And so it begins

2022 Lovelies. New Year, new books, same me but different goals. Normally I try to up my reading goal each year however, I have been working a lot at my new job. No complaints there I actually really enjoy it and after 2020 and most of 2021 feeling useful is sublime. But I’m also doing a lot of mental health training and recovery and I’m absolutely wiped a lot of the time. This year I’ve only set my goal to 50 book, I don’t even know if I’ll read that many because my goal this year isn’t quantity. My goal this year is to enjoy, and to check in with myself when I obsessively read so that I don’t mask depression symptoms from myself for 2 months.

I do have a few book related plans regarding February, October and December that I think y’all will enjoy. For the month of January I’m focusing on series. I recently filled out a couple series I wanted to collect and re-read. However I started saturday with an entirely new trilogy, as beginning a new year felt like it needed something completely new.

Thanks to my Covid booster I was down for the count most of the second. Allowing me to finish the entire book with zero guilt over not being “productive”. It’s hard to feel guilty about a lack of “productivity” when you feel like garbage. Bright side; I’ve taken every step I can to protect my fellow humans and especially the ones I can’t live without.

I began “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” with only a vague understanding of what the story was about. It has been on my list for so long and my parents surprised me with it for my birthday.

“Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Lainie Taylor follows Karou, a 17 year old girl leading a double life in Prague. Karou is not from the mortal world, she was raised in a magic shop on the border of earth and elsewhere. To the people around her Karou is a fascinating mystery, a beautiful girl with incredible art skills and a penchant for eccentric stories. Little do they know, her stories are all true. The mystical creatures or demons in her sketchbook are the beloved faces of those who raised her, those she considers family. Unfortunately Karou is not the only one in the mortal world from elsewhere, Seraphim have taken to earths streets and are marking all of the portals into Brimstone’s shop, Karou’s childhood home. Through many twists of date we follow Karou on a harrowing tale of love, loss and hope and her discovery of where she truly came from.

This was the perfect story to read while laid up with vaccine side effects. My biggest side affect this go round has been extreme pain in my arm despite movement so having a book draw me in so thoroughly was a welcome distraction.

I loved Karou instantly. She is so lonesome and tragic of a character while also being vibrant and full of life. Her relationship with Brimstone so endearing. It’s clear from the moment we first see them together that this rough beast who would never utter words like love or family, loves Karou intensely and would do anything to protect her. I’m honestly hoping to see more of this misunderstood creature as the series continues.

Taylor proposes this fantastical world so connected with our own. A fantastical world so like our own in so many ways, where terrifying men fight for power and drag everyone else’s fate along with them on a whim. This books centers around demons and angels, around the fantastical and yet the emotion in the book, the struggles are relatable, believable.

I am so excited I finally read this book and can’t wait to dive into the next one….well I might wait till the headache subsides haha.