Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly tag hosted by Breaking the Spine where you draw attention to upcoming releases that you’re excited for. While at Book Expo this year I missed the chance to pick up the arc for Daughter of Burning City and I totally regretted it. The book comes out at the end of the month. So I’ll be able to pick it up soon.
Title: Daughter of the Burning City
Author: Amanda Foody
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Released: July 25, 2017
Page Count: 384
From Goodreads:
A darkly irresistible new fantasy set in the infamous Gomorrah Festival, a traveling carnival of debauchery that caters to the strangest of dreams and desires.
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; 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. Taking them to 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.
Why I’m Waiting:
The Night Circus made me lose my faith in carnival based stories. But, after reading Stephanie Garber’s Caraval, I have hope again. Daughter of the Burning City contains three of my favourite narrative beats: mystery, magic and murder. The carnival (when done well) is always a great backdrop for fantasy story. It balances creepiness with a sense of wonder. In many of our videos I have talked about the carnival functioning as a liminal space. Given it’s artificiality, you can believe anything can happen there.
I’m excited to see what Amanda Foody brings to the table. City sounds like it’ll keep breathing life into this unloved genre.
