Changes

In the City of daimons, the fighting is raging. Not war - this is much more organised. The Carnival of Souls is a once in a generation opportunity to change your future. Lower caste Kaleb and Aya, fighting the prejudice agaist women, aim to do just that. Meanwhile, in our world, Mallory knows of the City's existence but not she and her father need to run away so much. These three are about to be drawn together, and the consequences for everyone could be huge.

There are some good parts here, with excellent world-building from Marr, who really draws the reader in and has clearly done a great job of creating a convincing 'two worlds' system complete with witches and daimons. The characters, on the other hand, are rather more hit and miss. Kaleb and Aya are well-written and their struggles in the tournament make for exciting reading, and both just about manage to be likeable despite their ruthlessness. Mallory, on the other hand, is incredibly bland and I found her father, who constantly mind-wipes her to 'protect' her to be so vile that he made my skin crawl, while the romance between her and Kaleb never captured my attention. Kaleb's packmate Zevi, on the other hand - loyal, clever, and hiding a secret of his own - is by far my favourite character and brilliantly portrayed.