Book Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (#1)
Published: 27th September 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Source: Library
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 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 hairactually 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 beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery 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?

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

It did not end well.”

This book has been on my TBR List for the longest time and while on a recent trip to the library, I found it just sitting in the corner, just waiting to be picked up. Little did I know that I would be picking up a unique gem.

My first thoughts while reading this book was "wow, this world is quite extraordinary". Ms Taylor has created this fictional world so full of life and fantasy with a grungy, alternative touch. I loved how we saw the world through the eyes of the devils, with the angels being the antagonists. This fantasy world is so different to ones I've read about before.
 

 “Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?”

I loved our main protagonist; Karou. She's very quirky and different. She's unlike any other characters I've read about, and I saw myself in her countless times. There's little I can say about her that's annoying, or that isn't a spoiler but I thought she was the perfect protagonist for the series and her choices aren't annoying or unjustified.

Ms Taylor's writing style and sequencing is beautiful and poetic and is a very unique way to tell this story.

 “It is a condition of monsters that they do not perceive themselves as such. The dragon, you know, hunkered in the village devouring maidens, heard the townsfolk cry 'Monster!' and looked behind him.” 

The plot of this book was very interesting to read about and I did not expect any of those plot twists. I admit, in the first few chapters I was like "woah what's going on" but Ms Taylor does a nice job of weaving it in and everything will click at the right moments.

I loved everything about this book (if that were even possible) and I will for sure continue with this series.

Hagar Manssour