Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Goodreads: "Errand requiring immediate attention. Come. 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.
Goodreads: "Errand requiring immediate attention. Come. 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.
My Review:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of those books that make me question why I didn’t pick it up aggggggggggges ago. Taylor’s descriptions of exotic destinations including Prague and Marrakesh really transport you into Karou’s world. I really enjoyed this book, it was a fresh take on the angels theme that has obviously been explored a lot in YA. I liked how they were contrasted with the chimera as I thought that was a new twist and was interesting to think about half human, half animal creatures battling angels.
Karou was an enjoyable character, she made me laugh, she made me feel sad and I truly experience everything that she did. I liked how she was a strong character, especially against Kaz –her ex-boyfriend. I enjoyed the scenes with him a lot! Karou is just like every other seventeen year old in my opinion, she seeks revenge on her enemies (the eyebrows was funny) and tries to make sense of herself. Zuzana was also one of my favourite characters, I enjoyed the e-mails are the end of the book. Akiva, what to say about Akiva… He’s a good character, plagued with guilt and torment. I just felt like he was a bit too perfect, ya know? Ok, nobody hate me please! But I found all the history behind the angels a bit tiresome in the middle and felt my attention in the book lag massively, to the point where I was skipping pages. However, I did enjoy him more towards the end when everything is revealed, but not enough to make me love him, sorry Akiva! Thiago is definitely a creepy baddie in this! I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him, he is such a brute! I hope we find out more about him in the other books.
All in all, I would recommend ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’, if like me, you’ve been putting it off because it doesn’t really seem like ‘your thing’, push it away and dive right into this! You will be spending your days roaming Prague streets and exploring Marrakesh with some truly interesting characters.
4 out of 5 stars.
