Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1
Source: Gifted
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication Date: September 27, 2011

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 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?

"Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic."

For lack of a better word, Daughter of Smoke & Bone was...interesting. I enjoyed the dark atmosphere, and the overall uniqueness (chimera!), but there were a few things that could have been better. For instance, the romance was just kind of meh. I wanted to like it, but I couldn't get past the "insta" factor, and for all the explaining involved with that, it was still instalove.

I liked both of the main characters, Akiva and Karou. But I definitely liked Karou more - she had more time for development, and she was a mysterious and highly interesting character. I wanted to know what her secret was, maybe even more that she wanted to know! Akiva was less likable, with his thundersome personality, and his lack of feelings. I don't blame the poor guy, but still.

There was a jarring sensation the first time that I read a chapter from Akiva's point of view (due to having read about eight from Karou's), so that may have had an effect on my overall opinion of his character. Really, I'm not sure what I thought of Akiva. I mean, I don't think that Karou should trust him. His character kind of makes me nervous!

Speaking of characters that make me nervous... Brimstone and Issa did too - but they did it in a good way, that actually made them my favorites. Brimstone... I'd like to see more of him, because his character has an obscene amount of power!

The writing was beautiful and descriptive, full wonderful world development and a few plot twists, but near the end it was just a little confusing. I blame it on the fact that it felt like we'd switched stories entirely. Very strange, but overall I don't think it hurt my enjoyment of the book. I'd recommend reading this one - and I'm interested to see where the next book takes this series!