Thursday, August 23, 2012

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

I was SO excited to get an Advanced Review Copy of this book at Book Expo America this spring!  Graveminder is one of my all time favorite books and I adore the Wicked Lovely books.  Basically, I've decided that anything that Melissa Marr touches is GOLD.  The gorgeous cover of Carnival of Souls is a hint at the great story it contains.  Here is the Goodreads blurb:

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.
This book was gripping from the first word to the last.  The characters really pulled me in.  Kaleb and Zevi had to be my all around favorite characters.  I love their relationship and the feeling of "pack" that binds them.  I love the idea that they just know that they are family.  Mallory is a great character because you feel for her.  She loves the man who raised her, no matter what he's done to keep her safe.  Aya is a hard character to like because of her ruthlessness but as a woman, I can totally feel for her wanting to rise above where others try to keep her.  The world that these characters inhabit is dark and dangerous but intriguing.  It's interesting to see it through Kaleb's eyes because he has been through hell and back (literally) but he can still see the beauty in the world that has treated him so poorly.  He also has an interesting view of our world.  He doesn't see it as perfect in comparison to The City but he sees the good and the bad in it.  This book was one that I just could not put down.


Carnival of Souls will be released on September 4th!  You can click here to add Carnival of Souls to your Goodreads.  You can find out more about Melissa Marr and her books on her website.  You can also follow her on Twitter.  Melissa Marr also has an anthology that she is editing and writing for due out in February 2013!  Click here to learn more about Shards and Ashes!  Carnival of Souls earns 5 Fairies for a beautifully dark and intriguing story with moving characters.


1 comment:

roro said...

on my wishlist . gr8 review