Daughter of Smoke and Bone was all the rage at BEA this year. EVERYONE wanted to get their hands on a copy, it seemed. I was lucky enough to get to Laini Taylor's signing of Smoke and Bone. She is a treat! I loved her adorable bubblegum pink hair and she is SO nice. Just a real class act. Now, let's get to her epic story. Here is the 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 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?
from amazon:
"Wow. I wish I had written this book." (Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Wise Man's Fear )
"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is that rare beast: a novel that takes the familiar and makes it appear startling and new. Taylor has embraced the mythology of angels and reworked it in an extraordinary form, so that by the end of this lyrical, haunting book, I wanted to believe in the existence of these violent, tormented beings. I can hardly wait for the next installment." (John Connolly, author of The Book of Lost Things )
Yeah. It is alot like that. Smoke and Bone is a completely new and interesting interpretation of the whole angels and demons mythos. You see everything from new eyes and the whole book leaves you wondering what is really going on and who the real monsters are. At the end, I was freaking out. I wanted there to be more! I need there to be more! The ending, like most of the book, is heart breaking and breathtaking. Karou is an interesting heroine who makes you wish that she was your sister or best friend. She's so vulnerable but so strong and she has such a strange, wonderful and sad life that you just want to hug her. Brimstone, Issa and the others that live in Brimstone's shop in the Otherworld are interesting and complex characters. The entire world is so real and vivid that you wonder what Karou is doing somewhere on Earth right now. I really don't want to ruin this for anyone so I think I'll sum it up: this book is genius and everyone should give it a try. I'd suggest this for readers over 14 as there is a fair sprinkling of violence and moral dilemas.
You can find out more about Laini Taylor and her work on her
website. You can also follow her on
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Daughter of Smoke and Bone earns 4 Fairies from me for being unique and special.
