As you know (very well by now) the blogosphere threatened me with small sharp objects if I didn’t read Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

I didn’t want to.

There are serious (yet understandable) reasons for this, as in:

a) It’s really big. I mean huge. I get scared of big books. It’s a lot of commitment if the book is horrible!
b) I originally confused it with Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo so actually I thought I HAD read it. My bad. But come on! Those names are too similar!
c) I don’t like to be confused, and fantasies often confuse me…hence I don’t read them a lot.
d) I wanted to be obnoxious and just not read it. I’m a younger sibling. I specifically don’t do things because I’m told to do them. Cantankerous? Only occasionally. 

But I decided it was time to be brave and fearless and somewhat Dauntless, and just borrow it from the library. 

I seriously wish I owned it now. How’s that for irony?

I absolutely adored this book! And now I feel silly for putting it off for so long. I’ve even reserved book #2 (Days of Blood and Starlight) from the library already. I never ever do that! I usually read the first book in a trilogy and wander away from months, maybe years, and by then my bookish amnesia has set in and I don’t remember what book #1 was about. IT IS A QUANDARY. I really love that word quandary by the way. If you’ve not yet used it in everyday conversation, you’re missing out. Just do it. Feel liberated. 

I could give you a list of reasons I loved this book…but I’ve decided to take you on a journey. A gif journey. Of my reactions whilst I read it.

Oh please! Don’t thank me. I do this for you. HA. Just kidding. I love gifs. I do this for me.  Although you can read my review on Goodreads if you feel so inspired.

A Journey (with gifs of course) Through Cait’s Reactions to Daughter of Smokiness

I began as most people do when starting a highly anticipated and super-hyped book…

Although, to be honest…I had a suspicion that if I DID like it…I would most likely go Intense Fangirl Mode.

Chapter 1 went by and I was vaguely impressed. 

I ate a bit more and discovered the book was about MONSTERS. YAY!

The tension was phenomenal and I was so badly hooked I didn’t even talk to humans. I just read.

Then I began the second half of the book. Something happened. Something not good.

It changed pace. Almost changed style. It was a massive rewind to explain the beginning of the book, which was handy because I wanted the answers. But honestly? My interest dropped off.

It was less about family monsters and more about secret lovers.

Not that I have anything against love-stories, but the beginning wasn’t about that. I wanted answers about Elsewhere and monsters and angels and TEETH. (The book features teeth quite heavily. I hate teeth. I have a dentist phobia. But I digress.)

I felt complacent about the last 40%. Which really surprised me.

But then: THE ENDING. What can I say?

Although I pretty much impersonated Darth Vader, because A Secret was spilt that changed everything and everyone and burned my ships and crushed my soul (like a grape) and crunched my feels.

Then I was finished. And dazed. And wowed. I felt inspired to be a better writer. I felt inspired by…by…the detailed and vivid world building.

And then? Pfft. You know what happened. I was all over twitter and goodreads.

The long and short of it is…I absolutely enjoyed Daughter of Smokiness.

It didn’t hold my heart in the middle, but the characters were vivid and the world was so intense and detailed, and the dialogue was sassy and witty. I really don’t ask for a book to be more. It gets 5-stars from me.

You can say “I told you so”. You have permission.

Cait received a box of 5 ARCs in one day. This is slightly daunting. Therefore she’s been reading like a fiend (well, a fiender fiend) in order to a) not feel so overwhelmed, and b) keep her TBR from falling on her and kill her and c) have things neatly under control so she can, maybe, write another book herself. She’s tossing between typing about dragons or killer fairies. OH. Decisions. She just finished reading THE PROTECTED by Claire Zorn.