I will sing praises to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I will tell everyone to read it. So, this review might be biased. (And contain spoilers for the first book, so you've been warned.) 
 But I'll admit--this suffers a little from middle book syndrome. Book one ends in disaster, and book two has to detail just how disastrous it is. I get it. We need background, and intros to new characters, and we have to understand the destruction before we can appreciate what's being done. So, the gritty plot-related stuff doesn't come in until about halfway through. 
 But when it does, it is glorious. There's no "good" and "evil," because both sides hold both qualities. The multiple POV has you rooting for all of them (so unfair). You have hope, which is then shattered (resurrectionists can bring back anyone, right? Right?). And at the heart of it is our beloved Karou, whose circumstances don't let her shine like she did before. And Akiva, that lovesick fool. What's his plan, anyway? 
 This is such a wonderful world, and with such wonderful characters. I both want to complete the series, and also don't. I'm not ready to leave it behind yet.