Daughter of Smoke & Bone

I loved the first half of this book. Beautiful prose, a rich fantasy world with angels and chimaera, and an interesting cast of characters—human and chimaera alike. Karou's relationship with Brimstone and the other chimaera had promise, as did the errands she did for him. I also enjoyed the sections in Prague with her human friends and would've liked to see more with them.

Unfortunately, the introduction of Akiva derailed that part of the story. Karou was obsessed with him almost immediately and their relationship is clearly instalove, a trope I'm not fond of. The reveal of Karou's background didn't change that, and only further showed how their love is based almost solely on physical attraction.

Despite this change in the story, I still plan on reading the second book as I've heard the rest of the series focuses more on the war and less on the romance.