Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publish Date: September 7, 2011
ISBN: 0316134023
ISBN-13: 9780316134026
Synopsis: 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 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 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 rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I attended Comic-Con back in July, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Could you blame anyone? Talented, award-winning author Laini Taylor not only writes books, she writes masterpieces. She writes worlds that you cannot help but believe to be real.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is no exception and might just exceed any expectations that you may have.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone introduces us to Karou, a 17-year old art student who is as colorful as her drawings. Studying in Prague, she goes to school in attempts of living a normal life. But what you and I know, is that she is anything but normal. There is an enigmatic factor about her, one that she quickly eludes up questioning.
Karou lives two lives. One where she is normal and belongs with the rest of the human race. The other is behind doors that is greeted with beautiful Issa, who was a serpent from the waist down, and the only one to grant access. It is a life where she is orphaned by wonderful Brimstone, a wishmonger who deals wishes in exchange for teeth. Her life is suddenly questioned when her world is turned upside down and she no longer has support or access to any of her loved ones. She is forced to survive on her own and seek help from someone who she always felt was a sworn enemy. Will she understand what is going on in time to help her family? Will she understand enough to be the one to figure it all out?
But there is more to Karou than what you and I see, and that is the beauty of the story that Taylor has written for us. There is a complexity surrounding Karou, in who she is and in what her world is. It is so complex that while I read one thing, and my mind interpreted another, what Taylor really wrote about was something unexpected. By the middle of the book, you feel like Karou is your best friend. You know her well enough to take her hand and give her your all.
Akiva. Without giving away too much, Akiva is one that you will love to hate and hate to love. He is filled with so much turmoil and sorrow that you will actually feel it yourself. I cannot tell you how many times my heart did the warm ache while I read his scenes. Taylor knows how to grab your heart and squeeze every emotion out of it. She makes you feel for him and for what he’s gone through. It’s so well done that you can place yourself into Akiva’s shoes and live the book through his eyes.
This was my first Laini Taylor book, and I was blown away. Her writing is impeccable and her world magical. Her words paints a picture so vivid that it will forever be etched in my mind. It is hard to put into words the love I have for this book. It is filled with twists and turns. Throughout the book, there is an element of surprise lurking behind every door that grants access into Brimstone’s store.
It is thrilling, exciting, romantic, and magical. It is clear in Taylor’s words that this story is more than just a love story or about rediscovering who one person is. I think behind all the smoke, is a story so beautifully written, you will dream about it years to come.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone will be forever in your life.
By the way, I still want to convince Laini Taylor to get her marketing gurus to produce a Brimstone plush with a necklace made of teeth.