Author: Laini Taylor
Release Date: June 5th, 2012
My Rating: 5/5
Holy Crow.
If you have not picked up this book yet, you need to. I was introduced to it through the "booktube" community and am totally glad I fell on it. It is full of mystery, romance, adventure, and fantasy that interplay with each other into a beautiful concoction that is this book.
Laini Taylor has created a world I had never heard of before, which is hard to do considering the amount of books I have read. It is new and exciting and I can't wait to read more about it. However, this book is a little hard to get into. There are so many elements of this world that are not properly defined until about the last quarter of the book. But once you reach that half-way mark, this book blows the mind and you won't be able to put it down.
So, If you haven't read it, read it. Now. Then come back and see my spoiler filled review below the picture!
**SPOILERS**
Okay everyone, down to business.
Oh man, this book. It had me laughing to angry and everything in-between. May I just say, this book may be on my favorites shelf. It was beautifully written, but not in a standard way. It made me think about how things from the past tie in to the present. I also liked the point of views. I'm normally a fan of single POV's, and generally hate having more than one, but in this book, they are split up in a way I like. Whenever it wasn't Karou's POV, it only lasted a couple pages, and I found it to be more interesting having another view of an event.
Karou is probably one of my favorite protagonists now. She is brave, smart, funny, and never weak. She does what she wants and is a total bad-ass. I loved seeing her discover who she is and what she can do. I also loved her relationship with Brimstone, who may also be one of my favorite characters.
Throughout most of the novel, I really didn't like Brimstone. He seemed brooding and scary and I actually thought he was a bad guy. Then, when we start seeing him through Madrigal, he totally changes. He becomes a hero of sorts, who I desperately hope we see again in the second novel.
Akiva. Ah, how I love thee. He's handsome, brave, and still has hope. I loved him and can't wait to see how his and Karou's relationship play out.
I was not a huge fan of how fast Karou and Akiva fall in love. It seemed too fast and cheesy for my taste. However, it makes perfect sense when we reach the last part of the novel. Now I actually understand that they fall in love so fast because they were already in love. Things like this make me love the novel that much more.
Another aspect I loved was when we got to see the story of Madrigal. She is now also one of my favorites, even though she and Karou could technically be compiled into the same character. I loved how Madrigal's events were placed out of order, but they made sense with what was going on in the present. It's hard to get into words, but the timing was simply beautiful.
Laini Taylor, hats off to you. She did a fantastic job with this book and I am now a fan. The plot and the characters were so intricate. She made a world with war in it, but we saw it from both sides. Even though there is a war going on, both sides may not be the bad guy, nor the soldiers fighting in it.
This was a truly beautiful book, and I recommend it to everyone.
Until next time, Keep Reading!
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