Today’s review comes to you from one of Jennie’s students – Abby D. Thanks for contributing, Abby!
Around the world, black handprints are appearing in 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?
When you read a lot of young adult fiction, there are some things you just come to expect. Such as, there will always be a love story (often involving a love triangle); the main character will be your average, everyday girl from Anytown, USA; and, almost always, everything will be resolved happily and neatly. Although there’s nothing wrong with these tropes, it’s often nice to read something without them. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, for example, is one of those books without the aforementioned tropes. While there is a romance subplot, it’s just a small factor in a story that expands far beyond our main characters. Set in Prague, the book contains a large cast of vibrant, quirky characters whom you are not going to forget, including a blue-haired art student raised by monsters, a tiny “rabid fairy” puppeteer, a creature that forms wishes (and other things) out of teeth, a violinist, and an angsty angel with some serious history. In addition, the book contains some absolutely gorgeous prose that gives it an almost fairytale-like tone, but don’t be fooled: this is not a happy story. Filled with twists that will keep you guessing and set in an absolutely unique world, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is an incredible story that will keep you hooked.
Happy Monday, all! 🙂 Jennie @jenniekaywrites
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