Upon finishing this book, I realized 3 things: 
 1. This book just made it to my list of all-time faves. 
 2. Marie Brennan could possibly be one of my all-time favorite authors (will need to read another book, though, to fix her in place) 
 3. OH F*CK, THIS IS A SERIES AND I'M BUYING IT ALL RIGHT NOW! *heads over to Bookwitty.com and buys all 4 other books* 
 Marie Brennan gave me the perfect dose of fantasy, dragons, and science to soothe my hungry soul. After finding out she has an undergrad degree in Archeology and Folklore, and a grad degree in Anthropology and Folklore, my respect for her grew tenfold, instantaneously. She is a woman of science with an extremely wide imagination, and she has used her education to build such a realistic new world. 
 Brenan has woven this alternate universe that is identical to our world... except for the existence of dragons. The MC, Isabella, was born and raised in Scirland - very much the equivalent of our England - in what seems to be an equivalent era of late the 1800s - early 1900s in our universe. Since a very young age, Isabella had an interest in science, which almost lead her mother to an early grave on several occasions. And while she was urged to suppress this love as no man would ever marry her, the story unfolds to show us that no true passion can ever be suppressed for far too long. 
 I won't discuss any parts of the story - because, really, you just need to read it yourself - but this book almost made me forget for a second that it is not, in fact, a true memoir. Brennan's narration is so true to life and realistic, her MC is so relatable, and the story is so properly scientific - as it should be for a scientist's memoir - that you are often conflicted between thoughts that go "Why, oh why, is this not true?" and "Is this honestly not true?!" 
 I'm just going to cut my rant short and ask you to, please, read this. 
 If you have a minor not-so-minor obsession with dragons like I do. 
 If you're a fantasy lover like I am. 
 If you're looking a refreshing new book that is like nothing you've encountered before. 
 Pick. 
 It. 
 Up. 
 You won't regret it. 
 ... and now I wait a month for my 4 other books to arrive.