The Deadly Sweet Smell Of Flowers

I have finished book 3 of the Stravaganza series by British author, Mary Hoffman. In City of Stars, bad things are happening in the city of Giglia, a beautiful city of wealth where the ruling di Chimici family lives. If you haven’t found out yet, Giglia is not a city in our world, but a parallel world in a country called Talia, which seems to be just like our Italy. But, even though it is just as beautiful, it is far more dangerous, and will put all of the people in Giglia to the test. But with all the danger that is bound to unfold in the di chimici’s city, will there be a way out of the danger?

Sky Meadows, (again, laugh and get it out of your system) is an extraordinarily kind boy who cares for his very ill mother. It is such a burden, but it all changes when a mysterious perfume bottle whisks Sky away to the city of Giglia, where he is disguised as a friar by Brother Sulien, his new mentor. In the city many new things happen to change Sky’s life. The first thing is he meets a boy from his world in Talia who died and now lives there permanently.

Luciano Crinamorte, as he’s known by now, becomes good friends with Brother Celestino, Sky’s Talian name, and introduces him to Prince Gaetano of Giglia. He is one of the di Chimici princes, but unlike his horrible, cruel father, Gaetano is very friendly and becomes great friends with Sky as well. He meets an orphan boy named Sandro, who he befriends, along with his dog, Fratello. But some bad things are happening as well, Davide Nucci, the youngest son of the di Chimici’s most rivaled family, has been murdered. It is also revealed that Camillo Nucci, the eldest son, is the one who poised the Grand Duke Niccolo di Chimici, Gaetano’s father.

Back home some pretty good things are happening, though. Sky has made some new good friends, former Stravaganti, Georgia and Nick. He is also friends, and maybe more, with Georgia’s best friend, Alice. Nick starts to give Sky fencing lessons, which he enjoys very much; he is also going horseback riding a little bit with Georgia and Alice. His mother, Rose, is becoming better and is even going places on her own, including to Alice’s house in the country and becoming friends with Paul, Alice’s father. Things seem to be going good, for now.

The scenes toward the end are incredible. There is so much more action in this book than the last two combined, in my opinion. The sword fighting, espionage and the duels are so intense. It is sad, though, for how many people die in this book, and how much blood is spilt over hatred of another person or family. The Duke comes to a rather deserved point, and the di Chimici family should learn their lesson because of it. The other standouts are Barbara, the Duchessa of Bellezza’s maid, Guido Parola plays a big part in the end, Enrico changes the tide of the war, and Luciano barely escapes with his life, again. One thing in for sure, this book will not be easily forgotten with all of the intensity and thrill.

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars, deserved. Mary Hoffman put so much detail in and made it an incredible page-turner with an explosive ending. This book is phenomenal compared to the others in the series.

MASS APPEAL: it doesn’t matter. Everyone should read this series now; I am convinced it is awesome. So don’t ask questions, buy the series, read the books and thou shalt be entertained.

If you want this book, Click Here! to buy on Amazon.