Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

Karou is just living life as usual, attending school, sketching in her sketchbooks, and avoiding her ex-boyfriend, when her eyes meet a beautiful stranger, with eyes of fire.  Her simple school life with the occasional odd errand from the horned and tailed Brimstone are blown apart. The doors to Brimstones magical world of wishes and teeth are set ablaze and Karou is cut off from the only family she has ever known.  She is left with a question ringing in her head that has haunted her as long as she can remember, “Who am I?”.  The fire-eyed stranger who sets her heart aflame holds the truth that she so desperately seeks.  Love, heartbreak, and death.  Karou soon sets wheels in motion that will forever alter the life she knows.

I had friends telling me to read this about a year ago, and it finally made it to the top of by ToBeRead pile.  I had grown tired of YA novels with wimpy, lovesick heroines.  This book had a lot of hype attached to it so I had very high expectations.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of those books where I finished and thought, “Why did I wait so long?”.  Taylor had me caught up in the story of the Chimera and Angels from the get go.  The world she creates is beautiful and creatively original.  I have not read anything like this in a while, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a complete breath of fresh air.

Karou is a strong character willing to sacrifice herself for the ones she loves.  Taylor’s writing made me feel as if I had slipped inside Karou, and was truly feeling what she felt.  I’m usually not a fan of the whole “love at first sight” idea.  However, Karou and Akiva have reasons that go far beyond instant attraction.  The love story is both tragic and passionate.

I breezed through this book and wanted the next book, Days of Blood and Starlight, as soon as I read the last word.  I’m hooked on Angels, Chimera, teeth, and thuribles containing souls.  It also looks like this is being adapted for the big screen by Universal Pictures.  Let’s hope they can do this book justice and make the movie just as divine as the book.