A truly unique concept marred by uneven execution.

3.5 stars

I wanted to love this one, I really did. An ace character in a fantasy book? Sign me up. But unfortunately it just fell flat to me. I’m not sure why, either. I just didn’t connect as strongly as I thought I would. Halfway through, I found myself wanting to skip to the end to just see who the killer was and get it over with.

I loved the unique setting. The band of characters were absolutely unique and I’d never read anything like them. The circus brought an interesting element to it.

However, the beginning of the novel had me completely overwhelmed. I had to keep flipping back to the passage to see who was who again. Hawk was obvious, the bird lady, but the rest took about 1/3 of the novel to really know who was who. It’s the reason it took me so long to finish this one. I picked it up a few weeks ago and immediately decided I didn’t have enough brain power right now to sort through the characters.

I never saw the twist coming and it did feel like a satisfactory ending. I don’t know what my problem with this book was, I just didn’t love it.

Spoilers

I’m not sure how I feel about Luke, the ace (which I would consider demi) character being called a freak. I get that a person that never dies and accepts money to try and kill him would be considered a freak I just don’t like that word considering how much aces hear themselves being called that. Otherwise, I liked the ace rep well enough.

I received a paperback copy of Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody through a Goodreads giveaway and I also received an ARC from Harlequin Teen and NetGalley. Everything is a bit confusing with the descriptions of the illusions as the story begins. Sorina creates illusions, she's the daughter of a freakshow master and she has no eyes. Her family members are actually all illusions created by Sorina. The illusions act as real people do and they are leading their own lives. Someone starts killing the illusions and investigations begin. People are accused and finally the killer is found. The writing conventions are done well, but I just had a difficult time with and understanding the concept and world building of the story. 3 stars.

Sorina lives in the travelling city of Gomorrah, a dark and stormy place home to freak shows, fortune tellers and magic. She is an illusion worker, able to create people from her thoughts. She was adopted at a young age by the Proprietor of Gomorrah, destined to take his place one day.

Sorina is the master of The Gomorrah Festival Freak Show, the show that she has created from her illusions. There is tree, a lumbering, bark-covered being Sorina created when she was three. Hawk, born as a little sister but with wings and talons. Unu and Du, Siamese twins who play music and bicker continuously. These and other of Sorina's imaginings make up her family.

But Gomorrah is not accepted in all parts of this land. There is talk of war and rebellion. And when Sorina's illusions start dying, she is left to figure out how in a world of magic, creatures that aren't supposed to be real, can die.

Daughter of the Burning City is an engaging story of magic and family. I did have a hard time imagining the world that Foody has created. This book is for fantasy lovers who are in high school. I have ordered it for the library, but would warn those who check it out that the violence can be quite dark.

Daughter of the Burning City is a unique, intriguing fantasy that manages to be high in both suspense and magic. Yes, a perfect blend of fantasy and mystery. What more could you ask for? A dark traveling carnival called the Gomorrah Festival is the setting. Beautifully written with vivid descriptions - you can imagine what Foody had in mind clearly. The characters are so wonderful and engaging with their individual oddities and wit. The story is filled with adventure and wonder, mystery and intrigue, and of course, twists & turns. If you're looking for something original in YA fantasy, look no further. Be sure to check out Daughter of the Burning City today!

I had the great opportunity to snag a copy of DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY from Harlequin during Book Expo and let me tell you – I was seriously excited about this debut from Amanda Foody. I was disappointed that there was not more buzz around it, but judging by the enormous line at the Harlequin booth the morning of the signing, it definitely got the word out about this story. First thing’s first – I love the cover. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the typography of the title, but it seriously grew on me and became such a good design aesthetic for the whole plot itself. And have you seen the UK version of DOTBC? It’s just as pretty and is going to force me to buy that version too.

The story follows young Sorina, a jynx-worker with the ability to create illusions that fill Gomorrah’s Festival and entertain the audiences of the Up-Mountainers who look down upon Sorina and the other Down-Mountainers. It isn’t until one of her illusions is murdered that she realizes that her imaginary family is far from imaginary and she begins her own investigation into who is responsible. And throughout her journey, she discovers more about her past, present, and future that define her for more than her rare ability to create illusions to awe and amaze.

I felt like the story started out slow, but really picked up the pace as the plot unraveled and I got into the thick of the actual book. For a debut, Foody demonstrates the craft of a seasoned writer. The world she creates is dark and complex, well-thought out and makes me want to come to the Gomorrah Festival. The characters (though at times I forgot who was who) were engaging and developed, particularly Sorina and Luca. I felt absolutely swept away by the griping mystery surrounding the murderer of Gomorrah. By the time I was nearing the end, I just couldn’t stop thinking about reading more.

