My letter “D” book pick for this year’s A to Z book Challenge was DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody.

Like her earlier ACE OF SHADES trilogy, Amanda builds a wonderful, wild, fantastical world where magic is seamlessly woven into a cast of morally grey characters and their business dealings. I was absolutely captivated by the always-moving Gomorrah Festival and it’s troupe of magical entertainers who turn out to be–and this was clever and very intriguing–elaborate, sentient, free-thinking, living and breathing magical conjures of the book’s protagonist, sixteen year-old Sorina, who was born without eyes but can magically see.

The book grabbed me immediately as Sorina’s beloved, created troupe of performers are being systematically murdered–possibly by the secretive (and seductive) Luca, who is new to Gomorrah, but deals in gossip–a necessary skill for Sorina to tap into as she tries to hunt down the killer.

From there, things went downhill for me. I guessed the true villain within the first two paragraphs of their introduction, but some plot twists and motivations had me scratching my head and backtracking to read them again. I will say I did not guess the big reveal at the end of the book, but I have to follow that up with “I wish I’d never read it.” It ruined the story for me, and twisted what was clearly supposed to be a happy ending into something uncomfortable for me. And like her earlier works, the author throws so much energy, creativity, and thought into world building and the premise of fantastical characters, but their personalities and interactions are predictable and not always compelling. I was wavering between two and 1/2 and three stars because I hated the ending that much, but I’ll keep it at three stars for her terrific worldbuilding and promising premise.