Lets play a game; it's called "Guess How Much Teya Liked This Book." I'll give you a hint: Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices much.
Seventeen year-old art student Karou is a mystery to everyone around her; only telling truths about herself that she knows no-one will believe. But they're true. All of them. Yes, the half-bestial creatures in her sketchbook are real, and yes her hair really does grow out of her head that colour. What with her mysterious scars, her collection of over twenty languages, and her popping off on a regular basis to perform "errands," it's no wonder everyone always asks her Who are you? And it's a question she asks herself every day. But when a series of scorched hand prints appear on doors all over the world and a fiery stranger comes into her life, Karou discovers secrets about herself that she didn't necessarily want to know.
I had already read two of Laini Taylor's books; Blackbringer and Silksinger, so I had a pretty good idea that I was going to enjoy Daughter of Smoke and Bone. What I failed to realize was just how much I would love it. (I mean seriously, being ranked next to The Mortal Instruments is pretty impressive) The imagery used is beautiful, and so vivid, that you can imagine yourself wandering through the markets of Marrakesh, or walking down the cold streets of Prague.
“The streets of Prague were a fantasia scarcely touched by the twenty-first century—or the twentieth or nineteenth, for that matter. It was a city of alchemists and dreamers, its medieval cobbles once trod by golems, mystics, invading armies. Tall houses glowed goldenrod and carmine and eggshell blue, embellished with Rococo plasterwork and capped in roofs of uniform red. Baroque cupolas were the soft green of antique copper, and Gothic steeples stood ready to impale fallen angels. The wind carried the memory of magic, revolution, violins, and the cobbled lanes meandered like creeks. Thugs wore Motzart wigs and pushed chamber music on street corners, and marionettes hung in windows, making the whole city seem like a theater with unseen puppeteers crouched behind velvet.”
See what I mean?
The plot details come at the perfect timing so that they're spread out enough to keep you hooked, and trying to guess what's happening, but close enough together, that you don't get bored, and move on. You can see the careful structuring that went into this book to keep it mysterious and suspenseful.
Karou is a very well developed character. More of her personality and character, along with her history is discovered as the story progresses.
“She moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx.”
Also, she has blue hair, and that's just really cool. She has a very distinctive voice, and a wry sort of humor. In fact, all the characters have unique voices, and I don't mean that just because the audiobook narrator reads each character in a different voice.
While this does not pertain to the story per se, I really like the cover. Despite the saying, when I buy books, covers factor into the decision. Obviously I wouldn't condemn a book purely because of it's cover, but quite often what jumps out at me is a cool cover. I haven't read it yet, but I feel compelled to include the cover of the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight as well. There's also a post over on Laini Taylor's blog about the cover of the German edition, and the secret it holds within...Feisty chick-o-meter: 10/10
Age rating: 16+
Rating: 10/10
Book or audiobook: Audiobook
Stand alone or series: Series
Last word: End
Length: 432 pages
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