I picked this book up after hearing SO. MUCH. ABOUT. IT. It seemed like everybody was talking about it...so I read it.
And, yeah - it's pretty darn good.
[I'm feeling a bit lazy at the moment and I may be writing this review while I'm at work...so I'm not going to recap it. Hope you don't mind? Check out the blurb on Goodreads for a quick spoiler-free synopsis.]
What did I like about this book? Taylor's writing style is great - it paints such a vivid picture of the world/chimaera/angels/etc. The characters were fairly intriguing too - Karou seemed to be an old soul in a teenager's body which, as I continued reading, definitely fit with where Taylor was taking Karou's character. The worldbuilding is excellent as well - definitely a unique world with a unique story concept.
What did I not like about the book? I didn't like the character point of view switch later in the book. I liked learning about Madrigal, however, I found jumping into Madrigal's story like that to be jarring and a little confusing for a stretch. I also didn't like Akiva's character.....no real reason as to why - he just didn't resonate with me like Karou and some of the other characters did.
I think 3.5-4.0 gnomes would be pretty accurate, so I'll round it up and give it a full 4.0 gnomes. I do have a confession - I almost didn't pick up the second book in the series because I ended with the feeling of "yeah, it was good...but was it good enough to read #2?" Well....I ended up seeing #2 and picked it up on a whim and I am SO GLAD I DID. I reviewed #2 as well so check it out if you're interested, but point is - keep reading the series. Taylor is taking this story someplace pretty stinkin' awesome.