Untamed City

Untamed City #0.5, 1

by Melissa Marr

Warriors Kaleb and Aya will stop at nothing to destroy their competition.

But when Kaleb, a prizefighter from the otherworldly Untamed City, finds his fate entwined with that of Mallory, a seventeen-year-old human girl, he can’t seem to separate the vicious Carnival contest he’s entered from his sudden—and obsessive—devotion to her.

All Mallory knows of the Untamed City is what her elders have told her—that it’s full of debauchery and daimons looking to destroy her. But she knows she’s being pulled toward Kaleb with an emotion so fierce that it’s utterly foreign.

The two are forced apart by Mallory’s overprotective witch father, but when the City’s ruler raises the stakes of the Carnival’s prize, there’s nothing Mallory, Kaleb, or Aya can do to stop the two worlds from colliding. Mallory’s about to discover her true identity—and stumble into a fate she’d die to avoid.

From the bestselling author of Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr, comes a tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny—told for the first time alongside the revealing prequel Carnival of Lies.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Demons, Witches, Fiction, Romance

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2015

About the author

Melissa Marr writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and been bestsellers in the US (NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal) as well as overseas. Wicked Lovely, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and evolved into an internationally bestselling multi-book series with a myriad of accolades.

In 2024 she released a queer fantasy (Remedial Magic via Bramble), a picturebook about a wee one and his two moms (Family is Family via Penguin), and a DC Comics graphic novel about teen Harley & Ivy (The Strange Adventures of Harleen & Harley).

An Illumicrate edition of 6 Wicked Lovely books will release in 2025.

If she's not writing, you can find her in a kayak or on a trail with her wife.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

soooo, is there going to be a sequel or what?

[Rebecca Morelock · Rating 4 out of 5]

so many questions left unanswered and I just found out a sequel has not been in the works 😳 I was so hooked, too. I need more!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked The Wicked Lovely series much more, but this was good up until the end. Is there going to be a sequel? Because what it can't just leave you like that.

The prequel was good because it gave more background to Belias and Aya. So when she does what she does to him it hits harder.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnival of Secrets with the prequel sneak peak release Carnival of Lies (formerly known as Carnival of Souls). I re-read again recently and it was just as good the second time around. Still hoping for the much anticipated sequel!
Melissa Marr creates another new world, this one with witches and daemons and a parallel plane of existence known as "the City." She is a master at creating worlds with complete characters that each have their own unique voice, while weaving their intriguing tales and leaving you wanting more.

[Meisa Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really intresting. I hope there will be another book so I can find out what happens to them when they all return to The City. I really need to find out!

[Kytten · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, I don't like the patriarchal society very much.

[Delta · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was terribly lost with this book. It's my own fault for not reading the Carnival of Secrets first, but I feel like it should have been able to stand on its own.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

see Carnival of Secrets

[Elizabeth Sweeney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um so sequel? Cause wtf happens...