Bonus Book: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is the first of the trilogy of the same name which I listen to on my recent trip to Raleigh.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winded 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 otherworldly 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 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 results is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

The Breakdown:
1.  Like Karou, Taylor is an artist, but she uses words instead of drawings.  She creates such vivid imagery with her descriptions. I can picture the elegance of old city Prague, and the vibrancy of the Marrakesh market place.  I can easily conjure the imagine of the monstrous beauty of the Chimaera, and the inhuman and hard beauty of the Seraphim.

2.  Karou is wonderfully talented, and entertainingly smart and sardonic.  She quest for what most people want, a place that she belongs, to know who she is. I think she is one of the most well written characters in YA fiction.  Taylor develops her so thoroughly that I really feel like she a personal friend.

3. I simply adore Karou's best friend, Zuzana.  She is proof that great things come in small packages.  She is caring and loyal to Karou, despite Karou's many secrets.  She supports Karou through her darkest hour.  She got such a fantastic attitude and personality that I found myself laughing in many of the scenes she is in.

4. Then there is Akiva, who is the very definition of a tortured beauty. It was amazing how Taylor takes him from a soulless warrior who feels so little, to a character that feels too much.

5. I have not been writing reviews of my audio-books recently, but this one was so amazing I had to share my thoughts on it. Taylor unfolds this story so well. The journey from Karou's naive life to one that is full of knowledge of who she is, and Akiva with his determination.  Karou and Akiva's pull toward each other was so beautiful. Plus what is learned at the end has me wanting to know so much more, and how their story will play out.

6. My only disappointment is learning that The Poison Kitchen in not a real cafe in Prague. Because I would eat at a place like that in a heartbeat.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read