Daughter of the Burning City

May 8, 2017
The Gomorrah Festival is a sprawling, traveling city of performers who cater to needs both innocent and not so innocent. Sixteen-year-old narrator Sorina, the festival owner’s adopted daughter, is an illusion worker who uses her ability to create Gomorrah’s freak show performers. She’s also a “freak” herself: she has no eyes, only smooth skin where they would be, yet she can see thanks to her talent. Sorina’s creations serve as the family she never had, among them acrobat party-girl Venera and the two-headed Unu and Du. When Gill, the “Trout Man,” is killed, Sorina is shocked: her illusions aren’t real, right? To figure out what has happened and who is responsible, Sorina enlists the help of gossip-worker Luca, her guide to Gomorrah’s sinister Downhill neighborhood. Debut author Foody’s colorful setting is vast—filled with magic, political intrigue, and the potential to grow—yet Sorina’s romantic interest in Luca is a head-scratcher, given his lack of warmth and frequent put-downs aimed at her. A few big twists clear up most of the early inconsistencies that arise, but the too-neat finale may not satisfy all readers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

June 1, 2017
Magic, murder, and mayhem abound in Foody's debut.Ever since her father rescued her from enslavement and adopted her when she was 3, 16-year-old Sorina has lived in Gomorrah, a huge, traveling circus-festival. Born without eyes yet magically able to see, Sorina is in charge of the Gomorrah Festival Freak Show. The attraction is full of Sorina's illusions, semi-independent creations who have become like family: a scaled grandfather, a boneless acrobatic sister, a flaming baby, and more. But when someone begins to systematically murder her illusions, she begins to question the ways her magic can work. Fiercely loyal and protective, she'll do whatever it takes to safeguard her family--even if it means working with extremely irritating-but-cute Luca, another Gomorrah jynx-worker. As the duo teams up to solve the murders and prevent more, their connection grows from irritation to friendship to attraction. Luca appears to be demisexual, disinclined to build sexual or romantic relationships without an emotional bond, and the couple has welcome conversations about the speed of their relationship and consent. While many characters are coded as white, it is implied that many of Gomorrah's residents (including Sorina) are racially diverse. The novel clearly attempts to champion the outsider (and arguably does so successfully with demisexuality), but its disruption of our world's stigmatization of disability is incomplete--both in its inconsistent questioning of "freak" (though Sorina's arc is one of empowerment) and in Sorina's disability-erasing magical sight. A book that aims high but attempts to cover too much territory. (Fantasy. 14-17)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 10 Up-Sorina is the 16-year-old adopted daughter of the Proprietor of Gomorrah, a traveling city/circus loosely based on the biblical city of the same name. Many inhabitants of Gomorrah are able to perform magical tasks. In addition to being able to see despite being born without eyes, Sorina also has the rare ability to create illusions. Her most elaborate illusions are a group of people she calls her family, who all have unusual characteristics and fill special roles in her life. When these created members of her family are murdered at each new city they visit, Sorina wonders about the nature of her talents and whom she can trust. Amid her own investigations and mounting pressure from her father to get involved with political machinations that could end in a war between the Northern and Southern cities, Sorina must question everything about herself and her way of life to get to the truth. The richly drawn backdrop and imaginative fantasy world allow the author to thoughtfully explore complex issues such as what makes someone real and how we should treat people who are different. The illustrations add an interesting element to the unfolding mystery. However, the cookie-cutter dialogue and predictable romance keep the otherwise compelling story from being truly great. VERDICT With so many standout fantasy novels, such as Sarah Beth Durst's Conjured and Kate Elliott's "Court of Fives" series, readily available, this is recommended only as a secondary purchase.-Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
Grades 8-11 A traveling circus city called Gomorrah is home to blind 16-year-old jynx worker Sorina, whose skill is creating illusions so realistic they lead their own lives: birdlike Hawk; boneless acrobat Venera; dagger-headed Crown; bark-wrapped Human Tree; conjoined twins Unu and Du; fire-breathing baby Blister; and Trout, a man whose gills let him breath underwater. Sorina, as Gomorrah's proprietor's daughter, holds a place of importance, but that doesn't prevent her creations from being killed off one by one. As she searches for the killer, family secrets are uncovered, and the controversy Gomorrah ignites each place it goes becomes an important political component of the story. Gomorrah is a freak show on wheels, surrounded by the entourage that usually supports carnival-like shows, but on a scale so large it becomes a city in and of itself. On the surface, first-time author Foody's mystery seems focused on the illusion-killer, but there is a darker story of political unrest, struggles between haves and have-nots, and those who believe that different is perverse.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Sixteen-year-old Sorina, "The Girl Who Sees Without Eyes," heads the "Gomorrah Festival Freak Show," of which the other performers are all her created illusions. When someone begins the presumed-impossible task of systematically murdering the illusions, Sorina must use every available resource--even an insufferable but attractive festival poison-worker--to find the killer. An intriguing narrative conjures many special effects but without much lasting substance.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)