Thursday, November 3, 2011

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Pages: 420
Published by Little, Brown & Company
Release Date: September 27th 2011
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Summary: (From Goodreads)
 Around the world, black handprints 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 grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly 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 one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored 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?


My Review:
UMMMM......I am speechless. There are so many words to describe Daughter of Smoke and Bone, some that probably don't even exist. But, three words I would use to describe it would be: incredible, epic, and whimsical.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is about Karou, a 17-year-old art student living in Prague. Outside of hanging out with her best friend Suzannah, she lives in a shop full of weird and bizarre monsters, or chimaera. They have always been her family, and have always treated her well. The shop sells wishes in exchange for, of all things, teeth. Karou's world is turned upside down when she meets an angel, and learns the truth about herself. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is an outrageously original story filled with a mixture of mythologies. It's a very creative and clever read that I would recommend to anybody.

One thing I absolutely loved about this book was the atmosphere. This book is set in modern-day Prague, but there is something so otherworldly and magical about the city that Laini Taylor does an excellent job or describing. Combining the plot with Prague's atmosphere, she swept me away on a magical journey, and the one word I can use to describe the setting the best is whimsical.

The writing is also just....something. I don't know how to describe it. Laini Taylor paints the most amazing scenes with words, in a magical, twinkling, starry, lyrical way.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone also has a fabulous storyline. Combining the best angel/demon lore with spectacular mixing of mythology and add a superb plot of revelation and magic, it equals amazing!

The reason I had to chop off half a star is because I expected a little more action. For me, I felt as if I was always waiting for the quick twists and turns to make me jump, but they never did. Don't get me wrong, I was still captivated by the book, but I wish there would have been a little more action once and a while.

Karous was a refreshing main character. She was strong and stood up for herself, and she always stood for what she believed it. I loved the relationship between her and her best friend. It was a well fleshed out friendship that was quite realistic. It wasn't perfect, they had their squabbles, but in the end, they were always there for eachother and supported eachother.

I am now a huge fan of Laini Taylor! She has made me a die hard fan of this book! I would recommend picking it up soon....because you're really missing something spectacular if you don't.

2 comments:

sarah darlington said...

I have this sitting on my shelf and I really need to read it! Everyone loves it! I'm not sure what's holding me back, but you're review made me want to go pick it up!

Sara (of the Page Sage) said...

I need to read this book! But my TBR list is already so long!

Great review!! (: