Night of Cake & Puppets (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2.5) – Laini Taylor

Title: Night of Cake and Puppets (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2.5) by Laini Taylor
Publishing Info: November 26, 2013 by Little, Brown
Source: Gift
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: January 12, 2013
Related Posts: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1), Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2), Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3), Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1)

    In Night of Cake & Puppets, Taylor brings to life a night only hinted at in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy—the magical first date of fan-favorites Zuzana and Mik. Told in alternating perspectives, it’s the perfect love story for fans of the series and new readers alike. Petite though she may be, Zuzana is not known for timidity. Her best friend, Karou, calls her “rabid fairy,” her “voodoo eyes” are said to freeze blood, and even her older brother fears her wrath. But when it comes to the simple matter of talking to Mik, or “Violin Boy,” her courage deserts her. Now, enough is enough. Zuzana is determined to meet him, and she has a fistful of magic and a plan. It’s a wonderfully elaborate treasure hunt of a plan that will take Mik all over Prague on a cold winter’s night before finally leading him to the treasure: herself! Violin Boy’s not going to know what hit him.

First of all… If you’re at all invested in this series, read this novella! Amy instantly gifted it to me via Amazon after we finished reading DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT (or were we even done at that point??) because she said it was a must-read and so incredibly cute and YES. Every part of that is true! I opened this on my Kindle as soon as I could and read it in one sitting.

Zuzana and Mik are two of my favorite characters. I love the little rabid fairy that is Zuzana and frankly, I just want her to be my best friend. She reminds me so much of my own friends pretty much all of the time and as my favorite character of the series, it was so exciting to read a novella from her point of view and in first person versus Laini Taylor’s usual third person that we see in the full-length novels.

The story that we see in NIGHT OF CAKE & PUPPETS is how Zuzana and Mik finally meet and end up talking for the first time, which actually turns into their first date (that Zuzana sets up). We get a glimpse of this story in DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT and I’m SO glad that Laini Taylor wrote this novella so we could experience it first hand because it really was a magical night for Zuzana and Mik!

I love how ferocious Zuze is but how Mik pretty much turns her to a sappy, love-stricken girl. Isn’t that so true? I know I’ve found myself being so much sappier in a relationship than I ever thought I would allow myself to act and I have no shame about it at all! Zuzana is bold, creating a treasure map for Mik to follow (keeping in mind that she hasn’t even actually talked to him yet) with the treasure being… her. Haha! Oh, she’s just so darn cute. She also uses a bit of Karou’s magic in the form of wishes to help her make the treasure hunt extra special! I’m also really glad that we got to see Mik’s point of view here too because you can see how strong his affection for Zuze was right off the bat and it just made me fall in love with their relationship even more!

If you’re a fan of this series, do yourself the favor and read NIGHT OF CAKE & PUPPETS. It’s absolutely adorable and I can’t see how you would be disappointed! If you’re not a novella person, you might be after this one!

Mik // Character Obsessions: Playing the violin, avoiding Italian brats, watching Zuzana from afar.
I was totally stoked that we got to read Mik’s POV in this novella as well. We get a bit of Zuzana in the previous full-length novels, but nothing really from Mik’s eyes so to see his growing affection for Zuzana and how much they both like each other before they’ve even officially met… It just made my heart melt! He’s so adorable.
Zuzana // Character Obsessions: Creating her treasure map, working on wishes, luring Mik.
Oh, Zuze. She’s just too adorable and I love her character. I really wish she could be my best friend. I love that she puts herself as the treasure in her treasure map haha. She’s bold and confident but the thought of Mik turns her into total mush and her obsessing over little hearts and kissing… Sigh. These two are just so cute together!

Kept Me Hooked On: This romance. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. Yes, I had to capslock it.
Left Me Wanting More: All Zuze & Mik. More more more! I love Karou, I do. But Zuzana and Mik totally steal the show in this series. Yeah. I said it. It’s also a nice, light feel when this series is just so heavy! In a good way, but still.

Addiction Rating
Read it!!!!

Not a novella person? Don’t want to pay the money to buy it? Come on guys, just do it. This is such an amazing and adorable story.

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(Click the cover to see my review!)