Review: DRIVE by Stephanie Fournet
I have loved everything I’ve read from Stephanie Fournet, and DRIVE did not disa[...]
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr,
read by James Marsters
Publisher: Harper Audio
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Format: Audiobook (8 hrs, 5 min)
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Buy: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iTunes
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. (Goodreads)
Carnival of Souls is the first book of Melissa Marr’s that I’ve read. Though I tried to go into it without any expectations, I was excited to finally be reading, or rather listening, to one of her novels! When I learned that James Marsters (known for being Spike in the Buffy series) would be narrating the audiobook, I knew that I must listen to this book.
Carnival of Souls is an original, fascinating story with an intricately weaved plot and characters. Just about every significant character is given their own perspective, as the story is told from six points of view. I wished for more character development, but it’s hard when so many characters are followed. Every character has their own agenda, and I enjoyed how Marr revealed their motivations and intentions.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure about this book in the beginning. It took me a while to warm up to the story and the characters. I had a hard time wrapping my head around The City, the caste system, and daimons. However, by the end I felt like I had a grasp of the world, and I was craving more.
I thought James Marsters’ narration was fantastic. I would definitely recommend the Carnival of Souls audiobook, though I wonder if by reading the book, the world building would have been easier to digest. I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel and finding out what Marr has in store for Aya and Belias, and Mallory and Kaleb!
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Even though I’ve already read Carnival of Souls I think I’m for sure going to be getting the audio…because of the narrator of course. 🙂
Bookluvr Mindy recently posted..The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Twitter: fakesteph
says:
Oooooooooooh. I totally have a credit. I might go download this!
fakesteph recently posted..Book Blogger Hop: November 9-15, 2012
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
Um, yes. It’s narrated by James Marsters (Spike)!
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[…] Audiobook Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr […]
I have had this audiobook on my iphone for over three months now, and I still can’t make myself finish it. I’m not sure why it didn’t work for me, but I just don’t care enough about the characters to continue listening..:)
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Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
That’s a bummer. Maybe it’s a timing thing? It definitely took time for me to get into this one, so I can see that happening.