Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
ISBN: 9781611137743
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Released: October 12, 2011
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Duration: 12 Hours, 32 Minutes
Source: eAudio from my public library

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?"

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First Lines:

"Walking to school over the snow-muffled cobbles, Karou had no sinister premonitions about the day. It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondayness, not to mention its Januaryness."
Page
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Review:

There are about three or four people in my life who have been waiting for me to get to this book. They loved it so hardcore that it was mentioned constantly. And now I sort of see what they were talking about. This is quite the epic love story.

Karou doesn't know much about her past - just that it wasn't normal. She was raised in another world, where teeth are currency and people have all manner of animal characteristics. She now lives in the human world and continues to run errands for her adoptive family. Until one day, all of the portals to the other world are destroyed and she is left abandoned. She goes out looking for answers and comes across them in the most unsuspecting places.

This is a pretty intense romance. I mean, it's almost less about the setting, less about the situation... more about the relationship. This isn't something you realize until at least halfway through the book. As I said - epic love story. And it's taken beyond anything you can imagine. It's not a simple demon-meets-angel book. There's a ton of back story that totally changes the course of everything.

I sort of loved the whole concept of a girl being raised by demons and living in the normal world. With her blue hair. And crazy tattoos. It's just a cool idea and I think it reads really well. Uhm, also... Akiva? Hello. I don't even want to tell you which celebrity I was picturing in that roll. Let's just say that if this becomes a movie, he better be hot.

There was a point in the story that I really got worried that I was going to get lost. The whole perspective changes. Things get really backtracked and you are learning about Karou's life before. It's all necessary information, but the setting of the whole thing is different from where you were originally. It's an interesting way to tell a story. And it really makes me curious about where the second book will take place. And how much of that backtracking will be a part of it.

Huge bonus: The audiobook was awesome. The reader did a wonderful job with all of the various accents and crazy creatures. There was a ton going on and it could have totally fallen flat. But it didn't. And I truly recommend that you listen to this one. I don't often get so pulled into the story that I just have to listen to it all in one sitting (which I didn't, but it was close!). It was truly good enough that I am looking up that narrator to listen to other things she has done.

I believe all of those people who told me to read this book were right. It's an awesomely told story that many teens already are in love with. I will definitely be working on getting my hands on the audio of the second book.
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