Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Author:

Laini Taylor

Release Date:

It's available ..even in paperback!

Grade:

Does It Have a Trailer?

Cover:
It's mysterious. The colors complement each other just oh so well and I love how the blue pops out.

Summary/Synopsis:

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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 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?

      This novel was nothing as I expected it to be. Truth be told, I didn't even expect anything. I have never felt so blind when beginning a novel. Laini Taylor worked her magic and let me see her world, her characters, with such clarity.

      At first, it was hard to get into. I didn't know who these people were and I had problems keeping up with Karou's world. As soon as I decided that Daughter of Smoke & Bone was one of those I had to take my time with, I found myself reading and comprehending with ease while laughing and getting my heart broken along the way.

      Karou. You have to love her. I fell in love with her almost immediately. She has blue hair, beads that grant any wish of hers, she has these hamsas on her hands, can speak almost every language and lives in a place with a snake lady, Issa, and someone else I fell in love with, Brimstone. Karou collects it for him but she doesn't know why. She draws these creatures that are made up of different forms --creatures, chimera, who she has actually seen. Karou's life is an unusual one and I just love how she decides to find out the why, find out the what and, most importantly, the Who am I?

      I loved Zuzana, Karou's best friend, with such a passion. Zuzana is a girl with a knack for jokes and her friendship with Karou is just amazing. How in sync they are is mind blowing and both of them together? Well, let's just say you better be ready for loads of laughter. But, Monica, who's the love interest? Akiva, of course! He is apart of Karou discovering herself. He's apart of this whole new world. A world that Karou use to know. He's gorgeous, kind and great at heart. His suffering for the past couple of years, his love for Karou, what he has lost, the things he has endured is just heart-breaking.

      This is were Laini's writing comes into play. We get to feel and understand the character's feelings. We are lead to back stories and secrets that just blow your mind. I don't know how to describe Laini's writing. It's so . . .I can't even describe it. It's so different from any other writing I have ever read. It's just stunning and beautiful. She really played her cards right to enthralling her characters. She's an author with a spark and I can't wait to see when she catches into a flame.