Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

#1 in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series
Published on September 27, 2011 by Little Brown & Co.
5 stars

Goodreads Review
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?

Review: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a PERFECT example of paranormal romance done wonderfully right.  Everything about this book is fantastic.  The characters are all well developed and supported, the setting is imaginative and descriptive, and the plot is fresh and unique while still having the classic elements of the paranormal romance genre.

First let's discuss the characters.  The entire cast is charming, interesting, and very well written.  I absolutely love Karou.  I love her physical description with her blue hair and the double life she leads.  She's interesting and smart but still can make mistakes.  She goes through a lot of growth because she starts off very sheltered and a bit precocious and by the end of the book she has become a strong heroine.  I also liked Karou's love interest, Akiva, but not as much.  He was a bit more of a stereotypical paranormal romance "bad boy" but near the end of the book when we learn about his past he grows on me and I actually really liked him. 

As a bit of a side note, I really appreciated how the secondary characters (namely Karou's BFF Zusana) don't get forgotten about half way through the book when the romance starts to heat up.  This happens countless times in paranormal romance and it really grinds my gears.  I think the fact that Karou doesn't just forget about her friends is refreshing and shows her as a strong woman, capable of making decision and not defining herself by the man she is (or is not) with.

Now let's just talk for a second about my favorite character, Brimstone.  Oh my gosh, I loved him so much.  This could be partially due to the fact that I imagined him as the faun from Pan's Labyrinth:

Am I right?  Brimstone is hella awesome, I wish we had learned more about him from his point of view, not from other people telling us about him.  I LOVE his teeth collection and the magic behind them.  His home/workshop is just so creepy but at the same time the way Karou describes it makes it feel safe and secure.  Everything about Brimstone could be terrifying, but because we know Karou we see him as a fatherly figure.  He is an interesting character and despite what happens (no spoilers!) I really hope to see more of him in the next book. 

I was a little worried that this book was just going to be a run of the mill paranormal romance.  I had just read a book that I thought was going to be sweet but fell into that category, and I really didn't want to repeat the same mistake.  Lucky for me this was paranormal romance done so, so right.  I love the ending.  We get a lot of interesting back story which is almost a whole new book within a book (inception anyone?) but it never feels awkward or forced.  It totally fits the story and is integrated flawlessly into the pacing of the book.  (Dang writing this review is making me want to read it again lol)

Overall The Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fantastic fantasy that doesn't sacrifice any action or explanation of the mythology in order to have a spicy romance (and believe me, there is some fantastic romance too).  It's a perfectly paced and balanced story that does a great job of setting up the series story arc while still being an independent book in it's own right.  I highly recommend The Daughter of Smoke and Bone; it's in my top 10 for 2011 for sure :).