Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Goodreads Summary: 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?

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Author: Laini Tyalor
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Release Date: 27th September 2011
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Challenge: TBR Pile and Outdo Yourself Reading Challenges

WOW, it has taken me so long to actually read this and I am at a lost as to what to write in my review. I was so addicted to this book that I just couldn't seem to put it down. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is so uniquely different that I am still amazed. Laini Taylor’s creative abilities are awe inspiring; there are no other words for it. FULL STOP! Ms Taylor’s writing style was fantastic, easy reading and intriguing, with romance, what more can one want? But gee, there is so much more to this book….

Karou has led an interesting life; she grew up in a little shop that dealt in human teeth. She learnt how to tell all the different teeth apart and what teeth is the best quality. Karou is no typical teenager living in Prague though, but she is trying to be normal and goes to art school. Karou has no memory of her childhood before coming to the little shop of horrors. Brimstone raised her and trained her on teeth. Every now and then Brimstone calls for her to run an errand. She goes collecting teeth from customers that cannot make it into the shop. The shop is running low on teeth and she must hurry, but doesn't understand why they are so important.

Running an errand for Brimstone, she finds a black handprint seared onto the portal door. Not understanding what this is about, Karou just carries on. Then in another location and another portal door she spots Akiva, a beautiful man with fire coloured eyes and another handprint. They are instantly attracted to each other, but they are also enemies.

There is a war, Karou knows nothing of this war, but it is happening all around her. With time running out and the war becoming even more dangerous for Karou, she is determined to find the answers that have eluded her all these years. Why is her love for Akiva so forbidden? What is the significance of the black handprints? What is behind the door that she was never allowed to see through? Why are her tattoos so damaging to Akiva?

I cannot wait to read Days of Blood and Starlight to find out the next chapter for Akiva and Karou. Their love for each other is unparalleled and I am anxious to see where it goes. The world, creatures and vivid detailing that Ms Taylor has created is amazing to say the least. Her characters have so much potential to evolve and have so many different directions they could take. With betrayal, magic, love, action, intrigue and mystery, what more can you ask for? This series is a must read for everyone and Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a fantastic introduction into this new world.

5 FANTASTIC BOOKS - A MUST READ

About the Author

Courtesy of Laini's website

Hi! I'm Laini Taylor. I am a writer-artist-daydreamer-nerd-person, and simultaneously a mom-wife-sister-daughter-person. I can do a lot of things at once, like for example: I can sleep and dream and also lie very still, all while also breathing and ever-so-slowly growing ten distinct toenails.

I write books for youngish people, but they can also be read and enjoyed by oldish people, aka grown-ups. You know grown-ups? They tend to be a little bigger and hairier than kids. But not always.

I live in Portland, Oregon, USA with my husband Jim Di Bartolo, who is an amazing illustrator and who I'm always begging to draw me things, and with our wee droll genius, Clementine Pie, age three.

Some of my favorite things are books and bookstores and breakfast food and mangoes and chocolate,
and cake stands and table cloths and old houses, and going places (like libraries and other countries),
and dreaming up stories, and making stuff (like cupcakes or peculiar dolls), and playing with Jim and Clementine, and taking pictures, and falling asleep (so cozy) and waking up (exciting!).

~ courtesy of Laini Taylor's website

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Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Goodreads Summary: Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Title: The Iron Daughter
Series: The Iron Fey #2
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 1st August 2010
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Challenge: TBR Pile and Outdo Yourself reading challenges

What can I say that hasn’t been said before about Julie Kagawa and her Iron Fey series? AMAZING! AWESOME! STUPENDOUS! FANTASTIC! So, I guess you could say that I loved this book and the series. I read book 1, The Iron King a while ago and hadn’t gotten around to reading the rest of the series. When The Lost Prince came out though, I couldn’t help myself and had to read it because everywhere I saw fantastic reviews. After reading it, I got excited again for the series and had to read The Iron Daughter, so I borrowed it from the library.

After surviving the NeverNever and rescuing her little brother from the Iron Fey, Meghan was hoping her life would return to normal. But since she had to make a deal with Ash, he collected and Meghan had to return with him to the Winter Court. Meghan has been held captive and has lost count of the days. Ash hasn’t returned and seems to be avoiding her. The Queen is making her wait, but when finally she has an audience with her, Ash ignores Meghan. Meghan doesn’t know what to think of him, was he just toying with her feelings, Meghan is heartbroken!

The Winter Queen will not believe that the Iron Fey is around everywhere and apparently nobody can find any evidence. The Summer King and Meghan’s Father has come to hand over the season sceptre that will allow winter to come. The Summer King wants his daughter back, but the Queen will not relinquish her and there is uproar.

The sceptre is stolen by Iron fey and they killed Ash’s eldest brother in the process. Meghan was witness and left alive, but the Winter Queen doesn’t believe it was the Iron fey. Meghan is going to be killed and Ash comes to her rescue helping her escape. Meghan is determined to find the sceptre and find the new Iron King and in the process stop a war between Summer and Winter.

Follow along with Meghan as she tries to find her way, fighting with Ash and being in mortal danger at every corner. With the help of some old friends, Puck and the cat Grimalken, plus some new friends, Queen of the Exiles; Meghan tries to fight her way through the Iron fey and discover who is behind it all. The adventure is heightened by the love triangle; Ash is hiding his true feelings and Puck is also vying for Meghans attention.

Julie Kagawa has a fantastic writing style that is so easy to read. When I pick up one of her books, I aaaahhh over how easy and wonderful they are to read. The betrayal, adventure, mystery, romance and humour are just fantastic and with each book I read, I see how Meghan is evolving, maturing and I can’t wait to read more. I cannot decide between Ash and Puck, they are so different, but I can’t help feeling sorry for Puck for always coming off second best. I highly recommend this to all readers, because it is just fantastic.

5 FANTASTIC BOOKS - AWESOME

About the Author

Courtesy of Goodreads

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times Bestselling author of The Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series, was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn't getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy.

~ courtesy of Julie's website

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