I think it’s so original of Foody to create these characters that are so reminiscent of those old Vaudeville-esque entertainers that were popularized in the early part of the 20th century. But the idea of tying in these odd and attention-grabbing “circus freaks” really rounds out Gomorrah. I absolutely loved knowing more about each of Sorina’s family members and how they seemed to just stick together through the thick of these events plaguing them all. And yet, despite being so close and devoted to her family, it becomes more paralyzing for Sorina to realize that it may be one of her own performing the murders.

Sorina is a fantastic MC and even a better heroine in DOTBC. From her unique appearance to her dedication to her one and only family, she really shines in a way that I hope Foody was not expected. And when I say this, I feel like authors never realize the impact that their characters can have on readers, especially strong and commanding young women like Sorina. Yet, despite her strength in convictions, she still possesses the insecurities that any woman would have and that any reader can understand – with appearances, finding someone to love her, and other issues that stay relevant despite this overarching plot concerning Gomorrah and the impending veil of danger. I loved this about Sorina so much. Every now and again, I got to see how she was insecure about her lack of eyes and the many masks that she wore to cover up that ‘deformity’ of hers and how that impacted her relationship with Luca in particularly.

Luca is often described as a handsome fellow with “bedroom brown eyes” according to Sorina and yes – this paints a picture that she is attracted to him (and I also like how it seems her sexuality is fluid, just as other characters’ sexualities are fluid). I really enjoyed watching their interactions and how they grew from strangers to what they are in the end. I will say that how things turned out had me gob smacked. I had an inkling that what is revealed would actually happen, but I didn’t know for sure if it would be true and it was! I really liked the direction in which Foody went with Luca and I don’t think there was any other way to have him be than in the way she presents him. He is certainly not as complex as Sorina (and who would be?), but he is so very memorable to me as a more than secondary character. Also, quick note, can we talk about how awesome his own jynx-working is? For a story that is so dark and twisty, I was waiting for the grotesque part of it to come through and Foody completely delivered with Luca and his ability to never die – which means scenes of gruesome almost-deaths for the fan of such a genre.

Now, I want to quickly touch upon the moment I realized who the killer was. I really really thought that it was going to be THIS CHARACTER and it seemed so predictable to me and yet I was okay if it happened this way because it was interesting enough that I could forgo the flaw in predictability. But I think that had I not been so distracted by this possible suspect that I would have suspected who the real killer is and that would not have been as exciting for me as I would have wanted it to be. I think it’s so interesting that it happened that way and I wondered if that was Foody’s intention (I find it wildly fascinating when a book/show/movie can completely distract their audience to avoid solving whatever unsolved conflict is happening). Or maybe it was just beside the point for me.

Nevertheless, this was a fantastic debut for Amanda Foody and I encourage everyone to read this story. It’s got a little bit of everything for any genre reader, but if you’re looking for a dark and twisty sort of tale, then you need to pick up this book. I cannot wait for what else Foody has in store for her next book.

This was a awesome read! I finished it in 2 days and didn't want to put it down. The mystery had me guessing throughout most of the book. I'm disappointed that it has content most of my Jr. High kids aren't ready for, but I know the High Schoolers who come in will love this book! Thanks for letting me read it ahead of time!

DNF at 46%.

This is absolutely a case of "it's not you, it's me." I tend to be more of a mood reader and this is just not what I'm in the mood for at the moment. I can see how this book will appeal to a lot of people - it's really interesting and it has an eclectic cast of characters to fall in love with, but for some reason I'm just not connecting at all. It has a murder mystery, a complicated political plot, and really interesting characters, but I'm having to force myself to pick it up and read it. I might come back to it at some point, but right now it's putting me in a reading slump. I did really like the character Luca - his introduction was actually the first time I perked up while reading this, but that's not really enough for me to keep reading. I don't always understand the world or the magic system and everything is super confusing, which I acknowledge is probably just me and not necessarily a fault in the writing, so, again, "it's not you, it's me."

So! If you're interested, I recommend giving it a try. Hopefully you'll have a better time than I did. Who knows, I might come back and give this another shot when I'm in a different mood and end up loving it.

