Publishers Weekly
05/08/2017
The Gomorrah Festival is a sprawling, traveling city of performers who cater to needs both innocent and not so innocent. Sixteen-year-old narrator Sorina, the festival owner’s adopted daughter, is an illusion worker who uses her ability to create Gomorrah’s freak show performers. She’s also a “freak” herself: she has no eyes, only smooth skin where they would be, yet she can see thanks to her talent. Sorina’s creations serve as the family she never had, among them acrobat party-girl Venera and the two-headed Unu and Du. When Gill, the “Trout Man,” is killed, Sorina is shocked: her illusions aren’t real, right? To figure out what has happened and who is responsible, Sorina enlists the help of gossip-worker Luca, her guide to Gomorrah’s sinister Downhill neighborhood. Debut author Foody’s colorful setting is vast—filled with magic, political intrigue, and the potential to grow—yet Sorina’s romantic interest in Luca is a head-scratcher, given his lack of warmth and frequent put-downs aimed at her. A few big twists clear up most of the early inconsistencies that arise, but the too-neat finale may not satisfy all readers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (July)
From the Publisher
"Wow! A dark and dangerous tale, a world like no other and heroism of the weirdest kind!" -New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce
"Utterly original. Amanda Foody has a wicked imagination. If you enjoy your fantasy on the darker side, then you will love Gomorrah!" -Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
"Amanda Foody's stunning debut is full of velvety language, intricate worldbuilding, and a story that treads the fine line of horror and fantasy. This is the kind of read that makes your spine shiver, and your heart beat faster." -Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
"I love the vivid, sumptuous world Amanda Foody has created: Sorina's magic, her illusionary family and the Gomorrah Festival make for a wildly inventive mystery I won't soon forget." -Virginia Boecker, author of The Witch Hunter series
"Magic, murder, and mayhem abound in Foody's debut." -Kirkus
"The richly drawn backdrop and imaginative fantasy world allow the author to thoughtfully explore complex issues such as what makes someone real and how we should treat people who are different." -School Library Journal
"Amanda Foody's deliciously dark and magical whodunit has world-building so rich, the reader (like visitors to Gomorrah) is likely to leave with a hangover." -Shelf Awareness
"Debut author Foody's colorful setting is vast-filled with magic, political intrigue, and the potential to grow." -Publishers Weekly
"Gomorrah makes for a fantastic, magical setting, a seedy mix of titillation and sin... Readers who enjoyed their whirl in Garber's Caraval will want to get in line for entry to Gomorrah." -Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
School Library Journal
07/01/2017
Gr 10 Up—Sorina is the 16-year-old adopted daughter of the Proprietor of Gomorrah, a traveling city/circus loosely based on the biblical city of the same name. Many inhabitants of Gomorrah are able to perform magical tasks. In addition to being able to see despite being born without eyes, Sorina also has the rare ability to create illusions. Her most elaborate illusions are a group of people she calls her family, who all have unusual characteristics and fill special roles in her life. When these created members of her family are murdered at each new city they visit, Sorina wonders about the nature of her talents and whom she can trust. Amid her own investigations and mounting pressure from her father to get involved with political machinations that could end in a war between the Northern and Southern cities, Sorina must question everything about herself and her way of life to get to the truth. The richly drawn backdrop and imaginative fantasy world allow the author to thoughtfully explore complex issues such as what makes someone real and how we should treat people who are different. The illustrations add an interesting element to the unfolding mystery. However, the cookie-cutter dialogue and predictable romance keep the otherwise compelling story from being truly great. VERDICT With so many standout fantasy novels, such as Sarah Beth Durst's Conjured and Kate Elliott's "Court of Fives" series, readily available, this is recommended only as a secondary purchase.—Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT
Kirkus Reviews
2017-05-10
Magic, murder, and mayhem abound in Foody's debut.Ever since her father rescued her from enslavement and adopted her when she was 3, 16-year-old Sorina has lived in Gomorrah, a huge, traveling circus-festival. Born without eyes yet magically able to see, Sorina is in charge of the Gomorrah Festival Freak Show. The attraction is full of Sorina's illusions, semi-independent creations who have become like family: a scaled grandfather, a boneless acrobatic sister, a flaming baby, and more. But when someone begins to systematically murder her illusions, she begins to question the ways her magic can work. Fiercely loyal and protective, she'll do whatever it takes to safeguard her family—even if it means working with extremely irritating-but-cute Luca, another Gomorrah jynx-worker. As the duo teams up to solve the murders and prevent more, their connection grows from irritation to friendship to attraction. Luca appears to be demisexual, disinclined to build sexual or romantic relationships without an emotional bond, and the couple has welcome conversations about the speed of their relationship and consent. While many characters are coded as white, it is implied that many of Gomorrah's residents (including Sorina) are racially diverse. The novel clearly attempts to champion the outsider (and arguably does so successfully with demisexuality), but its disruption of our world's stigmatization of disability is incomplete—both in its inconsistent questioning of "freak" (though Sorina's arc is one of empowerment) and in Sorina's disability-erasing magical sight. A book that aims high but attempts to cover too much territory. (Fantasy. 14-17)
