Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. 418 pages, $18.99 ISBN: 9780316134026 (trade)

Plot Summary:

By day the cerulean locked Karou is an art student in Prague, by night she runs errands for the wishmonger Brimstone, a chimeara.  Brimstone and his staff, Issa, Twiga, and Yasri, are the only family Karou has ever known.  On an errand for Brimstone in Morocco, Karou is attacked by an angel and the most beautiful man Karou has ever seen.  Karou escapes through Brimstone’s portal, but only days later finds that portals to Brimstone’s world have been mysteriously closed. 

Ever since he almost killed her in Morocco Akiva has been drawn toward the girl with blue hair.  Akiva does not want to hurt her, she has reawakened his humanity something he thought he had lost.  Karou finds herself drawn to the beautiful angel even though he is her enemy; after all he is responsible for closing the portals to Brimstone’s world.  Soon Akiva and Karou are locked in a star crossed romance, on opposite sides of a war that has lasted for millennia. 

Critical Review:

Taylor’s seductive pose had me hooked from the first paragraph: “The falling snow and the early hour conspired to paint Prague ghostly, like a tintype photograph, all silver and haze.”  Karou and Akiva’s Romeo and Juliet romance will have readers in suspense; can love overcome hate and war?  Readers will be just as enthralled at the discoveries of Akiva and Karou’s mysterious pasts, which are hinted at throughout the book, but not fully reveals until the last chapter.  In Daughter of Smoke and Bone Taylor has masterfully crafted a romantic fantasy that will leave readers desperately awaiting the next installment in the series. 

Genre:

Fantasy

Romance

Interest Level:

Grades 7 and up

Similar Books:

Grave Mercy Robin LaFevers

Shiver Maggie Stiefvater

Subjects/Themes:

War

Angels

Chimeara

Awards/Honors:

Kirkus Best Young Adult Books 2011

Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books 2011

School Library Journal Best Books 2011

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012

Book and Author’s Websites:

http://www.lainitaylor.com/

http://growwings.blogspot.com/

http://daughterofsmokeandbone.com/

Annotation:

Karou is an art student by day and by night she runs errands for the chimaera Brimstone.  It is on one of these errands that she is attacked by the beautiful angel Akiva.  Karou escapes, but finds she cannot forget Akiva.  Akiva is drawn to seek Karou out and soon the two are engaged in a star crossed romance that extends beyond the human world. 

Book Talking Ideas:

The mysterious azure haired Karou is an art student by day, and by night she runs errands all over the world for the chimeara Brimstone.  On one of these errands she is attacked and almost killed by an angel called Akiva.  Despite the fact that Akiva almost killed her Karou is secretly drawn to him, like she has known him before in another life.  Akiva in turn is also drawn to Karou, he is ashamed that he hurt her, she has reawakened his humanity.  Soon the two are caught up in a star crossed romance that encompasses more than just the human world.  

Why I chose to include this book:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was originally recommended to me by one of the teen volunteers at my library.  I was further encouraged to read it after reading the reviews in Kirkus and SLJ, and on Reading Rants.