Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Title: Carnival of Souls
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publishing Date: September 4th 2012
Pages: 306
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Series: I am Hoping Carnival of Souls #1
Source: Audio 

 

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.

I am a huge fan of Melissa Marr. I love her dark side, her world building, her hot male characters, and her pretty kick butt heroines. I was really excited to see that she wrote a new book. I love the cover, the title, the book blurb sounds intriguing. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it…. It was AWESOME!!!! I was not disappointed at all and oh as an extra bonus (I am a huge Spike/Buffy/Angel fan) Audio is read by James Marsters! So cool!

In a city where daimons live, there is a carnival of souls once a generation. Daimons fight to the death to win so they can rule the city. In the world outside of the city there are witches, the daimons’ arch nemesis. In the middle is a daimon girl being raised by a witch, a girl who has no idea that she is a daimon and was raised to fight and kill daimons. This daimon girl is not your average daimon girl, she is important to the daimons and the witches and has a very high price on her head. To make things a little more confusing, the daimon that is sent to kill her falls for her. No among this girl, Mallory and this daimon assassin, Kaleb, there is another named Aya who is an entirely different story… There stories with interweave and secrets and treachery are discovered.

WOW.. .I was blown away by this book. Everything I expected was there, the mystery, the darkness, the romance, the hot male character, deceit, treachery, and the faded line that runs between good and evil.The world building was amazing. The city amazed me. I wasn’t really sure what to expect except that Melissa Marr is excellent at creating magical worlds full of darkness. The city was dark but still beautiful, deadly but alive. Full of daimons of different caste systems trying to fight their way up or keep their status as the ruling caste. The writing was amazing and swept me up into this make believe world and I felt as though I was breathing the same air as those in the city.

I love all the characters in this book, good, bad , in between, the story needed and used them all. The main characters Aya, Kaleb, and Mallory stole my heart. Each of their lives so complicated and each trying to make the best of the cards they were dealt. Kaleb grew up an orphan, works as an assassin, and is trying to wind the carnival of souls to make a better life for him and his pack mate. Mallory, raised by a which in the mortal world, taught to fight daimons, and constantly on the move just wants to have a normal life. Aya, a girl form the ruling caste in the city that is desperate to win the carnival of souls to save herself from a life of breeding. Each one of these characters saddened me, they each had their secrets, their pains, and their dreams. I wanted so much for all three of them and felt their fight. Mallory and Aya are both very strong but in different was. Anya is hard and can be cold when needed but still very soft. Mallory may be naive but she is determined and doesn’t give up. Kaleb is my many. I love him so. Sexy, dark, and loyal. Can’t get any better than that.

I fell in love with Carnival of Souls, and I am so hoping there is more. I am thinking there is because the book jut sort of ended without a conclusion. I will be getting the next book as soon as it comes out. Even though I listened to this on audio, which rocked, this book will be bought and added to my keeper shelf. Melissa Marr is a genius in my mind!