Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

Title: Daughter of the Burning City

Author: Amanda Foody

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.75 Stars)

Release Date: July 25, 2017

“I’ve always preferred change to tradition.”

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Daughter of the Burning City was such a fantastically dark fantasy filled with interesting characters with questionable motives. We follow Sorina, an illusion-worker who operates the festival’s freak show with her Illusion crafted family. But when some of her illusions are found dead, Sorina teams up with the mysterious Luca to find answers; searching through the underbelly of the festival.

 

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Things I Liked 
The tone and atmosphere of Gomorrah was so perfect. The underhandedness, the thievery, the overall grey and amoral vibes were so perfect, especially as a Halloween read.

I really liked Sorina’s illusions. They were all really interesting characters, and I loved that we got to know them independently, not just extensions of her. I also thought the character profiles for the “freaks” was awesome and I loved seeing them, especially with the morbid note from the killer. I thought how the illusions operated was clever and compelling.

I really liked the worldbuilding in the story. I liked learning about all the different types of jinx-workers and charm-workers. Some of the powers were really unique and interesting and they added to the culture of Gomorrah. I liked learning about the history of Gomorrah and it’s role with the rest of the world.

 

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Things I Didn’t Like 
The story just never really hooked me, and that was really sad for me. I liked basically everything – it checked all my boxes, but I never got fully invested.

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Like I said, I really liked all the story elements and how everything came together, but the story never really grabbed me. However, Daughter of the Burning City is definitely worth the read. The characters are well crafted and the relationship are developed. Gomorrah is a vibrant and captivating setting the immediately pulls you in.

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Have you read Daughter of the Burning City? What did you think of it? What’s your favorite carnival-inspired setting? Share down below!