Author: Amanda Foody
ISBN: 9781489242068
RRP: $19.99
Publisher: HQ Young Adult
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
Daughter of the Burning City is a captivating debut that I would love to see expanded into a series. The world building is both captivating and convincing and this was a young adult fantasy novel that I found to be truly unique.
There has been a lot going on around me lately which has messed with my focus, my motivation, my reading time and my writing time. It has now been a week since I finished the book and I need to get back in the zone to review. It took me a lot longer to read Daughter of the Burning City than I thought it would and that left me trying to work out why. I have always loved the fantasy genre and expected to get dragged right in from the outset but it took me ages to get hooked. It seems I need to be in the right headspace to be able to lose myself in a fantasy world, to be able to get my head around the world building required of a fantasy novel.
Gomorrah is a travelling city, and it travels in formation. It is a festival city, a circus of the strangest kind. The Gomorrah Festival began as a city 2000 years ago and what we learn of it’s history we learn from our leading lady Sorina.
Sixteen year old Sorina is a performer and heir to the proprietor, she has grown up within the fiery borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Even surrounded by those who are different and wield all types of magic, still Sorina stands out.
Daughter of the Burning City, and the Gomorrah Festival, are built on magic. All types of magic come together and still Sorina is an exception. Sorina is the girl who sees without eyes and is the only illusion-worker to be born in centuries. Sorina’s abilities as an illusion-worker allow her to create a family to surround her, a family of illusions that people can see, feel and touch and who make up the cast of the Gomorrah Festival Freak Show.
Illusions, created in the mind of Sorina, corporeal though they may seem are still just that… illusions. They may seem very lifelike but they aren’t truly real. So, if that’s the case, how then does someone murder an illusion?
Sorina is desperate to protect her family so she sets out to discover who is killing her creations, and more importantly… HOW. So begins a race against time to solve the situation before she loses anyone else.
There was a lot to love about this book and it’s world building. The scope is massive with the creation of an entire world, a host of different magic workers and a history that ties all the pieces together. It was a lot to take in and I found that I needed focus to be able to get in the zone and be able to keep it all straight in my head.
My biggest issue is that this seems to be a stand alone single title, with the depth of the world-building and character development I would have loved more books in the Gomorrah Festival. I would love more stories centred on Sorina and her adventures within the Gomorrah Festival.
Sorina is a strong and capable young woman, she created her very own family out of her very own imagination and gave them life, even if they didn’t turn out quite the way she planned. She is destined to take over the festival one day but she still has quite a naive understanding, being fed what her father wants her to know.
Daughter of the Burning City is a captivating young adult title that is more about the mystery and uncovering the culprit than anything else. There is an element of romance but it’s quite understated and well written. There’s no love at first sight, no love triangles; only a young woman who has never met anyone like herself that wonders if she will ever meet anyone that can accept her how she is. The suspense is well written and we are offered clues throughout but I certainly didn’t get close to working out what was going on.
Magic workers of every description, political power plays and religious fervour came together in a captivating story that tied the ending up quite convincingly, yet still left me wanting more. I think it will be a hit with fans of young adult, fantasy and suspense gneres.
Amanda Foody can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and AmandyFoody.com.
Daughter of the Burning City is published by Harlequin and available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Harlequin 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading Daughter of the Burning City so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I’d like to start with thanks for the opportunity to read “Daughter of the burning city” as it was such a good tale.
Join Sorina and her illusional family within the ancient moving festival city of Gomorrah. Gomorrah is all that is intrigue, fun and games of a carnival or festival, but also includes the dark and seedy side of the same. Masked in smoke from ancient charms the city brings with it mystery to those it visits and for the cities in the up-mountain it contains everything that they dont have.
The mystery within begins with the death of one of Sorina’s illusions, part of her jynx work and essentially a non-living thing. So how then can it be killed when it is just an imaginary being and who would want to kill him?
Journey with the festival as intrigue and mystery progresses as more of her “family” are killed. She searches for answers, employing the help of her step-father and proprietor of Gomorrah and her new “friend” Luca.
Watch for the details as what you see/read may not be exactly as you think it is.
Loved the read… don’t suppose there’s a sequel!
Daughter of the Burning City is an interesting read, a fantasy, not a genre I usually follow. The story was well written and I could easily create a mental picture from the written description. It kept me intrigued enough throughout the story, but not enough to be disappointed when the story ended
The plot twists and the pacing is good. The characters have their own life and the world is real. This is a clever novel with very good writing.
I actually didn’t want this book to end and forced myself to read it in small bursts
A new genre for me- would it be called YA gothic/fantasy? Purists don’t beat up on my ignorance.
Loved the Festival world and as we slowly see more of it I loved it more.
Yup a good read.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book – once I got into it. It wasn’t an easy read by any means and took a bit of thinking to place yourself in the story and truly follow it. I got lost a bit at first with the illusions and how it all worked, but once I got immersed it was a great book to be in.
There were many twists and turns and in this book I was not able to predict who would be the next to fall, whodunnit or what would be around the next corner. I really enjoyed that – not being able to guess what was coming next.
This is not my usual read, but I am so glad I was chosen to review this book, am about to pass it on to my husband to read as I think he will enjoy it too.
This book is in my favoured genre but I found it one of the strangest that I’ve read. Having said that, I did get caught up with the story and the mystery of just who was killing Sorina’s ‘family’. And I was completely blindsided by the ending and eventual culprits, I actually had no idea it would end as it did.
I thought that the premise of the illusionist could have been fleshed out more and it was never really explained how an illusional person (i.e. not real) can be killed.
The city itself is also very strange with a forbidding feel about it, dangerous and eerie at times. I did feel that it was a little unbelievable that the whole city could travel without losing its spatial area of ‘uphill’ and ‘downhill’ areas, it doesn’t seem feasible to me.
I think this is one of those books that will come back to haunt me at odd times. Simply because it is a little strange, ‘out of left field’ and thought provoking. Even though it felt somewhat unfinished to my taste, I did enjoy reading it.
I was engrossed. Amanda Foody writes in such a creative way and is so descriptive I felt I could see, feel and smell what she was describing. Daughter of the Burning City is a young adult fiction that can be enjoyed by adults as well which is great.
Thank you Harlequin and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Daughter of the Burning City.
I echo many of the thoughts and opinions already expressed by fellow Beauty and Lace book clubbers.
I was drawn in also by the title immediately. Fantasy and Sci-Fi is my favourite genre. Whilst I enjoyed it, I also felt a little overwhelmed with description sometimes, or maybe it was a mood thing.
It is intriguing, interesting, weird, unusual, Nothing that I have read before but…..saying all that I did enjoy the authors unique voice and would try another of her works. By the end I definitely felt there was more to tell…!
A Sequel OR Trilogy maybe?!?
HI Sarah,
We had an interview with Amanda recently and this is the only one apparently.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody.
Set in Gomorrah which is an imaginary place with unusual characters. Sorina who is sixteen years old and one day is expected she will be proprietor.
Sorina has great powers, she makes illusions seem real. She seems naive and very sheltered, she creates illusions which are her friends.
I found this book unusual and hard to read as it’s not normally the type of book I would read. It would be great for any fantasy and sci-fi fans.
I thought this was a cleverly written book which challenges the reader to keep up with the various characters. Whilst these are well developed there are quite a few to keep track of and I do wonder why some of them have been included. Perhaps for sequels.
I did enjoy the concept of the imaginary characters, their back stories and their creation and the very fact that they were being killed off. How do you kill a character made from your imagination?
The twists and turns had me and ensured I read to the very end – no spoilers here!