Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

My synopsis would be WAY too complicated so here's the one from Amazon: "The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. 

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear."Well. I decided to read this book because it a. kept popping up in practically EVERY category of my Goodreads suggestions and b. because it was one of the few books in my recommendations that was rated 4 or more stars. While I wasn't a fan of the whole "talents of the bedchamber" bits, I thought the idea of getting pleasure from pain (by which I mean the extreme extent it is taken to) and Phedre's resulting conflicting emotions were very interesting. And I did love a certain grumpy-faced body guard. I will warn you now: the book is extremely long and very focused on politics. I spent most of the first third of the book skimming through and skipping large sections of political talking. But once you get past the first third of the book and a certain life changing event occurs, the story becomes terribly addictive. All in all I think that I would've probably appreciated this book better if I had read it later in life because the quality of the writing and depth of the characters and story certainly deserve a much more appreciative reader. It honestly went a little bit over my head with the amount of in-depth politics.