Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Author: Laini Taylor | Hodder and Stoughton | Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1 | 418 pages | 5 Stars | Source: Bought
Release Date: September 29th 2011
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

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.

Review:

I have had this book on my shelf ever since February and I have never got round to reading it. Thank goodness I finally have!

I went in to this book completely blind and for me, this enhanced my reading experience. Hence the reason I am going to try and keep this review as short and sweet as possible.

Unlike many books I got in to this one from the very first page. Karou is such and intriguing character (to be honest she had me at blue hair). As I read on I was just itching to find out more about her and her background. The irony is though I entered the novel knowing as much as she did about her self and her background. Nothing. Her discovery is immensely gripping from start to finish and is one of the many factors that contributed to me reading this in every spare minute I had. Even if it was a paragraph waiting in the canteen for a drink, it was worth it!

The world building is brilliant. I thought with it being the start of a new series it would try and cram as much info in to the first book as possible and bombard you with info from start to finish in order to set you up for the next books. Luckily, I was wrong! We are given tidbits of information through out. Enough to keep readers entertained and not too much so we are not baffled.

Character development is also another reason why this is a must read. We are given info/background on all of the characters (even the ones in the background). If something happened it definitely made me feel more towards them because of this. It especially (for me) applies to Brimstone. The way my feelings changed towards him across the novel took me by surprise. It could turn from hatred to endearment with in pages because the characters are so wonderfully written and complex.

Also, the concept of the Chimaera and the Seraphim is stunning. It is so refreshing to see a new kind of supernatural. The elements that make them especially vivid are Karou’s drawing in her sketch pad. While reading them you can picture them so vividly thanks the illustrative writing style.

It is also set in Prague, which makes the whole read even better.

Goodreads Average: 4.08/5 (out of 89,599 ratings)

Want to buy it? Amazon UK | Amazon US | The Book Depository

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