Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



See my review on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R163G2X3JONEO5

Please note: I reviewed this book in December 2011 from a copy received from the Amazon Vine Program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy

My Synopsis: Karou (which means "hope") is a fairly normal young woman. She lives in Prague and attends an art high school. She has bright-blue hair. She enjoys hanging out at her favorite cafe with her friend Zuzana. Her family is a different issue - the man who raised her is named Brimstone, and he has the torso and arms of a human, the legs of a lion, the head of a reptile and the horns of a ram. Issa is half woman, half snake. Twiga has the neck of a giraffe, and Yasri has the beak of a parrot. Brimstone deals in teeth, but strangely he is running short - Karou is the one who goes around the world to collect teeth from the various people who sell to Brimstone. However, the doors through which she enters and leaves Brimstone's shop have started to have hand prints burned into them, burned by winged strangers who have come from Elsewhere and are searching for every portal from our world into Brimstone's. With a foot in both worlds, Karou is about to be put in the middle of a war about which she had previously known nothing. Why does Brimstone need the teeth? And how will she ever see her family again, now that the portals are all closed?

My Thoughts: This was, quite simply, an astonishingly unique story. The ideas behind the seraphim and the chimaera are well developed and fascinating - I can't wait for the next book in order to learn more about the other world. Karou is a fascinating character - her background is mysterious and it is well to the end of the book before we learn much about her and her past. I was enthralled by the story and I think anyone who enjoys a good fantasy with great characters and an interesting plot should love this story - definitely check it out!



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