Thursday, October 13, 2011

Review & GIVEAWAY: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor 

Published: September 27th 2011
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Page Count: Hardback, 420
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Find the Author: WebsiteGood ReadsTwitterBlog

Buy This Book:  Amazon
Book Depository

Add It To Your Good Reads Shelf
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? - Good Reads
This book started out and I thought to myself, "Mmm, this is kind of trippy." and then I thought it was a little weird and then... I fell in love! Laini Taylor, where have you been all my life? I hadn't heard of her before I read this and I definitely want to check more of her novels out, because her writing is stylish and I love it. 
“She moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx.”
“It is a condition of monsters that they do not perceive themselves as such. The dragon, you know, hunkered in the village devouring maidens, heard the townsfolk cry 'Monster!' and looked behind him.” 
“Yearning for love made her feel like a cat that was always twining around ankles, meowing Pet me, pet me, look at me, love me. 
The descriptions were rich and I was able to imagine some fantastical creatures that I've never seen before as clear as day. That's a big deal to me: being able to get a clear picture in my mind of what I'm reading. I've been know to put down books that lacked good descriptions because it's hard for me to get lost in a story, because I'll sit and obsess about what I should be seeing while I read. And there were very few parts of the story that dragged and when they did it didn't last very long and I was back in the groove. 


I'm not going to go into too much detail about what the book contains and what the paranormal aspect is, because the summary is vague and I went into it in the dark and that made it all the better! But Laini Taylor has a bright and vivid imagination: she takes something that tends to be cut and dry and fairly similar in each novel I've read and turned it into something elaborate, exciting and different. 


There was a wonderful romance and studly love interest. They were totally starcrossed SOULM8S and I eat that up. And back to the studly love interest: he's just UNSGSDKHGKDFHGHFDKGDKFDHFKGHDKJFGDKJFG - very cool. I'd hit it. I agree with Karou's best friend when she first saw Akiva and said, “Oh, Hell. Must. Mate. Immediately.” 


Please go forth and read this book! It's amazing! 


                                                             5 out 5 Hello Kitties!


GIVEAWAY TIME
I have a hardback copy to giveaway. I am a dummy and completely won two copies on this book. I'll be completely honest... I actually mixed the title up with The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Yeah, point and laugh! Fiiiiiiiiine! I'm stupid! So, I have an extra copy. And I want to share it with you! This is unfortunately for US entrants only though, because I'm too poor to afford international shipping. BUT IF YOU'RE INTERNATIONAL... If you really want this book, go ahead and go over to my 200 Followers Giveaway and enter and if you win you're free to choose a copy of this instead!








21 comments

  1. I've been dying to get my hands on this book. Love the review thanks for the chance at getting it =)
    -shellie
    Deviantzangel @ gmail

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  2. I'm glad this is a good one, and I trust your judgment. I'm excited to read it :) Thanks for winning two copies hahaha!

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  3. So glad you liked this one! I fell in love with it, too. The writing was SO beautiful. I didn't even put any quotes into my review because if I started picking out all the great ones, I'd never stop. I'd need a whole 'nother post for that!

    I am desperately awaiting the sequel. I love Karou and Akiva but I don't see how she could ever forgive him, so I really can't imagine what's going to happen next. But judging on past form, I'm sure whatever happens will be amazing.

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  4. I'm glad you enjoyed this book as well. It is incredibly imaginative I've never read anything like it!! Great review!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  5. Yay! I was hoping you would love. I think this book has to be read to be believed. Descriptions can never do it justice. I agree about Akiva, swoon.
    Great review!

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  6. I swear, every review I've read has been positive about this book. I can't find it anywhere in my town -_-

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  7. I've been dieing to read this! And your review just makes me want to read it more!!! Hope I win! : D

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  8. aww US only! :(
    haha so lucky that you won 2 copies!!! jealous!

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  9. This book was excellent! You're just meant to have this book - winning two copies ;)

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  10. Man I can't get this book for anything! Hopefully I get it this time or I'm going to have to break down and buy it :)

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  11. I've heard so many amazing things about this one!!! I can't wait to start it!

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  12. I really want this book. Thanks giving us a chance to win the book :)

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  13. thank u for this giveaway! I'm a new follower! I'm running a swag giveaway on my blog if you're interested..
    http://ariannecruz07.blogspot.com/2011/10/lisa-kesslers-night-walker-trading.html

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  14. @Shellie Good luck in winning! It's definitely a must-read! :)

    @Anna Woohoo! Yes, it's so so good! Definitely need to read it! Good luck in winning! :)

    @TG It was, wasn't it? I was in love with her descriptions and I love how it flowed so pretty, but every once in a while something funny or smartass would pop up! I definitely get what you mean though about Karou having difficulty forgiving him. I mean, it really wasn't his fault, well, it was, but it wasn't like he did it with horrible intentions... but it still is hard to get over. It's kind of like if someone ran over my dog - I might get they didn't mean to or w/e BUT WTF YOU WERE GOING 50 IN A 30 AND NOW MY DOG IS DEAD I HATE YOU FOREVER! ;) But I expect the next book is going to be really interesting!

    @Giselle I know! It was so different than anything I've read in a long while! :)

    @Andrea It does! It's just amaaaazing! :)

    @Zoey -.- Oh no! Yeah, I didn't see any copies in my town either. You might have to try Book Depository or Amazon! With Book Depository you'd get free shipping and you can get it much cheaper than you can in most shops. For instance, locally our hardbacks are anywhere from 16.99 - 24.99 and Book Depository keeps them around 10-13! Good deal!

    @Ana Lucia Sorry hun! I'll be having more contests in the future though where I can send them internationally! :)

    @Shanella I guess I was! ;D I was meant to share it!

    @ebaker Good luck! :D

    @Bookish Brunette I can't wait to see what you think of it!

    @Angie Good luck! :)

    @Arianne Thank you for following! I'm following you back! And thanks for the heads up on your giveaway! I'm checking it out! :)

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  15. I'm dying to read this book.

    Savanna

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  16. I'm so happy you enjoyed this one!! To me, hype ruins books and before this book even come out it was getting shit loads if it and it kinda killed me because the cover is so gorgeous and the summary is so vague and alluring so I knew if I waited to read until the series is over I would hate it plus for once, I kind of wanted to understand all the hype around this book so I caved. Even though it's both paranormal & a series. That's how much it drew me in;D Thank god I wasn't disappointed!

    You're totally right! this could have been your regular McDonald's big mac, totally nothing spectacular and common but Taylor totally spun it around to uniqueness! I loved her writing, it's so SEXY. I just want to eat the words<3

    Great review Liza, you're definitely right about everything you said!

    Now, let me go mate with Akiva...

    -thank you&come again.

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  17. Er, I missed the fine print. Am outside of US. Sorry! Ignore my entries...

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  18. This one looks so good! Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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  19. Great giveaway and congrats on 200 followers!

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  20. Congrats on the 200 followers!! There is so much hype around this book... I just can't wait to read it!

    Thanks for the great giveaway :)

    - Sarah (Inklings Read)

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  21. agreed. this book is totes mind-blowing.

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