Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5/5

Summery:
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?


Review:

Wow.  Just wow.  I can't believe I waited so long to pick this book up. It's amazing.  It is 432 of pure joy to read.

Really the best word to describe every little bit of this book is amazing: amazing writing, amazing story line, amazing characters, amazing idea, amazing action, amazing everything.  This book is just amazing.  The writing was perfect, flowing together effortlessly and it really draws you in.  The story line was really good.  All the events flowed together perfectly and there was great staging.  Even though it was a bit slow at times it is one of the best story lines I have seen in a long time.  I loved the cast of characters because they all contributed to the story so much.  And the way Taylor created this whole new world was amazing.  She explained it in such detail that you felt like it was real.

Like I said, I adored this cast.  I haven't seen a truly strong female character in quiet some time, so I was super excited when Karou became just what I was looking for.  She ranks up there with Yelena and Avry (both from Maria V. Snyder books).  She is strong, kick-ass, and can totally take care of herself.
And, of course, there is the swoon-worthy man in the story: Akiva.  While I do really like him, I don't love him.  I think that of all the characters he is one of the least developed.  We got to know Karou really well but not really Akiva.
I also really liked Brimstone.  He was the father that Karou never had, and he was just so caring and he really took very good care of Karou, which I think is great.

One more thing before I sign off.  I don't usually pay attention to titles when I read books, but this one is amazing.  It goes perfectly with the story.  It really describes it perfectly, and I think everyone will realize that when they read this amazing book.