Daughter of Smoke & Bone

When I think of Paranormal YA, I think of vampires. And when I first tried to read Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone, the first chapter opens as if it is about vampires. So I instantly put it away, because that is just not my thing.

But everyone is talking about this series, about how amaaaaaazing it is. Booktown has it as part of her bookclub. And because of that, it’s listed as part of the Trees of Reverie Readathon challenge. So fine. I’ll give it another shot.

And then, after that first chapter, I realized this book isn’t about vampires AT ALLLLLL. It’s about supernatural powers at war with each other–chimera and seraphs. Taylor has built a totally intense world that you can’t wait to delve into. It’s fantastic. I’ve already put the other two books on hold because I need more of it.

There’s a point in the middle of the book, where everything just STOPS. And I don’t mean it gets boring. I mean, the world around you slows down, and time stops, and the anticipation is so enormous that I felt two things simultaneously:

1. I needed to keep reading IMMEDIATELY

2. I had to take a break and check Tumblr and breathe for a minute because the anticipation was SO intense that I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest.

When an author can make a chapter one sentence on one page, and make you feel like you’re going to have a heart attack and stand up and scream, you know this is a breathtaking book.