City of Secrets. Mary Hoffman

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!

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, Ma

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.

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

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.