Taylor, Laini: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Daughter of Smoke & Bone (2011)
Written by: Laini Taylor
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Pages: 418 (Hardcover)
Series: Book One
Why I Read It: I've been put off of YA recently, and have been selecting new releases with only the greatest of care. This one had the gorgeous cover to catch my eye, of course, but it was the numerous good reviews I saw from the people I trust that made me put it on high priority on my birthday wishlist. When I received it as a gift, I knew it was a book I had to read right away.
The premise: ganked from publisher's website: 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?
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. It's such a gorgeous book that I don't want to risk the chance you might not get to enjoy it to its fullest. No need to skip forward unless you're paranoid or simply in a hurry. So onward, and learn why I loved this book so much.
Funny experience reading this book. I fell in love in the first few pages and was immediately engrossed, but unfortunately, I was incredibly busy while trying to read this book, and didn't have a lot of time to spare. So despite loving the book while reading it, sometimes I'd go a day or two with not reading much at all.
In a way, that was a good thing. Daughter of Smoke & Bone is a book that's meant to be savored. The imagery demands attention, the prose invites marveling at times, and the story, which startled me with its re-telling of a particular Shakespearean tale (I won't say which, as that in and of itself is a spoiler), demands speculation with its twist. I spent many a page wondering who or what Karou really was, and that was a nice bit of speculation. Daughter of Smoke & Bone doesn't pave the way for a predictable YA. I loved the twists and turns the story gave me, and how it doesn't provide any easy answers. By time I finished the book, I was scouring Amazon for news of its sequel. Sadly, no news yet, but you can bet that I'll be grabbing that title the instant I'm able to.
So what makes Daughter of Smoke & Bone such a joy? The first was its heroine, Karou, and the second was the very non-American setting. Everything about Karou and her life in Prague as well as her time in Elsewhere had be utterly enchanted.
And then there were phrases that just delighted me.
On the very first page:
It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondayness, not to mention its Januaryness. It was cold, and it was dark -- in the dead of winter the sun didn't rise until eight -- but it was also lovely. The falling snow and the early hour conspired to paint Prague ghostly, like a tintype photograph, all silver and haze.
And while one expects the heroine of her own story to be some kind of beautiful, this passage on page 18 is a wonderful way to describe said beauty:
Karou was, simply, lovely. Creamy and leggy, with long azure hair and the eyes of a silent-movie star, she moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx.
And this one on page 22 from Brimstone had me laughing out loud:
I don't know many rules to live by," he'd said. "But here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles -- drug or tattoo -- and . . . no inessential penises, either."
A wonderful description of Prague, a way of describing setting that I wish more authors had the ability or patience to do (page 183):
The first time she'd come to Prague, she'd goten so lost exploring these streets. She'd passed an art gallery and a few blocks later doubled back to find it, and . . . couldn't. The city had swallowed it. In fact, she had never found it. There was a deceptive tangling of alleys that gave the impression of a map that shifted behind you, gargoyles tiptoeing away, stones like puzzle pieces rearranging themselves into new configurations while you weren't looking. Prague entranced you, lured you in, like the mythic fey who trick travelers deep into forests until they're lost beyond hope.
I could go on and on quoting this book, but I think I've given you plenty to sample, don't you think?
My Rating: Couldn't Put it Down
This is easily one of my most favorite YA novels of the year (the other, Five Flavors of Dumb, isn't spec fic, so really, there's no comparison). Not only is the writing gorgeous, but the story and world-building is utterly compelling. The character of Karou is an enjoyable heroine who fights to get what she wants, and has a solid head on her shoulders when it comes to love interests. This is no romance-driven young adult paranormal, but a rather mature fantasy novel that begs to have a director like Guillermo del Toro adapt it to film (I'm reminded of Pan's Labyrinth, thanks to the wonderful fantasy imagery of the book). Prague, as well as the Elsewhere fantasy settings, come to life in a delightful way, and the unfolding of the tale, particularly the discovery of Karou's own personal history, is both a delight and a shock. When I had the time to read, I didn't want to put the book down, but when I was forced to put the book down, I was able to savor it. I'm already chomping at the bit for book two, and if you get around to reading this, I'm betting you'll feel the same way once you finish it.
Cover Commentary: Gorgeous. I love the blue, feathered mask against the black/white cover. It's striking and eye-catching, and the font choices are excellent too.
Next up: Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure by Sam Cameron