When Sorina’s starts getting murdered, she wants to know who’s behind the killings and why. In the course of her investigation she’ll learn more about the world than her sheltered upbringing ever showed her and she may, perhaps, even find someone to be her prince or princess in the fairy tale ending she dreams of in a story that seeks to explore what it means to be human.
Publisher’s Description:
A darkly irresistible new fantasy set in the infamous Gomorrah Festival, a traveling carnival of debauchery that caters to the strangest of dreams and desires
Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca. Their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all her loved ones disappear.
Genre: Fantasy
Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Sorina, Nicoleta, Venera, Hawk
Cis boys: Luca, Unu, Du, Crown, Blister
Sexuality:
Lesbian: Nicoleta
Bisexual: Sorina
Demisexual: Luca
Heterosexual: Venera, Hawk, Unu, Du, Crown, Blister
Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Nicoleta
Biromantic: Sorina
Heteroromantic: Venera, Hawk, Unu, Du, Crown, Blister
Demiromantic: Luca
Race/Ethnicity:
Not mentioned.
Religion:
Atheism: Sorina
Disability:
Sorina has no eyes and thus faces microaggressions based on her appearance.
Trigger Warnings:
Murder
Aphobia/Amisia
Self-harm
Additional Notes:
One of the plot twists may be harmful to readers on the asexual spectrum.