Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Carnival of Souls 

Author: Melissa Marr
Series: Carnival of Souls, Book One
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Genre:Young Adult Fantasy
Format:Hardcover, 306 pages
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries

Synopsis: 

In a city of daimons, lies the Carnival of Souls, a place where murder and pleasure are sold. A deadly competition is in full force that will allow the winner to join the ruling class. Kaleb and Aya must win this competition in order to survive and truly begin to live their lives.

Mallory is in the dark about the City. All she knows is that her witch father and all other witches fled to live in the human world. Now they are forced to hide from the daimons that hunt her father. Mallory trains every day and is constantly looking for threats around every street corner. She thought she would never know more of the City, but suddenly even she is sucked right into the middle of the Carnival of Souls. Because even though she knows little about the City, everyone in the City knows a lot about her.

My Review: 

Carnival of Souls was intriguing and dangerous. I thought it was a little slow starting, but it definitely picked up, so give it a chance. It was dark and mysterious and constantly kept my mind working trying to figure things out. The story was intricate, yet not hard to follow. This book really allows the reader to use their imagination to the fullest because of all the supernatural creatures that are in this book. This book has it all: violence, magic, and love. Once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down.

Kaleb is a cur, the lowest caste of the daimons. He is fighting to improve his stature in society, for himself and his pack. He is a strong fighter and seemed almost ruthless to me at the beginning. But he is actually sensitive and cares deeply for members of his pack. He is conniving and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants which include becoming a member of the ruling class and getting the girl of his dreams. Kaleb is dark and mysterious, but I wanted to trust him. I feel like he is inherently good and is just trying to do what is best for himself and his loved ones.

Aya is an extremely strong girl. She wants to be a member of the ruling class to help the City. Unless she wins this competition, she will be forced to bear children, something she never wants to happen. She is quite intimidating. If I met her in a dark alley, I would be scared for my life. We only see a tiny sliver of true emotion from Aya in the whole book. I have a feeling there is a lot more depth to this character and that we will see more of it in the next book. Aya is certainly intriguing and her character has left me wanting to know more about her.

Mallory is oblivious, completely, 100% oblivious. But that’s not really her fault. She knows that her father, Adam, a very powerful witch, is being hunted by daimons. And that, in turn, she is also being hunted by daimons. I felt bad for Mallory throughout the book. You, as the reader, know all the secrets that she desperately wants to know, but can’t because her father won’t reveal them.  It’s very frustrating. Her father treats her like she is extremely fragile and will break at the slightest indication of danger, but I saw her as strong. I think that she can handle the truth and that the longer he keeps it from her, the harder it is going to be to accept it.

Overall, this book was very interesting. It kept me intrigued the whole time I was reading. I really liked all the characters and liked how Melissa Marr connected them all together. There were many twists that kept the book exciting and fun to read. It wasn’t one of my favorite books, but I am excited for the second book to come out so I can find out what happens next in the carnival of souls.   

Here is the link to purchase this book!