Disclaimer: Laini Taylor has a way with words, she makes magic with them and spreads hope while touching your heart…
Summary 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 otherwordly 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
I finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone this week-end. I had picked it up after reading so many good reviews about it and seeing it showing up on Best Reads of 2011. I was not quite sure what to expect from it. I went into reading this book with anxious questions: would I actually enjoy it? will I feel with Karou?
And then…I read the first sentence.
The story of Karou and Akiva is not just another star-crossed love story. It takes your heart, breaks it and tries to mend it as it goes. Karou is the type of heroin you root for. You feel close to her as the book reveals her personality and her quirks. The way she reacts makes sense because that´s how well you get to know her. What I particularly enjoyed is how true the emotions felt in such a fantastic world. And there are the details: you can roam the streets of Prague with Karou (I´ve been there once and this is such a magical place), you can learn so much about men with mustache (and here I mentioned this in my Happy Friday post but it reminds me of the way Gogol wrote), you are reminded how there´s always more to a story than the surface, how myths grow on history (to use Laini´s words)
Favorite quotes:
- “Stop squandering yourself, child. Wait for love.”
- “Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?”
- “She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil’s lair.”
- “My life is blood because my world is beasts”
- “Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.”
So tell me, what book surprised you recently? and did you have a nice weekend? 🙂
Elodie Nowodazkij 
So glad you loved this one. It was my favorite of 2011 and I can’t wait for the follow-up this fall. I adore Karou and Akiva, and the writing… gorgeous!
The writing is really beautiful! and the story well…did I already use the word “magical”? 😀
OMG I must read this book it sounds amazing. I’ve always wanted blue hair too! I just like being awkward and different 🙂
You should totally read it (and then maybe even get blue hair :D)…The story is simply beautiful!
SUCH a good book. I seriously loved this book, and recommend it to people weekly. Like you said, Karou’s and Akiva’s story is so much more than star-crossed. And now I want to visit Prague so badly.
And I want to write like Laini, but that’s never going to happen.
It is really a wonderful story! 😀 and Prague is a beautiful city!
When it comes to writing like Laini, just keep remembering that your style may be different but that others can also find it gorgeous!