain on its feet, and moved laboriously through the first few parts. Granted, there was quite a lot that needed to be introduced, but even after we got the exposition part down, the pace takes its sweet time to catch up to where you’d like it to be. Other than that, the rest of the novel’s foundation was well executed. I do wish we’d gotten a little bit more of the world-building, especially outside the festival, but since that’s the main focus of the novel, I understand why we didn’t.

The characters in Daughter are all so very unique. Each of them has their own peculiarity – as you would expect from a book about a magical circus, but still. I really liked the family dynamics between Sorina and her illusions and how tight-knit they were, despite each member being so different. Some of them did feel underdeveloped and it was harder to feel anything for them since they were so seldom mentioned.

The romantic subplot was cute, though I was a little… disturbed by it? Maybe disturbed isn’t the right world – it bears way too negative of a connotation and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea, because there was nothing inherently wrong – as a matter of fact, the characters have a lengthy conversation about consent and boundaries, and they make sure they’re very respectful of each other’s limits. What I’m talking about happens near the end. That, too, gets addressed, but it still sits a little weirdly with me. I did, however, appreciate the presence of a character that’s on the ace spectrum, as well as the openly bisexual lead and her openly lesbian sister, who is also one of the more developed characters. These might be considered mild spoilers, but I will not be marking them as such, since I think they’re important to mention.

Overall, Daughter of The Burning City is a solid debut that, despite its hits and misses, is an engrossing read and a really good murder-mystery novel with its fair share of ‘twisty’ plot twists.

I adore a circus setting. I loved The Night Circus, I swooned over Caraval, I broke my heart over Flight of a Starling. The performer in me loves the idea of the spectacle and I also think that circus-based books tend to be amazing at crafting an atmosphere and a sense of place. This book definitely manages that, you get all five senses (and more) treated to layers of description, though not in the same way as, for example Laini Taylor’s books do. It’s less flowerly language but it’s no less evocative.

The characters in this book were all so well thought out. I am beyond excited for the amazing fanart that I think is going to spring up from this world. Sorina is a character with no eyes who wears phenomenal masks and her family of freaks/illusions are all equally if not more fantastical. So yes, fanart and also cosplay I am so ready for this.

Did I mention the main character is bisexual and it isn’t made a big deal of but it doesn’t feel gratuitous? Well that is true and it’s amazing! We also have a love interest which is represented as, in my interpretation, demisexual which felt like it was done well though I’m not a part of that community so I shouldn’t speak for them. But this book felt like it was consciously trying to be representative, I don’t know that it went as far as it could have but there’s room for improvement in virtually every book I read.

So we have phenomenal characters, what about plot? It’s a fantasy murder mystery which ticks all the boxes for me! There’s intrigue and plot twists and betrayal galore, never a dull moment. You’re plonked in this world right at the heart of some action and you’re on the edge of your seat from there. This is the kind of book I read in a day and then I reread the next it was such a compelling storyline. I don’t want to give anything away so I will leave that where it is…

If I have to make one negative comment (and that is kind of my job as a reviewer) I think the dialogue could have been a little less stilted? There were a few instances where the verb ‘said’ was used a bit too frequently and it just made this book a little less well written than I think it could have been otherwise. But that is me being incredibly nitpicky and I wouldn’t say it will ruin anyone’s enjoyment.

I am so excited for when other reviews start coming through for this book, I want to know what everyone else thinks (and I really want the artistic people to start making some fanart so I can buy it…).

Daughter of the Burning City releases in the Uk on the 25th of July (I believe) so, if you haven’t already maybe get that preorder in so you don’t have to wait?

By the way, I received a free digital ARC copy of this book from the publisher (HQ) in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

I liked the premise of the novel and the setting of a carnival. At the start the world building and the introduction of the characters was very strong and I felt that I became attached to the 'illusions' very quickly and didn't want any of them to die even though I knew at least one was going to die. But as the novel progressed the world building and the different settings stayed strong but my interest in the side characters didn't stay.  

The MC Sorina wasn't what I expected and I guess that's why I never really connected to her. Also it felt that so much was happening around her and yet she was focused on her relationship/romance and it was quite disappointing. Also even though it's stated in the book the MC played everything too safe and it was just boring and also her illusions that were temporary always seemed like the same thing.

I did like the character of Luca although I feel like by having Sorina as the only narrator we were limited as to how much we found out about him. I did like his little speech at the end though. 

The plot of the story was very slow paced and could drag on at some points. At the start there were some obvious red herrings/twists which made the book feel predictable however the second half was more fast paced and there were a lot more unexpected twists. Although I do feel like it was too crammed with the element of surprise/shock being overused till I just more 'meh' about the events happening.

The setting/world that is created I think is done very well and I liked how the story was linked to the setting in a sense. The carnival itself was an interesting set up which we get to properly explore when the MC starts investigating more. 

In terms of the mystery the MC follows two different people; her father and Luca. With her father the investigation is very uninteresting and we don't really get much information, there was an interesting scene involving a kidnapping but that 'action scene' feels very misplaced compared to the rest of the novel. The other person is Luca who himself is very mysterious and his methods are quite contrasting which is why i preferred his scenes. However with him, we only get shown 2 aspects of his investigation and then their story turns towards 'romance' which is quite disappointing.

I did like the big reveal in the end on why and how things were happening however overall and the following scenes were quite anti-climatic.

3/5

I really very much enjoyed this book. It took me approximately forever to read it (two weeks) due to a combination of circumstances – mostly that it’s been too hot to do anything but sit miserably on the couch and moan about how hot I am, but also because I’ve been quite busy the last few weeks. So my experience of this book was somewhat disjointed, as several days would pass between times when I could actually sit down and get into it. And, to be honest, that’s something I regret, because Daughter of the Burning City was a really enjoyable experience. It’s unusual to read a standalone fantasy which succeeds in building a world that convinces the reader to come and explore the smoky, seedy world of Gomorrah with Sorina as she tracks down a killer that she’s not even sure exists.

Populated by a cast of freaks and weirdoes, largely the creation of Sorina’s own mind, the underlying themes of family, belonging, what it means to be human, and how to fit in in a world where you’re not quite normal were delicately handled and left me thinking long after I finished.

I also very much appreciated the diversity in this book. It’s hard not to be diverse when your main character has no eyes and her family includes a girl who’s part hawk and two boys who share a body, but you know, I liked as well that the main character is bisexual, her love interest is demi-sexual, and one of her sisters is lesbian (or possibly bisexual/pansexual, it’s not specified). In a city-circus which is known for being a travelling den of debauchery, a few same-sex relationships wouldn’t raise so much as an eyebrow, so the book gets props for that.

All in all, this was an exciting and darkly dangerous standalone fantasy which succeeded in building a world that I solidly believed in, accented with throwbacks to biblical stories from which the inspiration for Gomorrah must have arisen. Complex and layered, and with a satifying mystery and several twists that I didn’t see coming, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and am only sad that life got in the way of being able to sit down and consume it as it probably should have been consumed – in one dark night of indulgence, like a visit to the city-circus itself.

Due to my own fragmented reading of the book, I think I lost elements of connection with the characters and also managed to forget the thread of the story, so for me this was not quite as good as I think it could have been if I had read it at a different time, but I think that’s on me, rather than on the book itself!