Review: Ciye Cho is an AMAZING world builder
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 9, 2013
I jumped at the chance to read another Ciye Cho novel. I adored his two Florence Waverley books (Florence and Luminaire) and I absolutely adore books with ghosts.Rory tells the story of eighteen year old Aurora, a cake baker who diligently visits her mother in hospital every day before dark. Her mother had always warned Rory that the shadows are no her friend but until an incident in the night breaks Rory's mother's fragile mind, Rory never really understood the dangers. Now Rory is left alone in the world... and things just keep getting weirder.Kidnapped in the night, Rory now finds herself in the realm of Palladino. Here girls are taken away from the world and forced to train at a bizarre type of finishing school before they are auctioned off to become companions to the ghosts who live there. Ghosts who live forever and require their companions to remind them what living was like.This book was crazy - in the best kind of way. There's creepy ghosts, strange teachers and some very cool inventions of Cho's - like Dust Tea which invokes memories. Rory was a fantastic heroine. She's brave and interesting. Her willingness to stand up for her beliefs and others was fantastic. But best of all, she was awkwardly perfect with her flaws. Quirky with a quick temper, Rory is real. The other characters were great to read too but none of them were quite as vivid and authentic to me as Rory.Cho outdid himself with the world building. He has such a way with words that even the otherworldly eccentricities of Palladino were described in a way that felt like I could see them just as Rory did. And not just the world, but the feelings too. Rory's memories evoked by the tea were beautifully expressed.I had a great time reading this book and can't wait for the next book in the series to rejoin Rory and the ghosts in Palladino.