Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone


Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1)
Yesterday, I just finished reading possibly my favorite book this year. Many of you have already read it. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a spectacular novel by Laini Taylor.

Goodreads Book Description: Around the world, black hand prints 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 grows 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?


My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

My Review:
I feel so lucky to have read such a wonderful assortment of books lately. This book, highly recommended by Antony John (author of Five Flavors of Dumb), was a treat from start to finish.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is a colorful excursion with a very unusual progtagonist named Karou ("meaning Hope") who has bright blue hair. She goes to art school during the day and also does errands for her adoptive father (I won't describe him any more so that no one will be spoiled but his name is Brimstone and one of my favorite characters), mysteriously being able to transport through a door to any place in the world. He collects teeth, but for what reason, she does not know. Then she meets a mysterious stranger, and everything starts to spiral out of control.

I was completely blown away by this book. The world building is the best I've seen in a long time-- the characters are colorful and unique. The plot smoulders and at certain points, I thought I knew what Taylor was going to pull, and instead she made the absolute right moves and surprised me in the best way possible. Nothing comes easy to our protagonist, and there are secrets galore-- ones that I was eager to find out-- but also okay to wait for, as the pacing really worked.

Overall, this is one of the best books I've read all year, with terrific and mind blowing world building and three dimensional, quirky characters, and I cannot wait for the next installment.  

Vote on my Amazon review!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone Review

How did you feel about this book? Were you as blown away as I was?

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15 comments:

  1. Oh, I really love this book!! :)
    Great review!!

    Samaine@Bookworms Avenue

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  2. Great review, Christina. Yes, the world-building is spot-on, and the plot twists are perfectly executed while still somehow seeming inevitable. Glad you liked it as much as I did!

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    1. Antony: Thanks for stopping by :-) I saw your review on Goodreads and knew this had to be my next read, so thanks! (We have similar taste so I wasn't worried)

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  3. I just picked this book up this weekend. Can't wait to get started.

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    1. It's terrific. Please let me know what you think!

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  4. I loved this book. The poetic descriptions especially. The last hundred pages didn't sit as well with me though. I preferred muddled teen Karou over what she becomes (don't want to give away spoilers here) but I'll still be reading the second book!

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    1. hahaha! Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I actually preferred what happened because my sister and I have some issues with age disparity (you can see her rant in the rant sections), and what Taylor does actually solves that issue!

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  5. I loved this book too! I'm so excited for the sequel which comes out in November!

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    1. Me too! I'm kind of glad I waited to read it because now I don't have to wait as long :-)

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  6. Oh man! I have read SO many reviews on this book, and I havent found even one that was negative!!
    I cant wait to read it!
    Great review

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Yes, this is a must read.

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  7. Great Review! I also enjoyed this book and rated it 5 out of 5. It's one of the best books I've read this summer.

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    1. As you can see above, I totally agree with you :-) I've had an excellent run of books recently!

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  8. I've been waiting to hear feedback on this one. So glad you liked it! I will be reading it ASAP.

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  9. Wonderful review, Christina! I've been wanting to read this one. I just love unique and lovable characters!

    Ana @ BookSpark

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