Author: Laini Taylor
Published: September 29th 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance.
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads summary:
"Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.Emma's thoughts:
The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things.
When Brimstone called, she always came."
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.
Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is simply... extraordinary. There's really no other word for it. From the first page, the first line, the book completely enthralled me. The world Laini Taylor has set Karou in is strangely beautiful and alluring, yet dark and completely foreign.
Karou, having living her whole life in two very distinct parts, is an admirable protagonist that likes to waste wishes on petty revenge on her ex. She's got bright blue hair, matching eye tattoos on her palms and often collects teeth for her 'boss', Brimstone. Brimstone's a strange, mysterious character that's been the father figure (of sorts) in Karou's life. I wish we could've seen more of him, understood more of what his purpose was and what he did with 'wishes'.
I loved the idea of being able to purchase 'wishes' and wishes of different values too. Just think about all the things you could do! Flying would just be the start... And I guess, that's a point Laini Taylor made in the book. Wishes can be dangerous. Well, no, not the wishes themselves, but the greed inside oneself that would compel one to pull out all one's teeth for the most powerful wish of all. It's demonstrated by a character who'd pulled out all his own teeth for the wish of knowledge. Knowledge of everything. And what'd he get? A fallen angel shadowing his every step, haunting his every move. And what'd it lead to? A jump off a building.
Evil is always so tempting isn't it? When the devil strikes you a deal, you only ever see the good side of it til it's too late. Brimstone, the wishmonger himself knew it, and he protected Karou in a way by keeping her out of the dark.
And then she met Akiva...
How do I explain Akiva? How can I even put him into words? He's an angel, and honest to God, I cannot resist angels, deadly or not. He's just.. he's charming, and utterly wonderful. If you haven't read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, you must, for Akiva. You'll understand the adoration...
I think it's simply the way Laini Taylor wrote this book. I think, if it had been any other person writing the exact same story line with the exact same characters, it wouldn't have been the same. Taylor's prose is simply beautiful. It's poetry, really. Every sentence in Daughter of Smoke and Bone tells a story of it's own. It's unforgettable.
First:
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.
It did not end well.
Favourite:
"Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?"
Teaser:
Once upon a time, an angel lay dying in the mist.
And a devil knelt over him and smiled.
I love this book! Akiva is beyond words but is he rest of the characters. Can't wait for the movie
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