Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)by Laini Taylor
Publishing date: September 27th 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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?
It took me long enough to finally get around to reading Daughter of Smoke & Bone, but the important thing is that I did. My time is scarce, and there is just not enough time to read all the books I want, but slowly I'm getting to those I really want to read. And I guess, if the book doesn't appeal to me that much, and I never end up reading it, maybe then it wasn't even worth the time in the first place. A book I really want to read will get a few hours of my attention eventually, just like DoS&B did. Even though I really did like this book, don't get me wrong, I kinda expected even more. With all the amazing reviews out there I thought this book would be a 5 star read. But nevertheless, I enjoyed this book very much. I think the main reason it's not a 5 star book for me is because somewhere along the way, it got a little bit dull, but it got interesting again, so it's all good.
I have to say, Daughter of Smoke & Bone has a really interesting and great storyline. It held me captive from the very beginning. With a unique world setting, and even more unique characters, I get why there is so much hype around this book. Karou is a human, but has been raised by a group of Chimaera, who are part human and part animal (I bet you are picturing centaurs in your mind right now!), any animal, take your pick! Brimstone, her adoptive 'father' collects teeth, and Karou is the one responsible for picking them up in different parts of the world, thus she often disappears from her 'normal' world and goes on errands. But when mysterious black handprints start to appear on every door that lead to Brimstone shop, strange things start to happen. She is attacked by an angel, the doors that lead to Brinstone's Shop don't lead there anymore and Karou doesn't know what is happening. Do you? You don't? Then go and read the book!
Karou is a very special character for me. I mean, she has a blue hair growing straight out of her head, how wouldn't she be? Oh, did I mention that she can also fly. Without the wings. No? Well know you know that too. But those are not the real reasons why I like her, even though they are really cool. I loved her character because she is feisty, she is funny and she is caring. Akiva, the love interest, on the other hand, didn't impress me really. He was an okay character, but I don't see anything special about him yet. Maybe that changes in the next books. Who knows?
The romance. Oh the romance. I see what you did there Laini Taylor. Not cool, but clever. I have to give you that. For a moment I thought this is going to be another book with insta-romance, but the twist was kinda surprising, but cool.
What more can I say about Daughter of Smoke & Bone? It is allowed to trust the hype with this one, encouraging even. As for me... I'm off to find some time in my cramped schedule for the sequel.
I read this one a while back, but I think I'll have to re-read it to continue with the series! Glad to see that you enjoyed it! Just like you I loved the characters in this story!
ReplyDeleteLisa
www.turningpages94.blogspot.com
Oh, how I wish I'd waited until recently to start this series. As it is, I've been waiting ages for the final book to come out. I'll probably binge read them back-to-back. :) Lucky you, not having to wait very long. Hope the rest of the series lives up to your expectations, though I really have no doubt it will. :)
ReplyDeleteThe hype always tends to scare me away but now Im thoroughly excited! A friend recently just reread it and my copy didnt come in time for me to read together...but I have one and two now so soon soon. I'll try not to let the hype work me up too much!
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