Carnival of Lies

Untamed City #0.5

by Melissa Marr

A digital original novella set in the twisted world of the Untamed City created by Melissa Marr


Carnival of Secrets fans will be thrilled for this never-before-seen moment between Aya and Belias, set in the Untamed City universe.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Magic, Short Stories, Witches, Ebooks

36 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 2, 2014

About the author

Melissa Marr writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and been bestsellers in the US (NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal) as well as overseas. Wicked Lovely, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and evolved into an internationally bestselling multi-book series with a myriad of accolades.

In 2024 she released a queer fantasy (Remedial Magic via Bramble), a picturebook about a wee one and his two moms (Family is Family via Penguin), and a DC Comics graphic novel about teen Harley & Ivy (The Strange Adventures of Harleen & Harley).

An Illumicrate edition of 6 Wicked Lovely books will release in 2025.

If she's not writing, you can find her in a kayak or on a trail with her wife.

Reviews

[Sage Collins]

After the unfinished first novel, I'd be a lot more excited if this were book 2, rather than a side story. Or if a book 2 were even listed on GR.

[Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten)]

Eeeeeep! I'm SOOOOOO excited about this book. I LOVED the first one!!!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need more. This was a lovely piece of insight into Aya's world before the first book. It was too short and not the sequel I have been yearning for!

[Euridice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una historia corta que realmente te deja con ganas de mas sobre estos fabulosos personajes.

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never been so bored.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I am thrilled to have something new in the Untamed City world and thoroughly enjoyed Carnival of Lies (even without James Marsters narrating it), it just wasn't enough. This short prequel featuring Aya and Belias did little to whet my appetite. Also I'm not sure why it's listed as Untamed City #1.5 when it's a prequel and should be #0.5. It falsely lead me to believe that I would be getting something after the events in Carnival of Souls which was disappointing.

Carnival of Souls was one of the most brilliantly crafted young adult worlds I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I loved it so much that after I read it, I immediately re-read it as my first audiobook and have been itching for a sequel since. Years later and I'm still hoping for an Untamed City sequel. Maybe one of these days Ms. Marr will have time to write it.

For those of you who haven't read Carnival of Souls, you should. It truly was a fabulous read and since it's release in 2012, I've read it three times and I'm not even a big young adult reader so that in itself speaks volumes.

I'm including a link to the book trailer because it rocks! You'll note that the book title has since been changed to Carnival of Secrets. I'm not sure why it was changed (after the fact) but it will always be Carnival of Souls to me and I'm soooo happy I have the original hardback because the cover is much prettier that the new one. The changing of the title also makes the song that inspired the book (and is featured in the trailer) kinda pointless in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Ki8...

[Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

So THAT'S what happened!!! I was seriously wondering. But here's the thing, I NEED MORE!!! I have so many questions about this series!!! Good questions! The questions that keep you coming back and checking for updates constantly to make sure you didn't overlook anything. This book cleared a very minuscule question I had up just nicely but now there are MORE!!!

This is a great little snippet from the life of Aya and Belias. This takes place about a year ish before Carnival of Secrets. Whoa. That's really all I can say without giving anything away.

[Nancy The book junkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.25/5

Overall this short glimpse at Belias and Aya before Carnival of souls was good but it's been more than 2 years since the book was released so i felt disconnected from the story. If this would have been released closer after the first book i might have give it a 3.75/5. I only hope that if she's planning on writing more books in this serise that we won't wait an other 2 years!

[Ada Nitu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novella!

[ButtonsMom2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review:
Overall – 5
Performance – 5
Story – 5

This was the first book I’ve read by Melissa Marr and I enjoyed listening to it. MacLeod Andrews did a good job performing this story. Untamed City: Carnival of Lies was a interesting glimpse into the Untamed City world.

[Peyton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given it more stars, but it ends on a cliffhanger and it's been 5 years. I'm a little annoyed to be left hanging. Possibly permanently.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems interesting

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Aya, and how she stood up for herself. I didn't really like her fiance', though.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interested to see where this goes.

[Big Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start. Can't wait to read book one.

