Book Review ~ Carnival of Souls

Carnival of Souls 
by Melissa Marr
published by HarperCollins
genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Summary (Goodreads): 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.

My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite books read in 2012. I was drawn into it right from the beginning and was not ready for it to end when I finished.
I found two new characters that I loved. Both Kaleb and Zevi had something about them that just grabbed on and didn't let go. I loved their relationship and how their loyalty to each other/their pack came first. I also liked when Zevi stood up for himself . Aya was another great character that I can see flipping in the future or becoming stronger with the allies she made in this story. Mallory didn't bother me but she seemed to be a rather secondary character even though she was the main focus of this book. She may become stronger now that she has a purpose and knows what she is and what has been happening since she was born.
The only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me was it felt incomplete. It was a great build up of characters and world but there wasn't a resolution to anything. We know where the characters are going and have a feeling for who's the good guys vs bad guys, which was enough to make this enjoyable.

Rating: 4