Paperback: 306 pages
Release date: September 4th 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Goodreads Rating: 3.88
Goodreads Rating: 3.88
Goodreads Summary: In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures--if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.
From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series and "Graveminder," comes a brand-new tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one's own destiny.
All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.
From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series and "Graveminder," comes a brand-new tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one's own destiny.
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Carnival of Souls is a powerfully engaging story set both in human world and The City, an intriguing paranormal realm where daimons and witches exist. The City is a daimon-ruling-world where everyone is labeled by the caste system and those in the lower caste sell pleasure and blood. Once in a generation, a deadly competition is held that gives every daimon a chance to join the highest caste and be given the biggest respect.
Interwoven in this book are the lives of three people: The City ruler’s long lost seventeen year-old daughter Mallory who wants normalcy and was raised in human world by his witch stepfather; Kaleb, a lower-caste daimon determined to win in the competition and achieve far more for himself and his packmate, Zevi; and Aya, an equally indomitable competitor and elite daimon who is bent on doing what no other woman had– join The City’s government. These three were some of my favorite things about the book. If you’re like me who’s always apprehensive about multiple point of views, worry not because Melissa Marr handled it smoothly and managed to pull it off with grace. It was a great experience to be in the minds of diverse and richly-developed characters. Admittedly, my favorites are Belias and Aya. What can I say? I have a soft spot for bad-ass female characters and their love interests.
The heart of this book is in its world-building. You know what they say about the power of writing to suck you in right from the beginning. Well, Melissa Marr took me herself to the dangerous and dark world of the carnival from page one. It also has a quite complicated plot that doesn’t reveal itself in the summary. It divulges the story to the readers in just the right pace.
I have a confession to make… This is the first Melissa Marr book I’ve ever read. I know about the Wicked Lovely series which I’ve been meaning to read since I’ve become a booksnake (a level-up from bookworm according to my college friends) but unfortunately haven’t had the time and resources to do so. When Carnival of Souls arrived in the mail, I swear I could have danced in front of my mom’s guests. So yeah, too much excitement comes with great expectations. I think I’d set the bar too high. I’m not saying that CoS disappointed me. No, I loved this book although I had a few issues with some things. First is the underdeveloped chemistry between Kaleb and Mallory. There were times when I felt disconnected when I should have been cheering them on in their relationship. The second one would be the ending. I think it was rushed and raised more questions than it did answers. Despite the fact that it’s the first book in the series, I felt like there should have been more.
To sum it up, I highly enjoyed and recommend Carnival of Souls and I will be waiting with bated breath for book two. This is a must-read for fantasy readers who are looking for a unique and magical read!
Interwoven in this book are the lives of three people: The City ruler’s long lost seventeen year-old daughter Mallory who wants normalcy and was raised in human world by his witch stepfather; Kaleb, a lower-caste daimon determined to win in the competition and achieve far more for himself and his packmate, Zevi; and Aya, an equally indomitable competitor and elite daimon who is bent on doing what no other woman had– join The City’s government. These three were some of my favorite things about the book. If you’re like me who’s always apprehensive about multiple point of views, worry not because Melissa Marr handled it smoothly and managed to pull it off with grace. It was a great experience to be in the minds of diverse and richly-developed characters. Admittedly, my favorites are Belias and Aya. What can I say? I have a soft spot for bad-ass female characters and their love interests.
The heart of this book is in its world-building. You know what they say about the power of writing to suck you in right from the beginning. Well, Melissa Marr took me herself to the dangerous and dark world of the carnival from page one. It also has a quite complicated plot that doesn’t reveal itself in the summary. It divulges the story to the readers in just the right pace.
I have a confession to make… This is the first Melissa Marr book I’ve ever read. I know about the Wicked Lovely series which I’ve been meaning to read since I’ve become a booksnake (a level-up from bookworm according to my college friends) but unfortunately haven’t had the time and resources to do so. When Carnival of Souls arrived in the mail, I swear I could have danced in front of my mom’s guests. So yeah, too much excitement comes with great expectations. I think I’d set the bar too high. I’m not saying that CoS disappointed me. No, I loved this book although I had a few issues with some things. First is the underdeveloped chemistry between Kaleb and Mallory. There were times when I felt disconnected when I should have been cheering them on in their relationship. The second one would be the ending. I think it was rushed and raised more questions than it did answers. Despite the fact that it’s the first book in the series, I felt like there should have been more.
To sum it up, I highly enjoyed and recommend Carnival of Souls and I will be waiting with bated breath for book two. This is a must-read for fantasy readers who are looking for a unique and magical read!