[WonderWomanNZ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope didnt like it.

[MissJLovesReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars. I have loved some of the books from this author before but this definitely wasn't one of them unfortunately.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems past history, parents, facts missing, her witch eyes different, her ex-Beau, masks missing, poison. Is she good or bad?

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmmmm... in their world, privileged and not... a New Orlean's type of city/country... Aya and Belias, both of the privileged class, betrothed since her birth... when she will be subject to his will...

He is a warrior... she daughter of a warrior - or so she thought... but her mother, a witch, bewitched her parents, and now that she is an adult, her mother/witch has told her the truth... and somehow, to protect herself and her family, she decides she must don the black and blue masques (not red, which is prostitution) and become a secret warrior...

Belias loves her - initiated her into lovemaking wonderfully... indulges her desire to learn to fight ... and when she tells him she wants to fight in the coming nationwide contest, the first female to enter, he forbids it... and she dissolves their betrothal...

he comes to her in anger, wanting to understand - but she cannot tell him the truth... and as she declares herself, he stands at her side, making sure all know that to challenge her is to challenge him... hmmmmm

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to hear that this little novella actually DID come out in December (after hearing her talk about the series at a recent event, I was under the impression that nothing Untamed City-related would be coming anytime soon), so of course I nabbed it! This was the perfect prequel to the series, as far as I’m concerned. I loved getting to see a bit more of the relationship between Aya and Belias before the events in Carnival of Secrets. Surprisingly, I had little trouble slipping back into the story and the world, and I really enjoyed this.

[Natasha (books_n_dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked getting to see Aya before the competition and how much her and Belias really loved each other, but this didn't answer any questions or give us any insight to what happens after book one, this is a prequel, so if you haven't read Carnival of Souls/Secrets than read this first. I just really want something longer and in regards to what is going on after the way book one ended. Again this was good, but all it was, was romance really, nothing more.

[Nicole Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why this did not make the cut of the original novel. Much like a deleted scene of a movie, it lacked the pacing of the rest of the narrative. Unlike a deleted scene, tacked onto some special features disc, this was marketed as its own feature.

Much as I enjoy Melissa Marr's writing, I'm not entirely sure why. Even though it was enjoyable to read Aya and Belias, we didn't learn anything in this short story that we didn't already know from Carnival of Secrets.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As several reviewers mentioned, the main problem is that this novella really DID feel disconnected from "Carnival of Souls"/"Carnival of Secrets", since a lot of time passed since that release. I'd rather see a full-length sequel, but from what I understood from the website info, Marr is not going to give us that. Such a shame.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story prequel to Carnival of Secrets. It gives a little more insight to the relationship between Aya and Bel as well as Aya's decision to join the competition. Since this prequel was released after Carnival of Secrets, which I have read, I didn't really gain too much more information then what I had already picked up from the novel.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was bitter sweet for me. I absolutely love this world and Aya. It was nice to have more depth to Belies and Aya's relationship. It was also great to get more background in how Aya discovered and reacted to her true parentage. I only wish there were more stories coming and that this would could continue...

[Jenna Loesch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh... Just ughh... I'm sorry, but I gave no fucks about anything that happened in this prequel. It was literally just a detailed version of information the reader already got from reading Carnival of Souls, and it wasn't even done well. Publish a sequel that I might care about reading and then we'll talk.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really intresting. I mean how can you tell a women not do something when she is just going to do it anyways. Some guys just don't make any sense you can't control everything someone does.

[Rusty's Ghost Engine (also known as.......... Jinky Spring) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good prequel but I've never really liked short stories, I really hope the author continues this series. Like the first book it doesn't actually tell you what a daimon is only that they're human like beings that have second big werewolf like animal forms.

[Carien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is a prequel story to Carnival of Secrets which I have not read. Still I very much enjoyed it. The setting is very intriguing and I liked Aya. It made me curious as to what would be next for her, so you bet I'll be picking up Carnival of Secrets when I get the chance.

[Hannah (jellicoereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved book one so much, I so wish there would be a sequel.