Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Release Date: September 27, 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Pages: 418

Received: Purchased

Rating: 5 out of 5 Books

GOODREADS BLURB:

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?

Oh my gosh, I can't explain how much I loved this book! I couldn't stop reading it, so it even went to the gym with me so I could read while I worked out! Now THAT'S a good book! :)

THE GOOD:

Taylor's characters are SO MUCH FUN to enjoy and root for! I loved Karou. I could imagine her expressions and person, all the way to her crazy blue hair. She is the type of person I'd love to be friends with. Speaking of friends...Zuzana! Ohhh, I love Zuzana. The texts between them were so realistic and fun. They reminded me of texts my own friends send. Can I have them both as friends? And Brimstone. Oh man. He was so awesome. And Akiva...ahhhh. Okay.

I could go on and on about the characters, but I'll move on. :) The setting - Prague. Wow. At first I was thrown off, because I was just assuming it'd be in America. BUT. This was so much better. I enjoyed the foreign lands and Taylor did an excellent job of making me feel as though I was walking the streets right beside Karou.

As for the plot - it was SO unique! I really enjoyed the twist, but I won't say more than that. Let's just say I need the next book NOW!

THE BAD:

When the story switches to share the background of certain characters, the change is abrupt and made me have to re-read for a second, just to make sure I didn't miss something. It wasn't hard to jump back in, though, and it was just a minor hiccup. It wasn't even that bad, it was more of a "Oh, wait, what?" and then it was over. :) Other than that, I LOVED this book!

OVERALL:

If you haven't read this book, please do yourself the immense favor of grabbing it right this minute. It is so good, I really can't even explain how great it was! GO GET IT! :)

RATING: 5 of 5 Books