Sorina lives in Gomorrah, which is similar to a seedy carnival. She is the creator of the freak show and destined to be the next proprietor of the town. Sorina has a special ability of creating illusions. In fact, all of the people in her freak show are illusions. She is special because her illusions have their own personalities and live their own lives. However, because they are illusions they cannot be killed, or that is what she thought. Sorina's illusions are now being killed and she must stop this person from killing her "family." Sorina seeks out from her adoptive father and another jynx-worker, Luca. Sparks start to fly between Luca and Sorina, all while they are trying to stop the killer.

This was a good first book. It took me a few pages to understand the setting and connect with the characters. Though once the interaction between Sorina and Luca increased it became more compelling. It was a solid fantasy book and would recommend to those who enjoyed Caraval.

This review first appeared on http://fictionistmag.com/

I got halfway through this book. Literally -- my Kindle said 50%. I tried so, so hard to like it. I've seed advertisements for it all year, I saw it at BookCon, and I've seen good reviews online.

That said, this is a debut novel, and I think it shows a lot of promise.

The reason I couldn't get myself to finish this book (after over three weeks of trying) was because the dialogue and the story just sort of... dragged. I constantly felt like the authors was just trying desperately to fluff up her word count between murders (that sounds really weird in writing), and I lost focus a lot. I'm still a bit interested about Luca, a secondary character, but I honestly find Sorina a little grating. Her character fell a little flat for me, at least in the first half. The dialogue was also pretty flat, with characters not putting much feeling into what they say. Sometimes, that's on purpose (like Sorina's adopted father, who is supposed to be kind of detached), and other times it was just a shortcoming of the writing.

Also, can I say... for a thriller/murder mystery, this book was pretty slow-paced. I was constantly thinking to myself, "okay, but... when is something going to happen?"

Overall, 2.5 stars from me, but I'm rounding up to 3. It was a good debut, but ultimately fell flat for me. I do see others giving it a good rating, though, so give it a chance for yourself if you're curious!

Bright and imaginative, definitely unlike anything else I've ever read before! (A fantasy circus freak show murder mystery - you've never read it before either). And in before the inevitable comparisons - I liked it much better than Caraval.

Technically, I found the plot to be a little convoluted and the pacing stuttered at times. Maybe both were a result of the vivid imagery and scene-painting, which I really adored so I can't complain too much about. I'm also not entirely sure how much I cared for the main character, though the demisexual love interest sure stole my asexual little heart.

Bold, inventive, unique. Four stars.

Poor world building and generally uninteresting. The writing was clunky at times - phrases like "gullible as a dandelion" spring to mind. That's not an effective simile, as flowers are not sentient and therefore experience naivete. I also found the language strangely modern in spots for a story that appeared to be less than modern.

I really wanted to like this book. However ... fifty pages in, I was still horribly confused as to what was going on. Had to put it down. This probably deserves another read, but for the life of me, I just couldn't get into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “Daughter of the Burning City” by Amanda Foody. This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2017 and it lived up to my expectations. The world building drew me in and the plot kept me there. The characters are imaginative and entirely original. This book is perfect for fans of Ransom Riggs. I am looking forward to everyone else getting a chance to read this artistic story.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book. My views are entirely my own.

For a debut, Foody wields the power fo the pen with expertise. The writing is succinct and clever, the world beautifully crafted and explored, and the characters are engaging and witty. I felt swept up by the world and accepted by Sorina's family. What more could a reader ask for?

Gomorrah, the festival of wonders, full of twists and turns, adventure and charm. Foody manages to paint this living, ever-expanding, always-moving city beautifully, Gomorrah coming to life upon the pages. If Gomorrah were real, I would want to lose myself within its wonders almost immediately. The city teems with mystery and political intrigue, magic and mythology.

Through the adventures of our MC Sorina, we uncover the mysteries of Gomorrah. Sorina is an able, unique MC, equal parts tenacity and bravery, wit and creative. Sorina is an entirely unique character in the world of YA, for many reasons, including her unique appearance (lack of eyes). Sorina's cast of creations, also her family, are equally fleshed out. For fabrications, the mystery of their demise is still heart-wrenching because of Foody's clever writing.

Overall, fans of Stephanie Garber's Caraval and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone are sure to love this book and the world Foody has created. I can only hope that Foody continues to explore Gomorrah, a world ripe with mystery and adventure.

3.5 stars! I did like this and thought it was a strong debut, but halfway through, I noticed how dead the dialogue felt, how boring--constant use of "she says" or "he says" or "I say" kinda thing. And I also guessed most of what was going to happen before it happened so it kind of took away from the mystery. But the writing was nice and the overall setting of the circus was cool and I appreciated the different types of "people" at the circus!