Review: Great characters and ideas, slightly poorer execution
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2012
I have a funny relationship with Melissa Marr books. It's not love/hate per se, more like the enjoyment of greasy fried rice from the local, that despite knowing it's no good still enjoying from time to time.Anyway, I was very interested to see Marr's first real break away from the Wicked Lovely universe, and at first I really enjoyed this book.Marr introduces a pair of worlds, one ruled by daimons, the other our human world. Witches exists as a third species that span the two. Our main protag, Mallory is an adopted daimon, living in the human world under the delusion that she a human being raised by a witch (I think I got that right.)Aya is a hybrid witch-daimon hoping to successfully gain political power (by competing in the Carnival of Souls) in the demon world - which is ruled by Mallory's birth father. Standing in her way is her lover, who she must either kill or confide her hybrid status and risk her own death.Rather than come across as convoluted - Marr successfully creates an intriguing world with well rounded characters with 'real' motivations and tension filled relationships.So why am I crying poor execution?firstly this book has way too much 'tell.' Now I'm not trying to be authorly and snarky. It's just so much of the world building and some scenes (including what must have been the oddest sex act, described in the most blaise of prose ever.) Was simply stated by the narration rather than being included in the action.For example two of the characters were curs, or lower caste daimons. Yet very little happened to really make this believable, just we were told this in the narrative.My other qualm, is that this book was somewhat un-epic in plot. Despite setting up a high tension setting, I felt that was no overarching storyline, which also made the ending feel abrupt and driven more by the need for future books in the series, than an resolution.I also felt that Carnival of Souls was two novella's combined into one novel. Despite Marr's best 'twist' attempts Aya's and Mallory's stories are only linked by the most contrived circumstance, and could have stood alone as short stories from the same universe.Overall assessment - I will continue reading this series, but with mixed feelings.