war. 
 just... war. 
 i have read plenty of books about war before. fiction, yeah, but fiction about wars that actually happened: conflicts in europe, america, africa... but i have never read another book that did what this one did for me - i have never felt the horror of war as much as i felt in this one. and that's a little messed-up, right? that it would take a YA fantasy novel about imaginary battles between imaginary beings to bring the horrors of war and genocide into my emotional sphere? 
 in my defense, when i read or watch movies, it's like this asperger's cloak descends upon me, and i never really get emotionally invested, and usually it sucks because i don't get scared at books, and i don't get that nice cathartic crying-response that a lot of people do when they read. so it is usually unfortunate. 
 but here, i really felt something. i didn't cry or anything, but i frequently felt nauseous,angry, and so frustrated that i just wanted it to stop. not the book, just the bloodshed and the revenge and the political decisions that kept leading to such horrifying acts. 
 it's really powerful stuff, particularly for YA. but that's kind of what laini taylor does. she writes these incredibly sophisticated worlds with remarkable characters, and an incredibly subtle fantasy world. and in Daughter of Smoke & Bone she did the impossible for me in that she made me care about the romance angle of it, when usually i am reading these YA books and kind of enduring the heavy stares and kissing to get back to the action. 
 this one? there was so much horrifying action, i think i was probably praying for a kiss or two to relieve it. but no! no kisses for you, karen/karou! 
 that is not to say it is all one prolonged desperate howl. there is comic relief, and zuzana and mik provide a couple of kisses to remind the reader of the kinds of things that will be lost if this war continues. 
 and oh god, it continues. 
 i feel like i could write pages and pages about this book, but i also feel like a lot of it is better kept inside of me, and for you to discover for yourself. which is something of a cop-out, i understand, but if you read the first one, you are probably going to be compelled to read the second one. after that, it's all on you. do not be expecting any of the sweetness and light of the first book - this is a different and much darker story. this is fear and vengeance and emotional scouring and survivor's guilt. consider yourself warned, but don't stay away on those grounds, because the experience of reading this book is a very important one, and it has left me a little shaken, and that's worth a million love stories. 
 the projected date for the third part?? 
 2014. 
 you have got to be kidding me.