Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Published: September 27th, 2011

by: Little Brown BFYR

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

My Rating: 5 Stars 

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages – not all of them human – and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

 

Review

I kicked myself for not reading this book sooner. It has sat on my shelf for years, but I never had the urge to read it like I did when I first bought it. Something kept telling me to wait. I’m even more pissed that I didn’t buy the others when they came out, because then I could have binge read the trilogy over a weekend. If you haven’t read these books (or at least this one), I’m here to tell you to hurry and make that happen. I love angels. And while this one has them, it also has chimera, demons, and magic. I never thought I’d fall in love with another angel after Raffe from Penryn & the End of Days. Instead of archangels, we have seraphims here. And my, does Akiva leave an impression. I’m so ready to read the next book.

Reasons Why You Should Dive Into This World….

Karou is an awesome heroine. You know her,but you don’t know her. Make sense? She’s this mysterious blue-haired girl who collects teeth for her monster mentor. She has no clue of her origins, only loving her chimera family members as if they are blood related. They raised and trained her, so she feels the need to keep them close. I love her spunkiness where her “human” life is concerned. While she goes on her errands for Brimstone, she manages to have a social life. She loves art, and even though the subjects of her drawings are fictional to her friend, they are very much real. We are left uncovering everything page by page with Karou, so the mystery is really well spread throughout. 

The world building is not immediately described, but it gets there as the mystery deepens. However, the “human” world is pretty rich in detail, as Karou travels from place to place. The setting of Prague is very Gothic and I found myself picturing it all in perfect detail. The different magic used was interesting, and the characters are all well placed. I love all the plot twists, and I was totally surprised when a certain *ahem* revelation came to light. The writing is as beautiful as the world and characters, so you will definitely feel like you are dreaming.

And lastly, Akiva. To say that I was swooning left and right would be an understatement. It’s not his beautiful angel self that had me swooning, I was caught up in his pain of a love lost. I love the chemistry that he and Karou have, and it was hard to forget his place at times. Karou has gone her whole life not knowing who/what she is, so it was a little frightening. Still, the romance is so beautifully written, that you cannot ignore it. It made this whole story plausible, and I can’t wait to read more.

I highly, without a doubt, recommend this book. I’m not sure what the hell I was waiting on, but I’m glad that I finally read it. Now I just have to get the other two so I can finish. I just hope that the story only gets better from here.