logo

Review: Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

logo

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody // VBC ReviewDaughter of the Burning City
Amanda Foody
Published: July 25, 2017 (Harlequin Teen)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review Source: copy purchased by reviewer 

Reviewed by: Beth

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Gomorrah is a traveling festival perpetually surrounded by black smoke. A city and a circus, all in one—where the “respectable” folks come to see the “sin” that takes place in such a place. The same place where Sorina lives, and has since the proprietor adopted her at such a young age that she cannot remember anything but Gomorrah. Sorina creates illusions—and powerful illusions they are. So powerful, that some of them—her friends and family—appear to be living creatures that stay with her, and have an act in the Festival with her. However, when her illusions end up being killed like regular human beings, Sorina finds herself involved in a nightmare that will change everything she thought she knew about Gomorrah, her magic, and even herself.

The setting was fascinating. Take the circus atmosphere many of us dreamed about growing up, make the freak shows the majority, and throw in magic of all sorts, and you have Gomorrah. The descriptions of the…people…within are straight out of someone’s nightmares and dreams. The festival, and it’s smoke cloud, traveling from place to plac— both beautiful and horrifying, in equal measure. Circuses have always drawn the best and the worst of humanity, and Gomorrah is no different here.

The characters are definitely as unique as the setting. Sorina, who creates illusions to entertain an audience—and herself. Her illusions, who are as much family as anyone else would see their sister or their uncle. The proprietor, the father who took her in from slavers. They all have their own lives, their own motivations, but more is tied to Sorina than even she knows. Honestly, the illusions were the best characters in the book to me. They try so hard for Sorina, and yet feel like they fail her. She is their family, their friend, but also their creator, which creates a struggle that was interesting to read.

The plot itself was a bit slow to pick up, and there were spots where it sort of dragged along. Yet, overall, the idea of Gomorrah—that of the Bible—still being a real place, where Lot’s wife was turned to salt—it worked out better than I would have imagined. Throw in the murders of Sorina’s illusions, and the frantic drive to save the others, and you have a dark fantasy that stands well on its own.

Daughter of the Burning City is a quick read with some extremely inventive characters. The murder-mystery was more standard in its approach, however, it certainly tied the characters together in a unique way. It’s definitely worth reading, and it will be interesting to see what Foody follows up with.

Sexual Content: None

One Response to “Review: Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody”

  1. OOh nice! Glad to hear it was a pretty good read! I’ve been keeping an eye on this one as it sounds intriguing! Nice review!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo
logo
Powered by WordPress | Designed by Elegant Themes
Malcare WordPress Security