Stravaganza II : City of Stars

Rating:
Summary: The best book in the world
Review: I loved this book. I really liked the first book in this series, Stravaganza, City of Masks, and was looking forward to this one. A little anxiously, though, as sometimes sequels don't live up to expectations. I was delighted to find I liked this second story even better. I loved the way the characters from the first story were interwoven into this one. Unfortunately I raced through this book in one (long) evening and will now have a very long wait for book three.

Rating:
Summary: A sequel that does not disappoint
Review: I loved this book. I really liked the first book in this series, Stravaganza, City of Masks, and was looking forward to this one. A little anxiously, though, as sometimes sequels don't live up to expectations. I was delighted to find I liked this second story even better. I loved the way the characters from the first story were interwoven into this one. Unfortunately I raced through this book in one (long) evening and will now have a very long wait for book three.

Rating:
Summary: better than first but still flawed
Review: Middle books in trilogies often suffer the problem of being just a "bridge" work that adds very little to overall plot or characterization within the main storyline. Hoffman manages to avoid this pitfall nicely but making wholesale changes in focus for her sequel to City of Masks. The story still involves travel between our world and Talia, an alternate 16th century Italy, though the specific setting is no longer Belezza (Florence) but Remora, a parallel Sienna about to run it most famous and important horse race. And while Mask characters reappear, the major focus is on several brand new characters: Georgia, a young girl from our world unhappy with her step-brother and overall social situation; Cesare, a young Remoran jockey, and several new di Chimici's, whom fans will recall are the villains of the series, though this novel shows that not all family members have the same goals.
City of Stars displays the same descriptive strengths as Masks, with Remora visualized in vivid, detailed splendor, though at times while the many twists and turns of the factions in Remora are explained the reader may wish for slightly less detail or complexity.
The plot of Stars, while centered on a lot of political intrigue as in Masks, is more concrete and focused and with the addition of a few characters whose allegiances remain unknown, overall more interesting and compelling, though the book suffers from the same abstractness with regard to the Stravaganti themselves. The plot is also hurt a bit by the book's length, which is overlong by about a 100 pages I'd say--detracting from the suspense and creating a few scenes that bog the reader down while seeming superfluous.
Characters remain a bit thin. As in Masks, females do well, with Georgia a relatively strong character, especially in comparison to Cesare who is not particularly well-developed. Georgia's stepbrother, unfortunately, is a bit cartoonish and her parents may as well not be there (a step back from Masks where Lucien's mother added a great deal of emotional depth). Lucien, Arianna, Rodolfo, and the Duchessa reappear, but not to any real deepening of character, though the concept of the attraction between Arianna and Lucien is highlighted and made more complex by the addition of several near-age characters to themselves (including one who proposes to Arianna). Gaetano, one of the new di Chimici's, is solid, but it would have improved things to get a sense of just why he doesn't necessarily go along with his family's machinations, a sense of development to the point we see him at. The same is true of his brother Falco, who has suffered a crippling accident and hopes to convince Lucien and Georgia to take him into our world where he could be cured. His desire and will to do so is probably the book's strongest plot line and is well-handled throughout, especially the effect of his actions on his family, adding some strong emotional impact into the mix at the end.
Overall, though Stars is a flawed book, it seems an improvement on Masks and would bode well for continued improvement in plot and character for book three.

Rating:
Summary: better than first but still flawed
Review: Middle books in trilogies often suffer the problem of being just a "bridge" work that adds very little to overall plot or characterization within the main storyline. Hoffman manages to avoid this pitfall nicely but making wholesale changes in focus for her sequel to City of Masks. The story still involves travel between our world and Talia, an alternate 16th century Italy, though the specific setting is no longer Belezza (Florence) but Remora, a parallel Sienna about to run it most famous and important horse race. And while Mask characters reappear, the major focus is on several brand new characters: Georgia, a young girl from our world unhappy with her step-brother and overall social situation; Cesare, a young Remoran jockey, and several new di Chimici's, whom fans will recall are the villains of the series, though this novel shows that not all family members have the same goals.
City of Stars displays the same descriptive strengths as Masks, with Remora visualized in vivid, detailed splendor, though at times while the many twists and turns of the factions in Remora are explained the reader may wish for slightly less detail or complexity.
The plot of Stars, while centered on a lot of political intrigue as in Masks, is more concrete and focused and with the addition of a few characters whose allegiances remain unknown, overall more interesting and compelling, though the book suffers from the same abstractness with regard to the Stravaganti themselves. The plot is also hurt a bit by the book's length, which is overlong by about a 100 pages I'd say--detracting from the suspense and creating a few scenes that bog the reader down while seeming superfluous.
Characters remain a bit thin. As in Masks, females do well, with Georgia a relatively strong character, especially in comparison to Cesare who is not particularly well-developed. Georgia's stepbrother, unfortunately, is a bit cartoonish and her parents may as well not be there (a step back from Masks where Lucien's mother added a great deal of emotional depth). Lucien, Arianna, Rodolfo, and the Duchessa reappear, but not to any real deepening of character, though the concept of the attraction between Arianna and Lucien is highlighted and made more complex by the addition of several near-age characters to themselves (including one who proposes to Arianna). Gaetano, one of the new di Chimici's, is solid, but it would have improved things to get a sense of just why he doesn't necessarily go along with his family's machinations, a sense of development to the point we see him at. The same is true of his brother Falco, who has suffered a crippling accident and hopes to convince Lucien and Georgia to take him into our world where he could be cured. His desire and will to do so is probably the book's strongest plot line and is well-handled throughout, especially the effect of his actions on his family, adding some strong emotional impact into the mix at the end.
Overall, though Stars is a flawed book, it seems an improvement on Masks and would bode well for continued improvement in plot and character for book three.

Rating:
Summary: The best book in the world
Review: Stravaganza the city of stars is the best book in the world, as i have already stated above. I had been waiting for this book for months and i could not wait until i got it. It is even better than the first. Georgia one of the main characters of the book first appears as a tomboy. But by the end of the book she has changed, in the book there is: love, romance, friendship, and the befriendment of 2 Di Chimici. Falco, a Di Chimichi prince, became crippled at the age of 11 because of a horsing accident on his brother , Gaetano, and would give up his family to go to the 21 century to be healed. The book has eveything you could want!!! If i were you i would get it!!!

Rating:
Summary: It is a great book!
Review: The City of Stars is a great sequel to a great book. I loved the City of Masks and I couldn't put this one down!
If you haven't read the City of Masks, then that one comes first, but if you have, then this should be your next buy! I won't tell you about it, because other reveiws will do that, but I will tell you that it brings back all the magic and sparkle of the first!

Rating:
Summary: A Compliment of a Sequel
Review: The City of Stars is a great sequel to a great book. I loved the City of Masks and I couldn't put this one down!
If you haven't read the City of Masks, then that one comes first, but if you have, then this should be your next buy! I won't tell you about it, because other reveiws will do that, but I will tell you that it brings back all the magic and sparkle of the first!