Review summary: Weird and wonderful YA fantasy with creative characters and a well-crafted plot
Official summary:
“Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear.
Review:
According to other reviews I’ve read, this book is super weird. I only thought it was a little weird, but that probably says more about me than the book. So, fair warning: apparently this book is weird and a bit creepy so if you’re not into that, this probably isn’t the book for you. If, like me, you love weird shit, then charge ahead.
Gommorah is a travelling festival, home to all manner of “Jynx-Workers”, people with magical abilities like creating fire, telling fortunes, and manipulating shadows. The protagonist, 16 year-old Sorina, is the only known Illusionist, and has used her powers to create herself a family. She created blueprints of archetypal family members: a wise grandfather, a fun older sister, a sweet baby brother - but they all came to life with an abnormality. The grandfather grows nails instead of hair, the older sister can contort herself to any shape, and the baby brother breathes fire. Together the nine of them perform a Freak Show, and live as a close-knit family. And what an interesting family they are; I greatly enjoyed all of their different personalities and abnormalities. When I was about 10 pages in and realized I’d never actually read the blurb, so when I did read it I was already upset to learn that some of them were going to die. With how many of them there are they are mostly side-characters throughout the story, but one or two of them get interesting character arcs, and Sorina’s love for them is a constant throughout the story whether they are physically present or not.
The world of Daughter of the Burning City was varied and interesting, both inside and outside the gates of Gommorah. At first I didn’t expect the story to expand any beyond the travelling city itself, but we are gradually introduced to the country outside Gommorah, its politics and wars. The plot expands to a country-wide scale and is richer for it. So many things that seemed like merely a little quirk to add to the world-building, or even just the general atmosphere of the book, became directly relevant to the main plot. It all weaves together in a carefully planned and executed plot that all checks out in the end without gaps or unfulfilled threads. And the plot twists. It’s hard to declare a plot twist truly unexpected because everyone has different levels of perception, but I’m pretty sure the two major ones of this story were unguessable until at most a few pages beforehand. In hindsight they were well set-up throughout the novel, though they did require a bit of info-dumping afterwards to check out. I think that’s just what it takes to keep them hidden on the way in, though.
My favourite/least favourite part of the world was the licorice-coated cherries. I would trade my soul for them. Every time they were mentioned I wanted to lie down and cry because I couldn’t have any.
An unreasonable amount of fiction contains villains that aren’t good for much more than twirling their moustaches and laughing maniacally, or wanting to rule the world and/or create chaos for no particular reason. The antagonist of this novel, thankfully, is much more complex. Not heartless, not a black-and-white villain; a manipulator and a deceiver but with a greater purpose.
Generally I don’t like when a female character initially hates her male love interest, because it too often leads to her settling for an asshole, but that was not the case with Sorina and Luca. And, hey, at least it means no dreaded instalove! Even when they are kissing and officially dating - the point in YA novels when characters usually start saying they’re in love even if it’s only been a week - Sorina only says she could love Luca. I realize I’m giving praise to a romance just for being reasonable just because the bar is so low, but trust me - that’s how damn low the bar is.
“I’ve never had a crush on someone…. When the fairy tales spoke of butterflies, I didn’t anticipate it feeling more like hornets.”
I’m not sure I’ve even had a real crush in my life and even I know this is a Mood.
This book was also a masterclass in not being heteronormative. The protagonist Sorina is bi, and she doesn’t just drop a mention she’s bi and then exclusively refer to men when discussing her romantic prospects - as many other authors do and then pat themselves on the back for it - she refers to men and women equally enough times spread throughout the book to remind us she’s bi even though her love interest is male. When she doesn’t know someone else’s “preference” she doesn’t just assume they’re heterosexual. I was particularly pleased that mentions of sex workers referred to men and women equally. This was because the book I read last before this one was chock full of sexual violence against women and demeaning references to female sex workers (in a fantasy world where none of it was even necessary to be “realistic”, no less) without even the slightest hint that sexual violence against men or male sex workers even existed. So after that misogynistic garbagefest (it’s a much praised and super popular book, by the way, ugh) I was stoked and relieved for sexwork to be equally shared by men and women in Gommorah. It’s not a wildly diverse novel - since while Sorina is bi and Nicoleta is a lesbian, Sorina’s love interest is male and Nicoleta is only a minor character - but it didn’t enforce the hetero status-quo either. Like Luca, I would also like to have totally asexual tea and biscuits with The Leather Viper.
The prose was solid; the only thing it did do that I wish it hadn’t was overuse full stops instead of commas. In particular, most lists were separated with full stops rather than commas, a peculiar choice. What it didn’t do was much more vague: create a greater sense of lyricality, emotion. They weren't noticeable gaps, just areas for improvement.
The book had the fun little addition of the pages of Sorina’s designs for her illusions spread throughout, with the notes and plans of the murderer scribbled overtop. They were visually interesting but also added tension to the narrative that the illusions were being hunted, something that couldn’t come from Sorina’s first-person POV.
Other than the prose, the missing points aren’t for anything specific. Just a certain vital spark that it takes for me to love a book that wasn’t present here. Maybe one day I’ll figure out what it is, or maybe it isn’t something quantifiable anyway.
Weaker points
?
Stronger points
Characters
Plot
World-building
Diversity
Atmosphere
Pacing
Plot-twists
Content/age appropriateness warnings: swearing, semi-explicit sexual references, character death, violence/blood/wounds, references to torture, long-term illness
“Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear.
