Customer Reviews

Stravaganza City of Secrets

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With all the hundreds of young adult fiction books that are published each year, Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza books still remain my all-time favorite series since I picked up the first installment seven years ago. City of Secrets continues to carry over a high standard mix of quality writing, fabulous characters and thickened multi-layered plots. One warning about this episode, it is not a stand alone story. One must read all three other novels before starting the City of Secrets. Without first reading City of Masks, City of Stars, and City of Flowers, you will be totally clueless and will not understand who is who and what is happening. There are many, many references in this book to events and characters in the previous novels that are key to this story's unfolding. The author has clearly put many years and incredible effort into creating her world of Talia, an alternate world of Italy in the 1500's. Each book is about a different character in a different city state of Talia, cities that correlate to real places we have in Italy today such as Venice, Florence, Siena and Padua. The period detail that Mary Hoffman gives to this series of a glamorous Renaissance Italian world is incredible. Every page a work of art as the reader is totally transported out of the room they are reading in, far away to Talia. The writing is totally evocative of the whole culture in Italy at that time, rich in wealth, and steeped in romance, art, religion and history. These stories are so full of adventure, and are enchanting and exciting.

The series is about a group of teenagers in London who all happen to meander into an antique shop. Each picking out a trinket to take home. These selected items become their Talismans in which when the teens fall asleep with them, they are transported to the world of Talia. When they arrive, they are found and informed that they are chosen members of a selected secret society called Stravagantes. Stravagantes can travel back and forth, with their Talismans, alternating from modern day England to this Italian Renaissance world. Stravagating, as explained in book one, was accidently invented by one Dottore Dethridge, an Elizabethan alchemist, who early in the series adopts the main character of all the books, Lucien, or Luciano, as his foster son, a cavalier being groomed to be the future Duke of Belezza.

Book four, City of Secrets introduces a new Stravagante, young Matt or Matteo, who is given a book token as a birthday gift from his aunt. Matteo doesn't care much for words, writing or reading, for he is dyslexic and finds reading nearly impossible. But when he stumbles into Mr. Mortimer's antique shop, for some reason he is fascinated by an antiquarian leather bound book in Latin and takes it home as a cool novelty. Little does he know that after he falls fast asleep, he will enter the city of Padavia of Talia. And in Talia, as is a normal occurence, any afflictions one has in England is corrected in the new world. So in Talia, Matteo can read just fine making it hard to return to a world where he is insecure and dysfunctional. Each Stravagante is brought to Talia for a purpose, consistanty so far, to help the main character Luciano in his fight against the evil family, the de Chimici. This series is a hard one to review, its so very difficult to explain, due to the fact that there are numerous characters all coming and going and many plots with subplots intertwining from one book to the other. It is almost easier to review the series as a whole, rather than each book individually.

All the previous Stravagantes, Luciano, Georgia, Nick and Sky, show up in this latest novel to assist Matteo in his goal to help Luciano fight the de Chimici who are now instruments of the church, dictating that those who no longer follow the church and continue to follow pagan faiths, will be arrested and burned at the stake. In the other three previous stories we meet the nomad group of Gypsies called the Manoush, friends to the Stravagantes and Royal families of Talia. The Manoush have their own pagan ceremonies and rites and celebrate feast days to honor the goddess of Belezza. With the new laws, now they are thrown up against the wall, warned that if they do not stop their heathen ways, they will be imprisoned, and put to death. So with this new threat to the city states of Talia, installed by a de Chimici Cardinal, Luciano, Matteo, and all the other players must once again combat this fearful enemy, and rush to save their friends the Manoush with all the ingenuity, strength and Stravagating magic they can muster up as a team.

With an ongoing slow-building romance, non-stop action, mystery upon mystery, and plenty of espionage and court intrigue, the pace never ceases. With the ending of each book the Stravaganza fans give a standing ovation, and plead for more. And as of yesterday, after corresponding with the author, I find joyfully there are at least two more books coming, and this girl can't wait!

This is the fourth book in Mary Hoffman's "Stravaganza" series, but by this stage they're wearing a little thin. They're still very well written, but the freshness and originality of the first couple of books are long gone and what's left is just formulaic.

