Book Shelf: Rory (The Ghosts of Palladino #1) by Ciye Cho

Far beyond heaven, earth and hell is a city known as Palladino, a place ruled by ghosts and filled with demons, magic, and all sorts of darkly beautiful things. A city where no one can ever escape.

Eighteen-year-old Rory is a cake decorator who makes stunning confections. But no amount of frosting or miracles can save her when a demon kidnaps her—and carries her to Palladino. Here, Rory ends up in a deadly charm school where young women are forced to become companions for the Ghost Lords. And for her to survive, Rory must become everything that she isn’t: graceful, elegant... and perfect.

But nothing is what it seems in Palladino. Not the magic. Not the ghosts. And definitely not Martin Marius, the bizarre Ghost Lord-slash-inventor who is drawn to Rory. For amid a thousand machines and a hundred cats, Martin holds a secret that could change everything. A secret that could either free Rory... or destroy her.

More info on Goodreads.....


Review:

Rory is a vividly told story by Ciye Cho and is incredibly unique. I guarantee you—you haven’t read anything like this before!

In all honesty, I’m not completely sure how I feel about this novel. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s wonderfully written. Rory is an insanely unique tale and a real journey, and yet I find myself torn over how much I actually enjoyed this book…..

Author Ciye Cho introduces us to a world so very unlike our own in Rory. The world of Palladino is otherworldly and magical; abounding in colour and life and full of unexpected surprises like talking cats, strange mythical demons and ghosts that prove to be odder than expected. It’s kind of like falling down a rabbit hole with this book…..everything is so outrageous and outlandish; colourful and vibrant and extremely overwhelming.

Cho has done a good job creating a world as vivid as it is descriptive in Rory, as well as giving his own take on ghosts and spirits. I liked what he’s done here—it’s nice to stumble upon something unique, but I felt as though the craziness of the world detracted from the actual story at times.

Our heroine Aurora “Rory” is swept up on a journey she never expected to take when she’s kidnapped by a strange creature and whisked away to the land of Palladino to become a companion to one of the ghosts that call it home. For the most part I liked Rory, but I struggled to become invested in her plight throughout the book as so much of her story seemed pointless and unnecessary to me.

Now, I’m in no way trying to be mean, but the constant array of odd situations Rory was put in seemed unnecessary. It went from one extreme to the other and while the situations may have been interesting enough, I still found myself often bored as our protagonist didn’t seem to be making headway with her plan to get home. I feel like Cho should have skipped many parts and I would have loved the story more.

Rory does manage to find unexpected allies and friends in the form of Manny, a demon-type creature and Cookie a talking ghost cat which I found interesting. Her Ghost Lord Martin Marius was also an enigma; one I wanted to know more about but whom, in my mind, was often lost amongst the array of flair that was Palladino. His relationship with Rory begins and then evolves too strongly for my liking. I would have preferred to see Ciye Cho explore their connection and unexpected friendship more before taking the leap into a romance.

And yet for the issues I had with Rory and her story, I wouldn’t be against possibly picking up the second book at some point in time. Cho ends the story at a crucial moment for Rory, Martin and the land of Palladino and I find myself wondering just what could possibly happen next……

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by the author (Thank you Ciye!)
Format: Kindle ebook
Buy it:  Amazon | Smashwords |
My Recommendation: If you're a fan of fantasy and want something unique, then Rory is for you!
Cover: Stunning. The cover is just beautiful and once you've read the book you'll understand it's significance.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Maybe....