The Book's Buzz

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone 

Author: Laini Taylor 

Pages: 418 

Publication Date: September 27, 2011 

Overall: 5/5 

Synopsis:

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 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 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? 

What the hell? What the hell did I just read? Is it wrong to be confused at the moment?

I dove into the book Daughter of Smoke and Bone not knowing what I was getting myself into (I tend not to read the synopsis just to get a better feel of the book).

The beginning was quite cryptic. There was talk of the main character, Karou and her ex-boyfriend Kaz, Brimstone, sketchbooks, and someone named Zuzana. I put the book down after reading the beginning... and then picked it up again realizing that I had nothing else to read. I'm so freaking glad I chose to continue reading... Boy, was I in for some excitement.

The story follows Karou, a daring teenager with blue hair actually growing out of her head that color. She was acquainted with her close family/friends composed of Brimstone, Issa, Twiga and, not to mention, her best friend Zuzana. A war was brewing between the seraphim and chimaera that Karou had no idea of. It was not until Karou met a gorgeous plot twist did she begin to realize the true state of her ability and the reality of this war.To Karou, meeting up with Izil to collect a monthly supply of teeth seemed like any other ordinary errand. Wrong. Little did she know that an angel had followed her around Marrakesh. By doing the devil's deed, Karou had condemned herself to a world of utter destruction and hate. The beautiful angel Akiva wished to attack Karou, but was unable to after seeing her face to face. To Akiva, Karou reminds him of the women that he fell in love a long time ago. Turns out that woman is not that far away after all. And the love story begins there...

[ Warning: Spoilers beyond this point are revealed ]

At first I didn't understand the Brimstone's whole teeth collecting hobby. It wasn't until later that the author revealed the reason behind his mysterious collecting. Brimstone was also known as a resurrectionist. He used the teeth to conjure and to create new bodies out of the warrior's bodies that had been slain in battle and war. The hamsas that Karou had on the palms of her hands were actually marks. They marked the bodies of those who had been conjured by Brimstone. And, of course, we can't have a good book without a major plot twist. Madrigal eventually ended up being resurrected as Karou! I think that's why Akiva fell in love with Karou so easily. He was falling in love with the same girl! OMG I KNOW I KNOW! MAJOR MAJOR PLOT TWIST RIGHT THERE.

I didn't expect this book to be that good. I mean, it was super super awesome! Do I plan on reading the second and third book in the series? YES YES YES! I just ordered the next two books so you can expect a series review in about another week or two. The excitement of this series has me hyped up right now.

And now... a message from the Ipad:

Character Analysis:

Karou- Blue hair, blue hair? I envy you. I have wanted blue hair ever since I was little, ok? OMG. This frustrates me. She was definitely a mysterious character. Throughout the book, Karou was always looking to find the truth about herself. 

Akiva- He was quite an enigmatic character. The author didn't mention his background, or anything about his history. I was basically left in the dark the entire time. But... that mysterious part made him all the more sexy. I think Akiva is the new swoon of the month <3 nbsp="" p=""> Akiva was a very romantic character because he was always striving to keep Karou safe. 

Brimstone- I imagined him as a giant toad, or some type of reptilian monstrosity. Yikes! He was a close friend/guardian to Karou. After the portals were closed, she was intent on finding him. "Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind."