Carnival of Souls
Melissa Marr
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper Teen
ISBN: 0061659282
Source: ARC from the publisher
Rating: Loved
From Goodreads.
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.
Y’all I
love Melissa Marr!!! So no surprise I had to get my hands on this book! And
that I did thanks to Harper Teen! What I love about Melissa’s books is the
grittiness in them. If you’ve read her Wicked Lovely books you know what I
mean. She doesn’t pull punches and she writes what some YA authors wouldn’t
even think of.
Carnival of Souls is no exception. Heck I think it’s even grittier
in some aspects than her WL series.
Carnival
is set in two worlds the human world and in the city of Daimons and both parts
were equally magical and dangerous. I loved the descriptions of The City! It
was dark and alluring but also dirty and evil. I mean people sold themselves
for all different kinds of pleasures just to survive, to eat, to put a roof
over their heads! They also fight to survive or better themselves (gain in
caste level). I fell for both of the daimons Belial and Kaleb they were so
different but both equally awesome! They were not nice dudes just a FYI so if
you’re looking for a nice guy it’s not them. They’ve both done awful things but
they both had reasons. I also loved both Aya and Mallory. I do think I liked
Aya a bit more. She was a big secret waiting to be unwrapped and I couldn’t
wait to read more of her parts to see what was happening. And the ending OMG
Melissa knows how to write an ending!!!! She has me dying to read the next
book!
I chose
this passage to share with you that was funny but also shows the differences
between the daimons in
The City.
Anger vied with worry in Zevi’s
expression. Muttering to himself, he went over and stoked the fire, and then
returned with one of the blankets from his bed. He sniffed Kaleb again as he
spread the blanket over him.
“Someone was against your skin, but you didn’t
have sex.”
“I didn’t”
“Were you rejected?” Zevi’s gaze narrowed
and he ran over to Aya.
Before Kaleb could speak, Zevi had
bent down and pressed his nose to her crotch.
“No!” Kaleb yelled. His exclamation
was simultaneous with Zevi’s yip of pain and the sound of crashing.
“I’m not up on cur customs, but I’m
pretty sure that putting your nose there is not something you do with
outsiders.” Aya had her foot on Zevi’s chest. “Don’t do that again.”
Also make sure to check out Melissa taking about Carnival of Souls!
And there will be a trailer that was filmed in the Netherlands with professional fight choreographers so keep an eye out for that August 14th! Here's a couple pictures from it to tide you over.
Pre-order your copy now!
