Review: "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" 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 beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery 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?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book.  I also have a physical copy of this book.

This book was really just so cool!  I've never read anything quite like it.  The writing is absolutely beautiful, and I looooooved the overall setting.  The author takes us from Prague to Marrakesh and through to another world, seemingly effortlessly and with such description that I was able to vividly picture each location in my imagination.  Now that's talent!

I really enjoyed all the characters, most especially Karou's friend Zuzana.  Even the bad guys were memorable - I loved Razgut and Kazimir, and even Thiago!  Thiago is just so believably creepy.  The chemistry between Karou and Akiva is awesome.  I suppose some people might complain about the inst-lust between these two, but I think in the context of this book, it works.  The romance is not over the top, but definitely left me with some cool shiveries!

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" is absolutely going on my 2014 list of favourites, and I'm very keen to see what happens next in this series.  If you like a bit of magic in your YA reads, you should pick this one up, ASAP!