The concept itself is great and somewhat reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia, in which a select group of young adults chance across talismans that allow them to travel in their sleep to the world of Talia. This alternative version of Renaissance Italy and its cities allows the protagonists (known as Stravaganti) to experience a sense of freedom and to gain the strength and skills they need with which to face the difficulties in their everyday lives. Each book introduces a new Stravagante (both from this world and from Talia) and is set in a new city (in this case Padavia, an alternative Padua).

But where previous books used this setup to good effect, by "City of Secrets", it just feels stale. Lucien was a great protagonist, as was Georgia. Sky was a little bland, but Matt is just plain boring. Where the first two characters had to deal with a terminal illness and a sadistic step-brother, Matt's only obstacle is dyslexia and his subsequent insecurity about his girlfriend Ayesha. Now, dyslexia is a perfectly viable difficulty for a character (or indeed, a real-life person) to have; the only problem is that it barely makes it into the story. Ayesha is never developed properly as a character, leaving the reader indifferent as whether her relationship with Matt is worth worrying about, and though it's revealed that Matt's dyslexia disappears whenever he's in Talia, this never has any bearing on the plot. He finally comes to terms with his dyslexia at the end of the story, in a near-perfect case of telling-not-showing.

Things are more interesting in Talia where the Stravagante of the previous books are forced to deal with the perpetual threat of the di Chimici family, despite the death of their patriarch in City of Flowers. A warrant is out for Luciano's arrest after Niccolo di Chimici's suspicious death, and the Duchessa Arianna is constantly risking her safety by visiting her fiancé in secret. The two young lovers have been separated by Luciano's desire to attend the University of Padavia, but they find an unexpected ally in the form of Enrico Poggi, a former-spy of the di Chimici who now has his own score to settle.

When Matt begins to stravagate into Padavia's Scriptorium he is thrown headfirst into this intrigue, particularly when the current heads of the di Chimici family realize that he too is a Stravagante. Desperate to learn the secrets of the brotherhood, they send out their network of spies at the same time they begin to enforce new anti-magical laws that are designed specifically to target the Stravaganti. The book also includes the persecution of a group of goddess-worshipers, Matt putting the evil eye on a school rival, the kidnapping of two major characters, and the threat of a fire in the city. It's all written in an episodic manner, leading to rather choppy pacing in which one crisis is resolved only for another to arise directly afterwards. It tends to kill the suspense rather than build up to a satisfying climax.

The di Chimicis make for interesting villains, for though some are certainly worse than others, none of them are wholly evil. Likewise, they have understandable reasons for being suspicious of the Stravaganti given their dealings with each other in the past. Even though the major nemesis of the Stravaganti is no longer among them, it would seem that his son Duke Fabrizio seems as though he'll match his father in cunning and ruthlessness, all the more so because he truly believes himself to be in the right.

Finally, the city of Padavia simply isn't as vivid or interesting as Bellezza, Remora or Giglia. Reading the afterword that Mary Hoffman provides, she reveals that Padavia is the most different from its Italian counterpart, perhaps leading to the lack of detail and color that was so prevalent in the previous books. Places like the university and the anatomical theatre seem to have been included mainly because of famous existing buildings in Padua, and don't seem quite as well integrated in the plot.

I still enjoy and recommend the Stravaganza books, but they're certainly weakening as the series goes on. The formula of introducing a new protagonist and city for each new book means that the dizzying array of characters is difficult to keep track of (needless to say, you'll be lost if you start the series here instead of with City Of Masks) and though the deepening circles of intrigue and espionage are well-plotted and certainly interesting, they don't quite seem to go anywhere. It's as if Hoffman has a plan in place, but that this particular installment is just filler before we get to the really good stuff - and I hope it gets here soon.

It is not as well written and there are a lot more hanging subplots at the end, but this book is still worth the read. (It is difficult to persuade a fan of the series to say otherwise.) I would recommend reading its 3 predecessors first, nevertheless, because "Secrets" can become a bit tough to follow with its ginormous and overgrowing cast.

I found the first Stravaganza book in a used bookstore. Since then I've continued to order the rest of them through Amazon. I love them! Having been to Italy and also love Time Travel books, these novels have really been a great find.

