Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: ★★★★★
For: Fun
From: Got it for Christmas a few years ago

It seems like everyone's been talking about this book for such a long time now, and I don't know why it took me so long to get to it, but I finally decided it had to happen, regardless of all the other books stacked up. And you were all right! It was a quick weekend read and I loved it all!

Just in case you are one of the few that hasn't read it yet and would like a little summary, it's about a very unique girl named Karou who is an art student in Prague (I've never read anything that made me want to visit Prague, but this book did it!)  She seems to be a bit adrift and alone, except for her few friends. She does have a family of sorts, but they are pretty much monsters/demons.... part human and part animal, and she must keep them a secret from her "real life." They live in an in between world, neither here nor there, accessed by portals all around the world. Karou helps them out by doing errands, the nature of which she doesn't at all understand, through using these portals.

Shortly after the book starts, these portals are marked and destroyed by the seraphs... also known as angels, the mortal and eternal enemy of the demons who raised Karou. This, of course, nearly destroys Karou herself  and when she happens to see one of these angels, sparks fly, and it's not the good kind! Well, at first anyway.

Wow. The plot is intense and the world making is amazing! We are taken all over in time as we learn the back stories of these two characters, first from Karou's point of view and later from Akiva's (he's the angel.) Sometimes the story shifts to a different time and world altogether, but it all comes together in the end and never once was it disjointed or confusing or jerky.

The writing is beautiful and rich and passionate. I loved that this is one of those "use your brain" type YA books. You will not find fluff here! But you will find a fascinating, mythical story full of dynamic and interesting characters. Awesome.

Bottom line: LOVED it!

Other Reviews:

Highly original and ambitious, Daughter of Smoke and Bone really surprised me. From Book Twirps Book Reviews

For readers who believe that magic should always have a cost, this system is for you. It’s simultaneously gruesome and elegant. From Dear Author

I got lost in these worlds. From The Introverted Reader

Daughter of Smoke & Bone is the kind of romance I loved as a Teen–and still do. sigh. From Omphaloskepsis