Title: Carnival of Souls
Author: Melissa MarrPages: 320
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Paranormal / Fantasy
Release: September 4th 2012
Source: BEA
Buy the Book at: Book Depository / Indigo Chapters
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.
In the marvelous yet barbaric world Marr's created, there are characters that deserved to be well introduced. But first, I want to explain that people in the world are called daimon. These, in the Carnival of Souls' world, are very similar to werewolves, but they are not.
Now, let's meet the wondrous cast! (of course the cast is wide and diverse but I will only introduce you to the four main ones. The rest, you have to meet them by yourself ;)
Mallory - A girl who was raised by her stepfather (who is a witch) in the human world.
Aya - A high caste daimon girl who enters the Carnival of Souls to win and become the ruler of the city.
Kabel - A low caste daimon who is fighting at the carnival in order to win and become first caste, he is also Mallory's love interest.
Belias - He is a high class daimon and Aya's ex bethroded.
Please, don't even ask me what Team I am from because I like both! But, that's the beautiful thing about this novel. You don't have to choose! In the Carnival of Souls there are many pov, four main characters and 2 love stories that don't involve a love triangle! Hell YES! Be happy people who is tired of triangles. Melissa Marr delivers what we crave for!
Things I love ❤
- There are many points of view and many different things happen at the same time. People may think that this could slow down the pace of the story, yet Melissa Marr masterfully keeps the plot at a dynamic and gripping pace regardless the multiple different stories and points of views.
- Melissa Marr brilliantly knits all the different points of view together. Marvelous!
- I love the atmosphere and world-building. Marr really blew me away with this beautifully imagined world. The medieval fantasy settings and the Carnival of Souls itself, took my breath away with the rich and delicious detailed descriptions. From smell, to tastes and temperature, Marr gives a solid amount of details to transport readers into a fascinating yet terrific world.
- I loved the politics and mythology and cultural background of this novel. This highly enhance the world Marr has created!
But
- Many things on the story are all about sex.
- There wasn't any shocking climax as I usually like to see in every novel I read.
- Certain things were predictable
Carnival of Souls is a wonderful work of YA lit that fans of the genre should definitely be looking forward to! The plot, the characters and the world building are gripping, enticing and deliciously crafted. So, as soon as the Carnival starts on September 4th, go sell your soul to it! you wont regret it!
Watch Melissa Marr on Carnival of Souls video!
Visit the Book's website at http://www.enterthecarnival.com
12 comments:
AHH, so excited to read this one. I love a good carnival setting and the story sounds amazing. Love that there are no triangles---I don't mind them, but the lack of one will be a nice change! Interesting what you said about alot of it being about sex---will have to see what I think of that! Sometimes that's ok, sometimes it turns me off to see in YA books.
Excellent review, Natalia!
I REALLY REALLY liked this one. I didn't love everything about it, but I ADORED the world-building. I thought Mallory and Kaleb had the whole insta-love thing going on but I actually KINDA liked it in this book. Great review, Natalia! You did an awesome job of highlighting the awesome things about this book!
I absolutely loved this one! I am a big fan of Marissa Marr, I love how dark and edgy her tales are. Also, she has a way to introduce many characters which will be important later on in an effortless way! The world building here again was phenomenal!
This will be my first book from Marissa Marr and I'm definitely looking forward to it :D I don't really mind sex in books :p It's a shame that there is no shocking climax, but I think that the rest of the book will make up for that. I really like the sound of the characters :) Thanks for the awesome review! ^^
Yay, Natalia! I'm so happy that you loved this book, coming from one of Melissa Marr's biggest fans! The whole carnival thing sounds crazy amazing and I'm unsurprised that MM managed to create a beautifully imagined world again ;) But thanks for the warning about the sex thing LOL -- last year, I would've automatically passed on any book with it but I'm starting to grow more used to it. Still, as long as it's not explicit and is AOK for a fifteen-year-old who would be the virginal sacrifice in a horror movie, I think I won't mind :')
Amazing review, Natalia!
P.S. I love youuuu <3
Hmm.. I really hope this one is as good as the wicked lovely series!
This book has diff POV's too ? YAY!!!
Krazyyme @ Young Readers
Absolutely fabulous review Natalia!!!! I STILL need to finish the author's Wicked Lovely series!!! Anyway this one sounds really good! The characters, world building, writing, and alternating point of views sound absolutely wonderful and although there are flaws I am still glad to hear that you enjoyed this one!!! Thanks for sharing :-) Oh and the trailer is SO super awesome!!!!
This sounds really exciting! xD I didn't really like Marr's Blue Bloods series, but this one sounds awesome! Great review!:))
I've never read a book by Melissa Marr, but have heard so many good things about her books and I definitely hadn't heard of this book until now. I don't usually mind predictable plots as long as the characters are likable, which I think is the case in this book. I also like that there are many POV's and there's no love triangle. Woot!
great review Natalia but i think i will wait a year for the paperback
I haven't read anything by Melissa Marr yet, but this one does sound good. I might try to get it from the library when it releases.
I do have Wicked Lovely I should read soonish.
AAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! NATALIA NATALIA NATALIA NATALIA NATALIA NATALIA!!! I AM SO EXCITED TO READ THIS I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but what you've described? EEEE! And I so don't mind sex in my novels (I'm all for sex in my novels :P) but I'm curious about this, especially as a negative... hmm...
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