Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

So many times I heard that this book was phenomenal. That it would knock my socks off, and possibly even my head. Well, Laini, you did.

Karou was never like other girls. For example, other girls didn’t have a giant beast for a foster father or a snake-woman for a best friend. Other girls didn’t have blue hair that grew out of her head that way and they couldn’t speak over 20 languages, not all of them human. Karou runs errands for her “father,” Brimstone, who collects teeth and pays for them in wishes. Sometimes Karou wonders what he does with these teeth and she also wonders who she really is. Sometimes she feels empty inside, like she should be living some other life. Then she meets Akiva, the beautiful angel, and her whole world changes. She discovers who she is, as well as the secret behind Brimstone’s dealings.

Karou was an amazing protagonist. She was independent, strong, loyal, and really funny. I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of parts in this book and it was mostly due to things that Karou said. She had blue hair and, after reading this, I now really want blue hair. If I could just wish my hair to be a certain color, I would totally make it blue, just like Karou. She was just awesome.

Akiva, the male protagonist, was also pretty cool. He had tiger eyes that glowed, and I think that would look really awesome. He was fierce, strong, loyal, and sweet. Well, at least when he wasn’t trying to kill Karou.

At first, I thought that Karou and Akiva’s love happened really quickly, but then when I realized… something (I don’t want to give anything away!)… I thought that it made perfect sense. However, during the whole flashback scene, I thought that they fell in love a little too quickly there too, but hey, maybe that’s just how people from other worlds roll. I don’t know.

Laini Taylor’s writing was absolutely beautiful. It flowed nicely and it was poetic. She didn’t simply describe what was going on, but she embellished the events with interesting words choices, similes, and metaphors, though not too many. Her writing was perfect and I loved it because she could write beautifully while still delivering a funny line. It was impressive and I commend her for that!

The plot was very interesting. I was caught up in the action, even when there wasn’t really any action, and I could hardly put it down. The only part that I thought was a tad slow was the beginning of the flashback part, which takes up quite a few pages of the book, but once I got used to the story shift, it became entertaining again very quickly. Taylor wove a very complex story that I thought was really cool. She took a series of random things and brought it all together in the end, seamlessly.

And, oh, that ending. I WANT THE NEXT ONE NOW. It was a REALLY BIG cliffhanger and I want more, please! The next book, Days of Blood and Starlight, comes out on November 6, 2012. It has a beautiful cover. Just LOOK AT IT.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was FABULOUS. 5 Smileys!