Stravaganza: City of Swords Hardcover – August 21, 2012

I started reading this series years ago, and have eagerly awaited each new book, and was very excited when I learned the date that this book was coming out (and on Kindle! Practically no delivery time!).I finished it in two days, and re-read it at a more relaxed pace. I was a little disappointed in this novel, like the other reviewers, I felt that Laura was a little under-developed. I was pretty unhappy that in this novel, the newest Stravagating girl didn't get the chance to discover the world on her own, we didn't get to see Fortezza through her exploratory eyes, and that was one of the things I had loved most about the previous novels; a new world to discover via their own personalities.The Romance portion left me feeling... nothing. Scenes between the lovers were cut short... we were told about the romance, instead of getting to experience it with Laura. Because of that, I didn't feel like there WAS any romance, there was no development of love, just surprise, they're in love, and it's crucial to the plot. I also felt like her lover, the one who started the war, was out of character in starting the war. The author wrote that he was sad about starting a war, but I didn't really see it in him at all. We were being told, not shown, again.As other reviewers have said, each of the teenagers who were chosen for Stravagating had some kind of problem; family, bully, dyslexia, cancer, ect, and while Laura's problem was probably the most... dramatic, I suppose, and the author handled it very well, the underlying issue, what made Laura so unhappy and depressed, was hardly touched upon! Once again, it fell flat and felt underdeveloped. Tada, here's her problem, and it's all better now! No spoilers, but I would have loved an emotional family moment with Laura's whole family, that, to me, would have felt like a conclusion to Laura's unhappiness.Overall though, the book was wrapped up nicely, and each of the previous characters had a pretty happy ending. Hoffman stayed true to everyone else in the story, and even threw in a few extra little moments with minor characters that we've grown to care for, like Mr. Goldsmith! I just would have loved a little more out of the main characters.

Good, but not as centered as the previous books. Also, frankly, there's a cliffhanger and no indication that sequels are in process. That said, I adore Mary Hoffman, and this is still quite a good book.

I have read each book in the series and I must say I love this one in particular. The issue the book dealt with are becoming a big problem amoung young adults and I felt the author addressed these issues appropriately. This book like the others has adventure and excitement and I'm looking forward to what the author has in mind for the book

Excellent sequel to the first five books in this series. I didn't want it to end. I recommend it to all my friends including my teenagers. I appreciate the modesty that the author uses when describing girl/boy relationships.

This was a great book that summed up a lot of questions and laid to rest many problems. But the ending did leave me wanting more and wondering what happened after it was all done.

With a new lead character and new city, City of Swords continues the Stravaganza saga from where we left off. All the old characters are included, so there is something for everyone.

I love the adventure and magic in this series. I love that there are so many characters and how each has their own background story.

This was a disappointment. It got muddled.

I've been reading the Stravaganza series since the second book came out. It easily comes down as one of my favourite fantasy series. However, this latest book was unfortunately disappointing.In previous books Hoffman spent a good deal of time setting up the main character. We found out why the character was chosen and some time was spent on the character exploring Talia before finding others Stravagante from the modern world. In this book this was barely covered. Within the first few pages Hoffman stated what is wrong with Laura with little development or time going over it. It was pretty much a page explaning that Laura is depressed and self-harms. Then within a few pages later the other modern Stravagante immediately worked out Laura was the new stravagante and confronted her about it BEFORE she travelled to Talia. It seemed that Laura just accepted that what her friends were telling her was true and she just went along with it without questioning.Hoffman also does not put much detail in the romance between Laura and the guy who starts the civil war. There was no development on it at all. It was just stated that they were in love. Also the guy who starts the civil war is a bit contradictory. He seems to not want a war to start but at the same time he seems all for it.The issues I had with it, that I have just outlined above, was that it lacked detail and development. The whole story felt rushed and the characters a bit bland. It's ashame because I know Hoffman can write so much better than this! I loved the previous books, you could explore the world of Talia with the central character and really get engrossed with the story. With this book, however, it was lacking that magic.I hope Hoffman's next book is a lot better than this one. At the moment she seems to be writing them for the sake of it not because she really wants to. I feel it has significantly effected her quality of writing.

If you liked the previous Stavaganza books, you should give this a shot, like I did.The past couple of books in the series, in my opinion, haven't been as good as the earlier ones, but I like the characters and the setting so I bought this book.Straight away I felt it was rushed and exaggerated, with the author trying hard to keep things interesting but just going too far and making quite ridiculous plot jumps.I still love the setting and some of the characters, but I feel that the newer books are more about just furthering the action and less about making the characters relatable or going a bit more in depth in any aspects.I think that the author is just trying to keep the series going for as long as possible, and it's not working out for the best.I'll always have a soft spot for the Stravaganza books, but I really don't know if I'd buy the next ones, if there are going to be any.

This book follows on in the Stravaganza series, bringing in a new stravagante. As with all these novels the plot twists to it's inevitable happy conclusion. The only criticism I have of these novels is that they are a bit safe. The hero never dies!

have bought the series and this is a great book / series. I can't wait for the next one. service from vendor was very very good.

I enjoy all the Stravaganza series books. This one has a lot of action and intrigue.Although it is supposedly meant for youngsters, an adult can have a good time reading it.