Review:
According to other reviews I’ve read, this book is super weird. I only thought it was a little weird, but that probably says more about me than the book. So, fair warning: apparently this book is weird and a bit creepy so if you’re not into that, this probably isn’t the book for you. If, like me, you love weird shit, then charge ahead.
Gommorah is a travelling festival, home to all manner of “Jynx-Workers”, people with magical abilities like creating fire, telling fortunes, and manipulating shadows. The protagonist, 16 year-old Sorina, is the only known Illusionist, and has used her powers to create herself a family. She created blueprints of archetypal family members: a wise grandfather, a fun older sister, a sweet baby brother - but they all came to life with an abnormality. The grandfather grows nails instead of hair, the older sister can contort herself to any shape, and the baby brother breathes fire. Together the nine of them perform a Freak Show, and live as a close-knit family. And what an interesting family they are; I greatly enjoyed all of their different personalities and abnormalities. When I was about 10 pages in and realized I’d never actually read the blurb, so when I did read it I was already upset to learn that some of them were going to die. With how many of them there are they are mostly side-characters throughout the story, but one or two of them get interesting character arcs, and Sorina’s love for them is a constant throughout the story whether they are physically present or not.
The world of Daughter of the Burning City was varied and interesting, both inside and outside the gates of Gommorah. At first I didn’t expect the story to expand any beyond the travelling city itself, but we are gradually introduced to the country outside Gommorah, its politics and wars. The plot expands to a country-wide scale and is richer for it. So many things that seemed like merely a little quirk to add to the world-building, or even just the general atmosphere of the book, became directly relevant to the main plot. It all weaves together in a carefully planned and executed plot that all checks out in the end without gaps or unfulfilled threads. And the plot twists. It’s hard to declare a plot twist truly unexpected because everyone has different levels of perception, but I’m pretty sure the two major ones of this story were unguessable until at most a few pages beforehand. In hindsight they were well set-up throughout the novel, though they did require a bit of info-dumping afterwards to check out. I think that’s just what it takes to keep them hidden on the way in, though.
My favourite/least favourite part of the world was the licorice-coated cherries. I would trade my soul for them. Every time they were mentioned I wanted to lie down and cry because I couldn’t have any.
An unreasonable amount of fiction contains villains that aren’t good for much more than twirling their moustaches and laughing maniacally, or wanting to rule the world and/or create chaos for no particular reason. The antagonist of this novel, thankfully, is much more complex. Not heartless, not a black-and-white villain; a manipulator and a deceiver but with a greater purpose.
Generally I don’t like when a female character initially hates her male love interest, because it too often leads to her settling for an asshole, but that was not the case with Sorina and Luca. And, hey, at least it means no dreaded instalove! Even when they are kissing and officially dating - the point in YA novels when characters usually start saying they’re in love even if it’s only been a week - Sorina only says she could love Luca. I realize I’m giving praise to a romance just for being reasonable just because the bar is so low, but trust me - that’s how damn low the bar is.
“I’ve never had a crush on someone…. When the fairy tales spoke of butterflies, I didn’t anticipate it feeling more like hornets.”
I’m not sure I’ve even had a real crush in my life and even I know this is a Mood.
This book was also a masterclass in not being heteronormative. The protagonist Sorina is bi, and she doesn’t just drop a mention she’s bi and then exclusively refer to men when discussing her romantic prospects - as many other authors do and then pat themselves on the back for it - she refers to men and women equally enough times spread throughout the book to remind us she’s bi even though her love interest is male. When she doesn’t know someone else’s “preference” she doesn’t just assume they’re heterosexual. I was particularly pleased that mentions of sex workers referred to men and women equally. This was because the book I read last before this one was chock full of sexual violence against women and demeaning references to female sex workers (in a fantasy world where none of it was even necessary to be “realistic”, no less) without even the slightest hint that sexual violence against men or male sex workers even existed. So after that misogynistic garbagefest (it’s a much praised and super popular book, by the way, ugh) I was stoked and relieved for sexwork to be equally shared by men and women in Gommorah. It’s not a wildly diverse novel - since while Sorina is bi and Nicoleta is a lesbian, Sorina’s love interest is male and Nicoleta is only a minor character - but it didn’t enforce the hetero status-quo either. Like Luca, I would also like to have totally asexual tea and biscuits with The Leather Viper.
The prose was solid; the only thing it did do that I wish it hadn’t was overuse full stops instead of commas. In particular, most lists were separated with full stops rather than commas, a peculiar choice. What it didn’t do was much more vague: create a greater sense of lyricality, emotion. They weren't noticeable gaps, just areas for improvement.
The book had the fun little addition of the pages of Sorina’s designs for her illusions spread throughout, with the notes and plans of the murderer scribbled overtop. They were visually interesting but also added tension to the narrative that the illusions were being hunted, something that couldn’t come from Sorina’s first-person POV.
Other than the prose, the missing points aren’t for anything specific. Just a certain vital spark that it takes for me to love a book that wasn’t present here. Maybe one day I’ll figure out what it is, or maybe it isn’t something quantifiable anyway.
Weaker points
?
Stronger points
Characters
Plot
World-building
Diversity
Atmosphere
Pacing
Plot-twists
Content/age appropriateness warnings: swearing, semi-explicit sexual references, character death, violence/blood/wounds, references to torture, long-term illness
