Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date: 9.27.2011

Pages: 420

Genre: Paranormal

Series: Yes (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)

Source: Finished copy from publisher

Rating: A

Summary (from Goodreads):

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?

Review:

I love this book, I just do. From the original character names to the wholly original plot to that cover that screams, “READ ME!” It’s hard not to fall in love with Laini Taylor’s debut novel and I can see why this book has garnered so much attention. It is flawless written with lush words that fill the pages, enticing the reader deeper and deeper into the book.

Karou—I seriously just love that name—is a phenomenal lead. Seeing the world through her eyes was beautiful and exhilarating. She is the tip of the amazing-character-iceberg. I love her and Akiva. They are literary gold, and I cannot get enough of them. Just please, give me more. NOW.

There is something that is pure magic about certain books, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone has it. There are few books on my shelves I will reread because I am in awe of the way a writer places the words together to make a sentence full of enchantment. I can safely say this book has earned that distinction. Many books are good, have fun plots or witty characters, but it’s the places in between the action, in between the dialogue, that draw me in. It’s the space between the heartbeats of a novel that win me over and fuse with my heart.

For a book so large, the ending came entirely too fast. I was left desperate for more at the end, and with too many questions that really need answering. I suppose that is the mark of a great book—leave them panting for more, right? If that is the ultimate goal, Taylor has it in spades. I truly hope one day I get to meet Laini Taylor; her mind must be an amazing place to create such a wild, vivid story that has captured so many readers. I can only imagine she would be as charming and creative in person.

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