Carnival of Souls by Melissa MarrPublished: September 4, 2012
By: Harper Collins UK
Source: Copy provided by publisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Carnival of Souls was a really slow starter for me. I was kind of confused about the Daimons and the Curs and exactly what they are. If I'm honest, I'm still slightly confused. I know they're fast and powerful, and that they can shape shift, though I'm not sure exactly what they shift into, is it a dog type thing, a wolf maybe? Kaleb is a Cur, who are the lowest class of Daimon and he describes himself as being like a mongrel or stray dog, but I'm not sure if that's just a metaphor.
Mallory has been raised by Adam, a witch. She doesn't know what she really is or the exact danger she is in, because of who her real father is. She is aware of Daimons though and has been trained to fight. Everything starts to change when Kaleb enters her life.
Every generation, a fighting competition is held in the Carnival of Souls. It's a fight to the death, and the prize is becoming ruling class, the highest caste (class) of Daimon. The fight is down to the last few contenders and Kaleb and Aya are still in.
My favourite character was Kaleb. He has done a lot of horrible things in his 17 years but I love how he wants to be a better person for Mallory. And he is so caring towards Zevi, who is part of his pack. The relationship they share is an interesting one.
Mallory was really sweet. She comes across as very young and naive, but that's probably because every time something has happened to her (being attacked by Daimons etc.), Adam has spelled her to think it wasn't real and forget about it. She is very much a loner and when things do get dangerous, she is not afraid to stand up and fight.
I didn't like Aya at the beginning, she seemed very cruel and heartless. But after learning more about her, I really came to like her. I feel that she is going to be an awesome character in the next book and I'm looking forward to seeing how things will play out between herself and Belias.
But then we have a cliff hanger. I really felt like this book was only getting to the really exciting stuff and then I was turning the last page. I'm expecting great things from the next book.
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