Book cover of Daughter of the Burning City

Book description

'Utterly original. Amanda Foody has a wicked imagination.' Stephanie Garber, Sunday Times bestselling author of Caraval

Reality is in the eye of the beholder...

Even among the many unusual members of the travelling circus that has always been her home sixteen-year-old Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Daughter of the Burning City as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A story with magic and mystery, like my first book, Daughter of the Burning City is unlike any book I have read. The magic system within the book is called “Jynx-work” and the users of the magic often inhabit the traveling city circus of Gomorrah Festival, a place of vice and sin shunned by the more pious world around them. 

Sorina is the first illusion worker in years. She creates tangible illusions, ones with personalities and free will to exist outside of her control. But when they start dying like real people would in a series of gruesome murders, there…

This book has it all: it has creepy moments, an excellent mystery, a beautiful and unique setting, a diverse and interesting cast, and of course queer rep. For a long time, finding asexual characters in anything was a rarity, and so finding this book meant a lot to me, as her love interest is asexual and that doesn't bother her in the slightest. Above all, though, I love the marvelous worldbuilding and the incredibly interesting premise of 'how do you murder someone who doesn't actually exist'. 

From Megan's list on queer SFF to get you through winter.

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Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini,

When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced to…

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