I Read Words Other People Write

I have so few words.  The so few words I have are:

magical

stirring

scarred

ashen

hopeful

terrifiying

bloody

friendship

love

lost

That's what I got.  That's all I got. 

OK, so I got just a bit more...

I so love the way Laini Taylor strings words together.  They shake me, they make me laugh out loud, they make me raise my hand to cover my gasps.  And they apparently make me stay up until god awful o'clock to finish the damn book. 

This is YA, as I understand it, at its best.  Magical, fantastical, with hope and purpose not yet found or understood by the young protagonists.  Knowing they have a role to fill and doing everything they can to survive, first only to find out what the hell that role is!  Whether it's read by young or old, the story should penetrate the same. 

I love this story and I'm along for the ride. 

Besides, it has maps!  And wonderful fonts!  And the chapter titles are quotes from the chapters.  squeee! 

Excuse me, I just exposed my fangurl

EDIT ( a few minutes after this review was posted):  I think I get why there are so many 'not loving it/not hating it' reviews.  It's kind of like The Empire Strikes Back.  It's not the beginning, with all the world building and the character introducing, and it's not the end, with all the finalizing and the solidifying of the characters' traits.  It's the middle.  So much is still hanging in the balance.  So much is still unsure.  But Empire was my favorite movie of the three. So much promise, so much danger.  Where will each one go?  What will they choose?  We all have our choices mapped out...but...