Liza, our MC, finds a home in the Bacchanal traveling carnival by using a gift she doesn't understand or control. Forced to master this power if she wants to keep her place in the carnival, she must learn first about herself and her roots to have a shot at understanding her purpose.

Through this process, plus interacting with other members and witnessing disturbing things happening around her, Liza learns to let go, to rise up and to lean on her strengths when everything else seems uncertain.

There were many characters to meet and individual stories to be told before getting the full picture of the Bacchanal circus, the evil that lurked in its midst, and where the story was going.

By the time all the moving pieces were introduced, I'm afraid there was very little time left for the climax to offer a fully gratifying ending.

I'm not much of a fan of big casts of characters and very slowly unfolding stories, so on a very personal level, the pacing wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

Overall, the execution wasn't great imo, but it remains a good story to explore the power that comes from hanging on to one's roots, inner strength and spirituality.

This story raised a lot of questions, answered very few, but still managed to make the experience satisfying. Area X remains a mystery to me even after finishing this book. And yet, I feel somewhat settled staying with the unknown.