First, before I get to the actual book review I have to unveil something super awesomesauce with all of you. I applied to the Sony VIP Readers Book Club(read more here) and was one of the lucky 25 people chosen to take part. Sony has sent me an eReader along with a super snazzy cover(pictures and blog post coming later tonight when I can access my photos). Besides the awesome eReader I also get to read four great books and eventually fly to California to meet the authors! How cool is all of this? I won’t lie it was hard to believe at first and my wife questioned if it was all a scam. But I can assure it is legit and beyond one of the coolest things I have ever been part of before.
My first step was to read Daughter of Smoke of Bone by the wonderful author Laini Taylor.
I will be completely honest and tell you that if it were not for this book club I would probably have never read this book even after all the glowing reviews and book blogs blogging about it.
I am ever so thankful for the book club for making me read this book because I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I soaked this book up in just a few days and had a very hard time putting it down despite a very busy schedule.
Here is a quick overview from the blog of 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 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?
I loved this book. I am not just saying that because I am in the book club. I am very honest with my reviews if you have read my reviews over the years. I won’t lie I was absorbed right away with the characters, but when I started to piece together that there was this love/relationship issue taking over I started to cringe because I am not a fan of the love story novels. It must just be the guy in me. HOWEVER, I could handle this one. It was not over the top. The world Taylor crafted was beyond cool. The action was great and even though there were some issues with relationships it never detracted from the bigger issues of good vs. evil, how we can easily view others as “monster” when we don’t have all the information.
Of course I now know that this is a trilogy(big surprise there I know!), but the ending was a complete cliffhanger. I mean like HUGE cliffhanger. And I am so excited to know that the sequel is out and I can start up right away.
I loved this book. I really did and have it marked up there in my top of favorite reads this year. I want to take a tour of this world. I want to check out the restaurant and explore this world. It is that good. Go read this book now!
In case you have read this book or perhaps you want engage with the authors and read the books along with everyone else we we will be chatting with the authors.
If you have not read this book, be sure to do so! It is well worth it. If I can fall in love with a love story, then I know the rest of you will also. Better than Twilight and all the off shoots. This whole monster, chimera, angel, fallen angel, creature, good vs. evil world is just too cool to miss. The characters are very real despite not being real and the language just flows so smoothly across the pages(or screen). Don’t miss this book and I am ever so thankful I did not miss this one.
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