It was enjoyable to read something new from Taylor, something outside of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and have it be new and yet familiar. That is how I would describe this read. New world, new characters, new problems and yet Taylors familiar style, her wordiness and lushness and her loves that cannot be and that exist on the same plane of other very big and important problems. If you struggled through Daughter of Smoke and Bone because of it's slow pace, that wordiness, or because of the intensity of the romance, this also will not be for you.

Even I struggled to get into the beginning because this is slow, in a way. It takes a while for the problem to be presented, then a while for us to get to the problem, and once we're in front of the problem, we stop for romance and dreams and kisses. Even while I was enjoying it, I could recognize that pacing wasn't great.

I really loved the world and the problems of this world. Trigger warning for sexual assault and rape. It was something that was also explored in the second book in the DOSAB trilogy, and it was just as raw and heartbreaking here.

I love Lazlo Strange. I love him so very much. He's good, even as he learns that good people do bad things, and he's smart and loves libraries and he's brave and he tries so hard and I love it. Even though we also spent time with Sarai, I don't feel like I got to know her the way I got to know Lazlo.

The ending was heartbreaking. I kind of hoped it would end the way that it did, but even as it did, I saw the way it could all go awry. So, it was both satisfying and horrible to have it be just so.

I should've probably know this was a series because duh, of course it is, but grumble grumble. A very cliffhanger cliffhanger means we all have to wait for a long time for satisfaction.