Author: Laini Taylor
Published: September 27, 2011 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 418
Genre: YA Fantasy
This has been on my TBR list for quite some time, but I never actively sought it out.
This was a mistake.
This story was weird and fantastical and interesting. There were times when I couldn't put this book down and when I did, I found myself wondering back to Prague, wondering what would come next in the lives of the characters.
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 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?
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This is a story that is hard to describe without giving away too much plot. Everything about it is so intricately woven and beautifully put together. It's almost frustrating at times having to wait to find out all the information compiled here, but it's done so in a way that keeps you hungry for the next chapter. Next thing you know it will be 2am and you will be sitting there stunned at the wealth of information laid out in front of you.
It's different, which was what drew me to this in the first place. I picked up this book, not REALLY knowing what I was getting myself into. The synopsis is put together in such a way where you don't fully understand the gravity of the story until you're already sucked in and I'm glad.
You get introduced to a new race of people (species?) not normally seen in literature and that is the chimera. Imagine oddly spiced together bits of different animals/sometimes humans to form a whole being. These people are Karou's family. The only insight we get into her childhood to try and piece together who she really is. Also you have Brimstone, who you find out very early on is in charge of the whole... well, you don't really know what. He's important none the less, who for some reason needs Karou to run errands all over the world collecting teeth. What for? You'll have to read to find out.
We get introduced to her as a student attending an art university in Prague. She has blue hair, a crazy sketchbook, and a knack for alluding the truth by simply telling it.
Soon, Brimstone is needing her to run a lot more errands than usual and while meeting with a client in Morocco, she locks eyes a being whose beauty is nothing short of angelic. He also tries to kill her.
Soon, their stories become intertwined and through him, the mysterious events of Karou's past start coming to light. It's frustrating and beautiful and like no YA Fantasy I've ever read before.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is truly unique, becoming a world all it's own.
Overall, this book was excellent. It had it's slow moments, but still remained captivating. I did feel a bit separated from the characters at times, and while that was a little off-putting at times, I appreciated it for adding to the overall air of mystery.
After all is said and done, I give this book 3.7ish stars. I highly recommend if you want something a little different and something intoxicating. I can't wait to see where this series goes.
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