Review: 'Stravaganza: City of Swords' by Mary Hoffman

Title: Stravaganza: City of Swords 
Author: Mary Hoffman 
Genre: YA, Juvi, fantasy, coming of age, friendship, 6th in series 
Star Rating: 3/5 stars 

 Borrowed from Goodreads, "Desperately unhappy, Laura has resorted to secretly self-harming. But Laura is a Stravagante, somebody who can travel in time and space. When she finds her talisman, a small silver dagger, she stravagates with it to sixteenth-century Fortezza, a town similar to Lucca in Italy, where she meets her Stravagante, who is a swordsmith. But Laura also meets the charming and attractive Ludo, and falls for him. Their love for each other is tested when Ludo lays claim to the crown of Fortezza, and Laura finds herself fighting on the side of the Stravaganti opposing him." 

'City of Swords', what to say... Let me start with this: I really do love the Stravaganza series as a whole. Everything from the characters to the settings to the overall concept-- I love it. 'City of Swords' is the sixth and final book in this under appreciated series by Mary Hoffman. I'll miss jumping into Talia with the Stravaganti for many reasons, most of all because every time I opened a Stravaganza book, it felt like I was back in Italy!

On to 'City of Swords'... Is it my favorite of the series? No. Is it as engaging and entertaining as other Stravaganza books? No. Is it a good read for those who have read the books before it? Yes. Is it a fitting close to a fantastic series? Minus a few loose ends, I think so. The writing style used in '...Swords' seemed different to me than the books before it.

The downsides of the novel? The majority of the story was spent in the real world, rather than Talia. Also, we learned what was going on through long paragraphs of explanation, as opposed to seeing the action or learning it through dialogue. I didn't find Laura's character to be as fleshed out as the rest and her story, strangely enough, didn't hold as much as importance as I would have expected. The romance was between Laura and a certain someone was a nice addition to the story, but we, as readers, didn't get to see it develop enough to care as much as we should about it, I think.

Besides those concerns (that mostly had to do with Laura's plotline), I loved the interaction between the past stravaganti and loved, loved, loved everything that had to do with Luciano! His parts made me smile! Do I wish this had been a more solid read? Of course. However, I'm glad I've taken these trips to Talia, seeing such wonderful places and meeting fun, interesting characters. While the future of the series is uncertain at the moment, one thing is for sure; I'll truly miss following new Stavaganti into the beautiful cities of Talia.

'City of Swords' Has a Cover!

Finally, a cover and release date for 'City of Swords', the sixth book in Mary Hoffmans' Stravaganza series.  The last book in the series hit store shelves back in 2010, so you can imagine why I'm so excited about this!

According to Goodreads, "Desperately unhappy, Laura has resorted to secretly self-harming. But Laura is a Stravagante, somebody who can travel in time and space. When she finds her talisman, a small silver dagger, she stravagates with it to sixteenth-century Fortezza, a town similar to Lucca in Italy, where she meets her Stravagante, who is a swordsmith. But Laura also meets the charming and attractive Ludo, and falls for him. Their love for each other is tested when Ludo lays claim to the crown of Fortezza, and Laura finds herself fighting on the side of the Stravaganti opposing him."


'City of Swords' has a release date of August 21, 2012.  (And I, for one, can't wait!!!!)

Forever Favorites Review: Mary Hoffmans 'Stravaganza' series

Title/Series: Stravaganza series (titles of books in post)
Author: Mary Hoffman
Genre: YA, fantasy, romance (more innocent than most ya books)
Perfect for: everyone?  I love this series too much to not recommend it to readers of ya fantasy who love to travel to new places in their books and are looking for a series that touches on some great points about friendship, confidence, and other good things like that.  :-)
Star Rating: 5/5 stars

Taken from Goodreads, here is a description of the first novel in this series. "Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy."


I studied in Florence, Italy for a month. It was a great month. During that month, I got to call Florence my home, the grand duomo's and tiny side streets my backyard. I saw sculptures from famous sculpters every day without even meaning to. I won't be able to afford to go back there any time soon, but thanks to Mary Hoffman, all I have to do to re-live the beautiful country is to open one of her books.


Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series is one of those series that should have more of a following that it does. It should have a legion of fans like popular series Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. And you know what? I think it will one day. It's hard for me to review this series book by book, especially in the case of 'City of Masks'. So much has happened since then and I've loved the stories so much that writing about one chapter of their lives is hard! (It's like watching Star Wars: A New Hope and trying to not think it's weird when Leia kisses Luke "for luck". I can't help but think about the big brother/sister reveal in 'Return of the Jedi'!)  Anyways, back on topic...


The basic premise of the series is simple-- each book features a teenager that needs help, even if they don't know it. In Lucien's case, he's suffering from cancer. Pretty much bed ridden, he falls asleep holding a Italian made journal and wakes up in 'Talia', an alternate version of Renaissance Italy. From then on, his life is never the same again. Each book takes place in an alternate version of another Italian city. From experience, I can say that Hoffman does a great job at capturing the essence of Italy and each town covered in these novels.


One of my favorite bits about this series is that while each book has a new main character, the characters from past books are quite present. Also, Hoffman's stories have a good mix of character development, action sequences, and even some cute romances.


All I can say is read this series! It is filled witty characters that you'll grow to love, an Italian setting that is written brilliantly, and stories that are not only about saving the day or finding a soul mate, but also learning more about yourself and understanding that the smallest, most insignificant talent can help in the long run.


This series is available in hardcover (limited) and paperback. The first trilogy is comprised of: 'City of Masks', 'City of Stars', and 'City of Flowers'. The second trilogy is comprised of 'City of Secrets', 'City of Ships', and the 2012 release (too far away!!!!) 'City of Swords'.