You can read this book on its own, but it will enhance your experience with the series if you do start at the first book. Each book takes place in a sort of 'alternate history' town of Italy. Bellezza is Venice, Padavia is Padua. The de Chimici family may closely resemble the de Medici family in certain aspects. Ms. Hoffman definitely weaves together great characters with beautiful locations. All her characters have richly developed personas and individual issues that traveling to "Talia" helps them with when they return back to their daily life. As the book series goes on, past characters show up along the way to help the new Stravagante learn the ropes of being in Tala. I enjoy having the same characters revisit and also continue their own story through the new installments of this series.

Bottom line is I'm an adult and I throughly enjoyed this series. Great for young adults (both guys and girls will enjoy these stories) and adults. I highly recommend these novels.

Ugh. After picking up five exciting books from the library, this was the one I got around to first, because City of Flowers (its immediate predecessor) ended so suspensefully. If City of Flowers was something of a disappointment compared to City of Masks and City of Stars (which remain some of my favorite books of all time, especially Masks!), then City of Secrets was a mega-disappointment.

I could spend thousands of words criticizing this book: The writing didn't flow, characters weren't developed very well, Hoffman didn't spend any time exploring the city of Padavia (a.k.a. this world's Padua)...you get the picture. The no-exploration thing probably got my goat the most, because having never been to Italy, these books are kind of like a free, exciting plane ticket. But this one spent way too much time on Matt's insecurities (Ayesha, anyone? Yuck!)

Another problem I had with it was my long-abiding love of Lucien Mulholland. I adore Lucien Mulholland. Or Luciano, or whatever the heck you call him. Ditto for Arianna. So even in City of Stars I was a little disappointed that she started introducing new characters with Georgia and Alice, and in City of Flowers, even more so with Sky and Falco. They took time away from the characters I really enjoyed hearing about, even though all four had grown on me by the end of their respective novels. With the intro of Matt and Ayesha, though, it just started getting ridiculous and watered-down. Pretty much very page Luciano and Arianna weren't on was ridiculously boring.

Last complaint? Luciano and Arianna, WOULD YOU TWO JUST GET MARRIED, ALREADY? Sheesh. I was really crossing my fingers in this one for a big, fancy, old-school Bellezzan party with lots of Duchessa excess, but unfortunately, it just wasn't so. I will continue to cross my fingers and pray that I'll get my wish in a sequel, but if Mary Hoffman introduces yet another Stravagante with annoying problems I DON'T CARE ABOUT, I will scream. Watch me.

This whole series is absolutely amazing! From the moment I started to read City of Masks, I was addicted. This series is about teenagers who can travel through time and space. This book is for everyone: teens, adults, etc. But, you MUST read the first three books (City of Masks, City of Stars, City of Flowers) first to understand City of Secrets. There are so many references to events in previous books. This book has changed my view on many things, and it's full of action, mystery, romance, and a lot more! This book is just amazing!

If you approach City of Secrets less as an individual story, but more as one piece of the Stravaganza story, you will find that it is a fine, exciting read. That said, I can hardly imagine reading this without reading the earlier books in the series first. It just wouldn't make sense. Fans of the series should love it. My only quibble is that the constant addition of new characters in every installment tends to distract from the story of Luciano and Arianna which is really central to the story. Also, I'd rather the story spend a little more time in Talia and a less time in modern London. Still, I really enjoyed the story, especially the plot against Luciano and how Matt discovers why he is destined to be in Talia. At the end I wished I could just move on the the next book in the series. I really want to know what will happen next.

Gold Star Award Winner!

CITY OF SECRETS is the fourth installment in Mary Hoffman's STRAVAGANZA series.

Matt is a normal English seventeen-year-old, until a book he got for his birthday takes him on the journey of his life -- to another world. Talia is similar to Italy, but is a few hundred years in the past from the 21st century.

On his journey, Matt meets Luciano, an old Stravagante who now permanently lives in Talia after having died in London. With Luciano, his foster father Docter Dethridge, a few other Stravagante, and many friends, Matt embarks on a journey of a lifetime. He finds himself being kidnapped, freeing convicts, and trying to pass his driver's exam!

Ms. Hoffman writes an enchanting tale that takes the reader to another world. The fast-paced novel is truly enticing and recommended to all ages. While the non-English reader might be confused by some of the references, there aren't too many that will defer the reader from the main task -- trying to find out what happens next.

This is an excellent addition to the series, with the ending leaving room for even more books.

Reviewed by: Steph

I thought that this book was all together worth reading, but was not as satisfying as the first three.