Daughter of the Burning City Review

This was a total spur of the moment pick up and I wasn’t disappointed!

This book follows the story of Sorrina who is an illusion caster in the travelling festival of Gomorrah. She is the daughter of the proprietor of the festival which kind of makes her a princess of Gomorrah. However, Sorrina was born without eyes and a lot of people view her as a freak. When someone starts to murder her illusions, Sorrina needs to figure out who, why and how!

I was really drawn into the story right from the beginning. It starts out pretty fast paced which I enjoy and all the information is provided quite organically in the course of the plot. I like that there are so many different, diverse characters scattered throughout the story line, it made it a lot easier to distinguish between everyone.

Sorrina I found to be a little naïve and a bit on the lower range of her age. I get that she is only 16 but I feel like she’s been quite sheltered her whole life and I thought she would know a lot more about Gomorrah than what she actually does. In terms of the whole plot I guess it makes sense that she doesn’t know a lot of people but that was one thing that stuck out to me. I love how committed she is to her little family and the depths of the grief and loss that she feels after each death. She is also quite honest and upfront about her emotions as well which I appreciated in her.

I thought the dynamic between Sorrina and her illusions was very intriguing and the way that she comes up with each one and almost unconsciously makes them freaks like her was a nice element to the story, it really enabled Sorrina to be able to relate to them all. It was interesting that even though she created them, they are all able to think for themselves, all she is really able to control is when they appear and disappear. I like that there are limitations to what she can do and it is made evident in the story.

I thought the world building in the book was fantastic; the whole situation between the Up Mountain and Down Mountain people and how they differentiate. I liked the religious aspect with the zealots and claiming all the illusionists to be devil workers. It added a layer of depth to the book and was a good foundation for the story to build upon. Especially when it came to all the Up Mountain political climate scheme that is uncovered.

There was a real sense of urgency and suspense woven throughout the story line which kept me highly engaged in the book. The stakes were always at an all-time high and trying to figure out who was behind everything was very entertaining!

⭐️4/5 stars dark and murderous and magical