5 Words: Family, magic, love, betrayal, hope. 
 Despite being a fantasy, I loved the aspects of realism. It made the story so much more immersive, I was more readily able to suspend disbelief and just get lost between the pages. 
 This was one of those books where I heard the hype, I looked at the wordy title, read the synopsis, glanced at the ugly cover... And decided that it wasn't for me. 
 So I put it off. 
 Mistake. 
 I actually quite enjoyed this book and read it in a single sitting, despite a shaky start where I was humming and hawing about continuing on. It did take about 100 pages for me to get properly into the story, but once I was in I was hooked. Between the pages is a world of mystery and magic and monsters. 
 I'm still a but torn about reading on after the ending, but it's in the library, so why not?