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A review by shimauchiha
Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody
4.0
4.5 stars
This book was exactly what I wanted and expected from reading the synopsis. It was fun, fast-paced, easy to read and most importantly it had a great setting. I have a thing for moving festivals as settings for books, whether they are a [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059], a [b:Caraval|27883214|Caraval|Stephanie Garber|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465563623s/27883214.jpg|45697227] or in this case, a whole moving city of performers and debauchery.
On top of that, it had a reasonable plot and cast of characters and the writing was good. In general, there was absolutely nothing glaringly wrong with it. It was a fast, easy pleasure to read.
However, I do feel slightly disappointed, not because it was by any means not a great book, but because it could have been so much more than that. I enjoyed reading it, but I wish it had become one of my absolute favourites, like the other two books I mentioned above.
There were a couple of reasons why it was really great but not quite magical:
1) Predictability: Looking at my favourite books I don't think any of them are without a few twists that left me shocked. There were many reveals here as well, but unfortunately, all of them could have easily been guessed pages in advance. Maybe it's because of its YA nature, but either way it's really quite predictable.
2) Lack of depth: It's relatively short for a fantasy stand-alone, so perhaps I expect too much, however, I do think both the characters and the settings could have been explored more. Going back to my examples, In night circus, the circus is as much of a character in the book as anyone else. You get to know the place intimately. It comes alive. Gamorah certainly had the potential and it came close at times but in the end, I can't say that I could really see it as more than the character's home.
On the same note, In Caraval, it's the characters' depth that moves the story along. Their conflicting interests, their hidden agendas, the constant battle between who can and can not be trusted, those are the things that truly make the book special. Here, however, while Sorina and Luka are likeable enough -and I do like their relationship a great deal- I can't say I really felt like I knew or cared about any of the other characters. Sorina talks about how much she cares about her family but as a reader, it was hard for me to care which of them lived or died because I hardly knew them as more than The bickering twins, The flying girl, The overworked older sister, etc.
Conclusion: It seems as if I've spent most of a positive review pointing out the flaws in the book, so I need to clarify again that I liked this book a lot. I do recommend reading it. I only can't help myself in pointing out the negative aspects because of how absolutely incredible I think it could have been, however, that doesn't mean that it's not a really great read as it is. Besides, how often do we get 500 pages stand-alones in fantasy that are worth reading?
This book was exactly what I wanted and expected from reading the synopsis. It was fun, fast-paced, easy to read and most importantly it had a great setting. I have a thing for moving festivals as settings for books, whether they are a [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059], a [b:Caraval|27883214|Caraval|Stephanie Garber|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465563623s/27883214.jpg|45697227] or in this case, a whole moving city of performers and debauchery.
On top of that, it had a reasonable plot and cast of characters and the writing was good. In general, there was absolutely nothing glaringly wrong with it. It was a fast, easy pleasure to read.
However, I do feel slightly disappointed, not because it was by any means not a great book, but because it could have been so much more than that. I enjoyed reading it, but I wish it had become one of my absolute favourites, like the other two books I mentioned above.
There were a couple of reasons why it was really great but not quite magical:
1) Predictability: Looking at my favourite books I don't think any of them are without a few twists that left me shocked. There were many reveals here as well, but unfortunately, all of them could have easily been guessed pages in advance. Maybe it's because of its YA nature, but either way it's really quite predictable.
2) Lack of depth: It's relatively short for a fantasy stand-alone, so perhaps I expect too much, however, I do think both the characters and the settings could have been explored more. Going back to my examples, In night circus, the circus is as much of a character in the book as anyone else. You get to know the place intimately. It comes alive. Gamorah certainly had the potential and it came close at times but in the end, I can't say that I could really see it as more than the character's home.
On the same note, In Caraval, it's the characters' depth that moves the story along. Their conflicting interests, their hidden agendas, the constant battle between who can and can not be trusted, those are the things that truly make the book special. Here, however, while Sorina and Luka are likeable enough -and I do like their relationship a great deal- I can't say I really felt like I knew or cared about any of the other characters. Sorina talks about how much she cares about her family but as a reader, it was hard for me to care which of them lived or died because I hardly knew them as more than The bickering twins, The flying girl, The overworked older sister, etc.
Conclusion: It seems as if I've spent most of a positive review pointing out the flaws in the book, so I need to clarify again that I liked this book a lot. I do recommend reading it. I only can't help myself in pointing out the negative aspects because of how absolutely incredible I think it could have been, however, that doesn't mean that it's not a really great read as it is. Besides, how often do we get 500 pages stand-alones in fantasy that are worth reading?