Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1

Published: September 27, 2012

Publisher: Little Brown

Pages: 418

Around the world, black hand prints 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 grows 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.

I’m trying to recall how I stumbled upon this book. I’m fairly sure it was, quite literally, a random turn of events. I was on one blog I liked, followed a link to another blog I’d never heard of, saw a picture of the cover on the sidebar, and clicked. And read the description. And then eagerly anticipated the release date. That’s it. No star praised review, no avid friend telling me to read it, just the words strung together to sell a book.

The book did not disappoint. Many of the things that piqued my curiosity in the description flowed over into the book. And now I’m about to go on an analyzing adventure.

This description is divided into two parts. The first part sets the plot, tone, and style. “Black handprints appearing on doorways,” “winged strangers,” and “a slit in the sky,” all imply an intriguing plot and setting, but most importantly, somethingnew. And there’s something lyrical about the way it is written, that adds a natural tone of ominousness. The entire phrase of, “a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low,” just reels us further in, and promises the most unique style of story telling in this genre. Then, the casual mention of “Prague,” and you know you are ready to be transported somewhere only few have every gone…or at least where you’ve never gone.

The next part establishes the protagonist and how she will forever more be first in out hearts. She’s an artist. She’s not an ignorant spectator googling monsters to figure out what supernatural she’s dealing with ( as exhibited by the fact that she speaks languages that aren’t human). SHE HAS NATURAL BLUE HAIR. And she’s on a road of self-discovery. BAM. Insta-love. 

I recently reread this book (hence review), and I’m happy to say that all the things that were enjoyable to me the first time around did not diminish. Even though I knew what was going on, at some points, I still found myself rooting certain…things…And that’s impressive on Taylor’s part, since a huge part of this novel is a journey of discovering exactly what being Karou means for her and those around her, and once all is revealed…welll, guys, this one is masterfully crafted. 

Since a huge part of this book is discovering what it is about, I’m not going to go into plot or character details. But this is a book that leaves you emotionally traumatized:

I want compensation. I can just see Taylor hunched over her computer a gleefully saying:

But I think we all like books that do things to us because, well, they make us feel a lot. And emotionally traumatizing is a sure way to guaranteed that. Make sure to pick this one up at your local bookstore next time you go around, and look for the sequel that just came out, Days of Blood and Starlight.