Description
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.
Review
I was slightly dubious when I first saw its size but on starting it, I raced through it. I was left spellbound by the beauty of
The writing is not the only strong point. The characterisation, too, is excellent – Karou’s feelings of longing and loss come through so clearly. This is a character you will vouch for through to the end. Akiva, initially too dull and hardened for me to like him, especially as a love interest for Karou, slowly grew on me as his past was revealed to us and his mistakes forgiven.
I think everyone should give ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ a chance, even those of you that aren’t fond of fantasy, because it is one of those perfect unputdownable YA novels, an instant classic one might say, that renews your faith in the genre (suffice to say it renewed mine). I will not hesitate to reread it in the future, maybe to admire Taylor’s prose or to immerse myself in Prague and Elsewhere once more. Read it. You won’t regret it at all.
Rating: 5/5
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for sending the book for review!