Daughter of Smoke & Bone

                Another Monday has come again.  I think a bit too quickly!  That being said I am stoked to finally have checked this book off my TBR list where it has sat for a long while waiting for me to read.  I'm reading the whole series with a buddy on weekends I work .  Yes reading at work is my favorite job perk.  The book/series I'm talking about is Daughterof Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and the novella I hope to finish after reading book two.  So having finished the book last week I have my notes and thoughts and wanted to share with you so here goes.

Rating:  5 Scuppies

                I have heard praise for this book for so long from so many different people but now that I've finally read it I understand.  The writing is beautiful.  The world is so colorful and diverse and I was drawn in so quickly to the worlds and the wishes and doorways and everything else.  Karou, our MC and artist who has tons of 'errands' to do and speaks several languages and natural blue hair and something mysterious about her.  She lives in the human world but works in Elsewhere.  She portals all over the globe and deals daily with the only family her orphan self has ever known, the Chimaera, a mixture of different human and animal parts/aspects.  Each is different and unique.  On an 'errand' one day Karou finds herself face to face with an angel, Akiva, one set on destroying Brimstone, the wishmonger and only father she has ever know, and blood is spilled.  Still there is something about Karou that confuses and intrigues Akiva and he is determined to figure it out as Karou struggles to figure out her place in either world.

                I instantly knew why everyone loved this book.  The characters are all unique and diverse.  The Chimaera for sure had me thinking. I was adding in parts of them as she described them, with an artists eye of course, and just found myself both a bit freaked out by them and also totally loving how normal and natural Karou felt around them.  They would be monsters to us, which she admits, but to her they are family.  Karou, her name means home, and she has such amazing views.  She's rather well rounded and grounded for her life to be what it is.  She has found a place, in Prague, finally where she fits in.  She has friends, OMG I love Zuzana.  She is also always in the back of her mind wondering about the 'what if' of being an orphan.  What her life could have been and who she could have been if things were different. She has blue hair, she used a wish on hair that comes out naturally that color.  How awesome, it seems silly but it's a part of who she is.  I love it. 

                Now wishes.  Here I need to take a moment to say how jealous I am.  The languages.  To be able to wish a language and have perfect understanding of it, who hasn't wished for that before.  I know I have.  I've tried learning a few but it feels next to impossible to learn alone it always seems like school work and not natural.  Everything I've tried always tries to teach grammar first which kills my desire quickly.  Anywho this book and the wishes, the different levels you can gain (Scuppy, Shing, Lucknow, Gavriel, and Bruxis) the most powerful of which I would never have (hence my rating).  Each one has a cost and a level of which you can wish.  The idea of a string of scuppies around my wrist, oh yeah I'd use those bad boys.  I even know what I would do with some of the others and yes languages would be on the top of my list.  Learning about each of them and the different things wished for is just fascinating.  That doesn't even add that you don't have to use them to travel because you have special portals to go all over the world!  How cool?  I mean I could save so much time and money that way. 

                The whole book has action in it for sure but there is a lot of unraveling to be done.  The world is built up throughout the story but we keep peeling back layer after layer of the story diving into more and more of what is happening.  Brimstone has kept Karou from most of the happenings of Elsewhere, he has lots of secrets.  The whole story is a paranormal mystery with some romance and hilarity and action all rolled beautifully into one. I could not put this book down I was so captivated by it and the ending had me gasping and wishing I had the sequel there with me.  Thankfully I don't have to wait long to read it, benefit of marathoning series when they are complete! 

A peak at what has taunted me...

                Those are my thoughts on the story.  I feel like I didn't do it justice but I think talking any more about certain aspects would ruin some of the best parts.  I really enjoyed discovering everything for myself and while I did see several things coming I was always intrigued because of the way things came about.  Plus again I can't say it enough the world was just beautiful!    Oh and one side note I have is that after I read this I went online and saw a ton of images and people mentioning a graphic novel!  How devastated was I to learn that there was a graphic novel sampler sent out to very few years ago but since then there has been no full novel put out L I know I'm new to this party but whoever is in charge of this please get on this ASAP!  This is the perfect book to do in graphic novel form with all the creatures, art, worlds, and eye catching things (I mean our MC has blue hair how beautiful).  Pretty please make it happen.  That's all for now I hope you all have a fantabulous Monday.  I have a feeling my coffee chocolate chip cookies I made last night will be a much needed item for myself!

                Until next time…