Precy Larkins--YA Author: Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I totally bought this book the moment I saw it on the shelf at my local bookstore. Didn't know what the story was about, didn't care to know. They could have been about vamps or zombies or whathaveyou and I still would have gotten it because it's by LAINI TAYLOR!! This author can write. This author can write and blow your mind apart.

Are you drowning in my endless gushing yet?

*dials down adoration scale to prevent readers from fleeing blog*

Ahem.

Blurb 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?

About the Author:

Laini Taylor is the author of three previous novels: the Dreamdark books Blackbringer and Silksinger, and the National Book Award finalist Lips Touch: Three Times. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, illustrator Jim Di Bartolo, and their daughter, Clementine.

Visit her website here. Book site here.

The Book: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well."

Ms. Taylor's masterful prose always delivers beautiful, haunting images. It is mostly set in Prague, though we see glimpses of other cities through the portals that Karou enters to "run errands" for her chimaera family. And of course--the world of Elsewhere. Eretz. The otherworldly kingdom where an age-old battle between the angels and the devils continue to rip apart lives and dreams and...love.

In the beginning of the book, Karou does not know who she is or where she comes from. In the eyes of her friends, she's the blue-haired girl whose sketches are extraordinarily real and mystical; the girl who would disappear for days on end to "run errands", and sometimes come home with mysterious scars and bruises. For Karou, she's the girl who can make wishes using her beads, or scuppies, and who must absolutely obey her caretaker Brimstone's orders, even if it meant dragging elephant tusks in Paris back to the portal.

There is so much intrigue and mystery surrounding her and her life with the chimaeras, it's enough to keep you turning pages. When a seraphim tries to kill her, the line between this world and the other begins to blur, and Karou is finally going to find the truth about herself.

This is a MUST read. For anyone who enjoys Fantasy, yes. But more so if you enjoy beautiful writing. There's a wonderfully impossible love story in the mix, too, and a lot of wishing for hope.

For my part, I just wish that Ms. Taylor would never stop writing, would never stop giving us art in the form of her books. I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

10 comments:

Golden Eagle said...: I've heard a lot of good things about this book--it's on my TBR. :); November 7, 2011 at 2:35 PM
julie fedderson said...: I have a friend who adores this book. It's in my pile on my desk, waiting for a rainy day. I think it's going to the top today!; November 7, 2011 at 3:27 PM
i'm erin. said...: Ack! I've been dying to read this book. I wanted to buy it on Amazon, but I have to cut back on my Amazon addiction. Thanks for the review.; November 7, 2011 at 5:20 PM
Peggy Eddleman said...: I have heard so much about this book, but haven't read it. (I know this sounds lame, but it's mostly because of the cover. Not kidding. Lame, right?) You have totally convinced me. I am logging onto my library's site RIGHT NOW.... Done! I am number four on the waiting list.; November 7, 2011 at 11:26 PM
Sarah Tokeley said...: I want to read this book so much!; November 8, 2011 at 12:32 AM
Unknown said...: Great review. I haven't heard of this book--probably because it's not a genre I normally read--but, love the cover.; November 8, 2011 at 4:36 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm halfway through it right now and loving it! I love her writing.; November 8, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Rachna Chhabria said...: The book sounds awesome. I just love the story and the title. Will definitely want to read it.; November 8, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Unknown said...: ohhh!! I love that cover! And your review means I must read it now! I'm making a list of books to read so that *when* I get my kindle or whateves, I'm going to spend just as much downloading the books! LOL.

Thanks for the review Cherie!! I hope you are feeling better!! <3; November 8, 2011 at 9:37 AM
Jennie Bennett said...: I've never read any of her books. Sounds good!; November 10, 2011 at 8:43 AM