A really good book is like rich dark chocolate.  It's smooth and velvety and so easy to sink one's teeth into and reach for more.  You can just forget about the real world with all its tedious necessities - that mountain of English marking, or those dishes that need doing.  For a few hours you can just let yourself slip into a new world; it's as close to dreaming you can get while still awake.  A bargain holiday.  Of course, even better than a really good book is a really good series, especially a good fantasy series.  The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, by Laini Taylor, is a really good series.  I devoured the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone in early December, and have just inhaled the second book, Daughter of Blood and Starlight.  The characters are odd and compelling, and the plot is exciting and suspenseful.  What makes these stories even tastier is that their premise is so very different than other supernatural fantasies I have read.  I have been enticed and intrigued throughout.  But, the drawback of reading a really good new series is that you have to wait for the next book.   Just like the aftermath of a sugar high, bitter reality hits when you finish your book and realize that a year or possibly two will have to pass before you find out what is going to happen to your beloved characters. And that realization brings the sudden and cold return to reality. But let's be truthful, all this sitting around reading, like eating chocolate (or perhaps, while eating chocolate), is a little hard on the waistline, so sometimes it's necessary to return to reality, finish chores, brush teeth, and get some exercise.

   Miss Peregrine's Home for Unusual Children by Ransom Riggs is a surprise from the moment you pick it up.  Looking at it, I assumed that it would be targeting an audience on the young side of young adult. But, while it's fantastic elements would certainly appeal to a younger reader, some of the issues it deals with - especially its gruesome aspects - are  probably best understood by someone older.
   The book centers around a teenager, Jacob Portman, who finds his beloved grandfather horribly murdered by what looks to Jacob as a monster.  In the aftermath of his grandfather's death, Jacob's family, and later, Jacob come to believe that he has had an hallucination because of trauma.  As part of the healing process, Jacob and his father travel to a remote island off of Wales, to an orphanage where Jacob's grandfather had found haven as a young Jewish refugee during WW2.  It is on this island that Jacob encounters mystery, magic and great danger.
   The story is exciting and mysterious.  The author has interspersed strange old photos in his story, which add interest and intrigue.  It's easy to suspend disbelief and follow along with this adventure, enjoying the magic and excitement.  As soon as the protagonist reaches the island, the story winds up with layers of history, mystery and suspense.  And like an elastic band that is overwound, it lets loose at the end with an explosion of excitement.
   I really liked the book.  It was easy to pick up and hard to put down.  My only real criticism is that it sometimes seemed like the author was not clear who his audience was.  At times, especially when meeting the peculiar children, the story seemed "cutesy" as if to appeal to a younger audience.  Yet it dealt with issues of real evil - ravaged sheep, horribly murdered adults which seem to require some maturity, even in this day and age.  As well, an understanding of history, especially Nazism in World War II, is necessary for greater understanding for some of the implications of the story.
  I did really enjoy this book, though, and am looking forward to the sequel.  4/5 stars