Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Once upon a time there was a girl. Her name was Valerie. She desperately wanted something at least half good to read. (Yup, just half good.) So when Goodreads recommended Daughter of Smoke and Bone to her, she was happy. It's rating was 4.39 out of 5 stars! More than four! And it was interesting! Yup, this is the true story of (wait for it...) me! Oh, and 4 out of 5 stars too.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
4 out of 5 stars
Published 9.27.11
Summary from Goodreads.com: 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 love this book! Especially the writing. It was dark and mysterious and third-person with just the right amount of flowers. At times it was dark and mysterious, at other times it was bright and cheerful. I love how smoothly and easily Laini Taylor made that transition. It was just pure genius! Or pure Laini...

And then there was Karou. I absolutely love her! She has blue hair, pale skin, and just an awesome witty personality. Oh, wit. I love how smart and clever Karou was. Unlike some protagonists, she wasn't a damsel in distress. If anything, she was the opposite. You have to respect that. I like how she was curious and just wanted to know. In short, Karou is a fabulous character that needs to be worshipped. Well, maybe not...
You know what I mean!

Akiva, if I didn't love you so much, I would go into the book and kill you. Why did you do that? And why were you so secretive? There's a difference between secretive and mysterious, and you crossed that line. I can't believe you! I'm so conflicted about you and your tiger eyes and your actions. To the reader of this post: Akiva does something you learn about rather quickly, but you don't really hate him for it until the end. When you learn how bad he was...

Oh this plot. I like it, but I dont' love it. It was surprising, I'll give it that, but there was the whole Akiva thing. It had all the elements of any good plot like twists and turns and all that good stuff. But what had me mad was the whole Akiva thing. I know that not all books have a happy ending but still, why Akiva? Why you? Please, please tell me this is a dream, and I didn't finish the book! I'm begging you! Well, if I am concerned, I must really love this book.

Then there was the one thing I absolutely despised: insta-love. I absolutely hate insta-love. It's fake and for utopias or fairytales. I hate how artificial it feels. Why couldn't you just have made it a nice slow authentic romance? Then I wouldn't be ranting as much! But still... I guess it wasn't that bad...

Overall, just read this book and love it! Or hate it! Or love it! Or... you get my point. Just read it.