TODAY'S TARGET
Assignment: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Child of: Laini Taylor
Published: September 27th, 2011
Affiliation: First of a trilogy
Followed by: Days of Blood and Starlight
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young-Adult Fiction
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?"
(No Spoilers)
Wow. Now I don't even think I can put exactly into words how I feel about this book (great idea to start a blog then, eh?) but I'm always reading new YA books and this just stood out in the very best way. DOSAB sucks you in with a relatable heroine, a heartbreaking hero, funny side characters and an incredible new literary world.
In prague lives a 17 year old girl named Karou. She goes to art school, hangs out with her best friend Zuzana and has boy troubles just like everyone else. She's a pretty normal teenager, except for the fact that she was raised by 4 chimaera, beings that are composed of both human and animal parts. And everything changes when she meets Akiva, whom not only brings sparks but all the answers.
PLOT:
Plot wise, I think it's hard to find a book with an original world and characters such as this. It is very much a fantasy, Lord of the rings style novel with a YA friendly romance. There are some plot twists you can expect but many come up and punch you in the face. (at some point in the middle of reading the second book I basically crawled into a ball and was like whhyyyyy Laini, whyyy?) But overall a very interesting concept and definitely a page turner.
One of the things that makes this novel really work are the characters. I really love all the characters in this book.
Karou, the main heroine, manages to be entertaining yet still mature, which I always enjoy in a book. I think she will be a very relatable soul to most whom I'm sure have all felt lonely or different in this world.
Zuzana, her petite-sized spitfire of a friend, manages to bring most of the humor to the story and you will quickly grow to love her.
Akiva, yum but more on him later.
I even sort of like Kaz who is a scumbag but he is a funny scumbag.
THE GUYS:
This YA book is definitely not short on husband materials. There are a few males present but the main one to focus on would have to be Akiva.
To describe him I think the excerpt from the book would work best.
"What people saw was a tall young man, beautiful—truly, breath-stealingly beautiful, in a way one rarely beholds in real life—who moved among them with predatory grace, seeming no more mindful of them than if they were statuary in a garden of gods. On his back a pair of crossed swords were sheathed, and his sleeves were pushed up over forearms tanned and corded with muscle. His hands were a curiosity,
etched both white with scars and black with the ink of tattoos—simple repeating black lines hatched across the tops of his fingers. His dark hair was cropped close to his skull, with a hairline that dipped into a widow’s peak. His golden skin was bronzed darker across the planes of his face—high ridges of cheekbones, brow, bridge of the nose—as if he lived his life in drenching rich honey light.
But all of this was just fleeting impression. What people fixed on, stopping to watch him pass, were his eyes.
They were amber like a tiger’s, and like a tiger’s they were rimmed in black—the black both of heavy lashes and of kohl, which focused the gold
of his irises like beams of light. They were pure and luminous, mesmerizing and achingly beautiful, but something was wrong, was missing.
Humanity, perhaps, that quality of benevolence that humans have, without irony, named after themselves. When, coming around a corner, an old
woman found herself in his path, the full force of his gaze fell on her and she gasped.
There was live fire in his eyes. She was sure he would set her alight."
But all of this was just fleeting impression. What people fixed on, stopping to watch him pass, were his eyes.
They were amber like a tiger’s, and like a tiger’s they were rimmed in black—the black both of heavy lashes and of kohl, which focused the gold
of his irises like beams of light. They were pure and luminous, mesmerizing and achingly beautiful, but something was wrong, was missing.
Humanity, perhaps, that quality of benevolence that humans have, without irony, named after themselves. When, coming around a corner, an old
woman found herself in his path, the full force of his gaze fell on her and she gasped.
There was live fire in his eyes. She was sure he would set her alight."
sigh. and then cry he is not real. Anway...
As you will probably eventually get to know my taste in fictional men, I shall let you know right now Akiva is an A++ with extra credit for being so sweet. Dedicated, loyal, with a sad backstory (does liking that in a guy make me a sadist?) he is every bit the perfect YA hero. You'll cry for him once you learn more but I don't want to get into any spoilers so I'll just leave you with this.
"“Your soul sings to mine. My soul is yours, and it always will be, in any world. No matter what happens. I need you to remember that I love you.” - Akiva
5/5
IN CONCLUSION:
I felt like I couldn't go into too much detail with this review as this book really is about Karou uncovering more information about herself and her past and that's what sort of moves the plot along so sorry if it is too vague. I just wanted to let you guys know my thoughts and that I'd definitely recommend you guys go and read this book. I feel like this is a book with a fast pace that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next but with great moments that you'll want to reread. Also suitable for an older reader whom finds teen books tedious.
Plot:
Akiva:
Final Judgement:
BANG. This book was taken down and can be succesfully written down on my list of kills. I would definitely recommend adding it to your hitlist.
P.S so this is the first review out. Let me know what you think if it's too long too short, if you'd prefer more info on the plot and such. Thanks for reading!
