"I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen it." 
 "Seen what?" 
 Her smile widened. "Everything." 
 This was a good book. A really, really fucking good book. So: 
 Some elements (heh) of this seemed familiar - The Golden Compass, anybody? The Gentleman Bastard sequence? Still, I would hesitate to call it "a perfect mix of this and that" or even draw parallels because what V. E. Schwab does is wonderfully unique. I mean, entertaining characters are pretty common. Strange and amazing places? Compelling writing style? Yep, seen it all before. But there's this Schwab touch that transforms it into something more. (I swear I'm not high right now.) I'll be definitely getting my hands on other books by her!