Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1) by Laini Taylor

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?

So once again I've found a book that was getting rave reviews that lived up to all it's hype. More times than not I feel like even if the book turns out to be great like everyone said it would, because I've built it up so much before even sitting down to read it that I've already doomed it to not possibly being able to live up to those standards. Not so in this case. Taylor created a vivid and unique world for her characters to thrive. I'll admit that the ending took me by surprise. I really thought I had most of it worked out, but the VERY end threw me for a loop and left me wishing the sequel was already out on the shelves.

Karou was wonderful. Her attitude, poise and stamina for everything happening around her was inspiring and entertaining to witness. Akiva was one of those characters that you couldn't help but empathize with because there was a sadness to him that can only come after devastating loss and hurt. But still he powered on and the Karou and Akiva team were hard to resist. When they were fighting I wasn't sure who I was rooting for and why? When they were working together I was overjoyed and crossing my fingers that things would work out for them. And in the back of my mind I was sure a wrench would be thrown into their plans time and time again. I wish I was wrong.

Such a creative and inventive world with more possibilities than any I've come across in a book in a long time, if ever there was a comparison to rival Taylor's work. Her writing was fresh and her fast paced action had me unable to turn the pages quick enough. I've got a happy ending all worked out in my head for book two but I'm not thinking things will go my way, or at least not entirely. Taylor left me on the edge of my seat, biting my nails until the bitter end. And it most certainly was bitter. What's to come of these characters? Only Taylor knows and until book two hits the shelves I'm sure she's not telling.

I gave Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1) 4 shamrocks!!!!