Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor

I waited forever to read this book - not sure why - but I'm actually really glad I did because the sequel jut came out, and I'd have been dying if I had to wait around for a year or more for it after reading this one.  Holy camoly was this story good.

It was a little weird, too, I'll say that for it. It's a fantasy, after all.  And I think that's maybe why I shied away a bit.  I'm not a big fantasy fan, as you know, so some of the language and the strange names were hard for me to adjust to.  Honestly, for the first few chapters I as feeling a little lost and I didn't love it.  I liked it, but I wasn't 100% in.  But once I got used to the language, I really, really liked it.  110% in by the end!

I love the way Laini Taylor wove and layered so many levels of the plot together.  It was fascinating to try and figure out how A was related to B was related to C and so on.  And it was VERY complicated.  I'm amazed someone could sit down and come up with all this.  I have no idea how she did it.  I love how the title fits with the story.  I love her word choice.  I love her strong female protagonist.  I love her descriptions.  Did she get to go to Morocco to research this?  I wanna know.

So lucky for me that the next book in the series is out now.  It's called Days of Blood and Starlight, and I am so looking forward to it, although I am worried about Karou and what she'll find!  Here's the cover -  just as gorgeous as the first one was. It was #4 on the New York Times bestseller list last week.  Hurrah for Oregon authors!