Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor -- A Bookanista Review

I have a confession to make: Laini Taylor frightens me.

She started scaring me when I read Lips Touch: Three Times, a collection of stories that was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award. That book spun me. When I read it, I was completely blown away by Taylor’s talent. She's a masterful writer and a truly creative storyteller. She's scary good, I tell you.

With DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, Taylor has outdone herself. This is an exquisite, dark and gorgeously written book with an unforgettable heroine, world, and story.

Here’s the description from Goodreads:

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 one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored 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?

Sounds amazing, right? And it IS. I hesitate to tell you too much by way of plot, save to say that this takes a concept that has been in quite a bit of YA lately, and gives it a firm--and stunning--tug into fresh ground.

It takes a lot for a book to truly stand out for me. When I’m lucky, I find one that leaves me in a daze long after I’ve read the last page. This is such a book. It’s the rarest of the rare—one to savor and love. To keep close and reread. I can't wait to buy this in hard copy.

Very highly recommended. Twelve out of ten stars.

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