**QWERTY**

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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?

What a ride.

This book was nothing I expected it to be, yet it was everything I hoped it would be.

This review will consist more of my ramblings, disordered thoughts than an actual review. I just have to share my experience with this book!!!

I found out about this book from Amazon Best of 2011 list and after I read The Night Circus, I seriously didn’t feel compelled to read anymore books from this list! My experience with The Night Circus wasn’t a pleasant one because I rushed through it and I couldn’t understand a single thing. Yes, yes, patience is definitely not one of my virtues. I mean, with a cover and a title like that, I thought this would be another book enriched with hidden philosophical messages, making my brain hemorrhaging with riddles which will end up be the sole reason of me flunking my Bioinformatics assignment.

Oh yes, I’ve read this while desperately trying to finish my Bioinformatics assignment. =_=”

...which was not a good combination because this book was impossible to put down! *sigh*

Lemme tell you a story. I had this book for over a month from the library but I was stuck reading other books. And I pretty much need to read other books within these two months but not this book. So, I actually had made up my mind to return this book and decided to read this later. But then I thought reading the first page wouldn't hurt.

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.”

If a book started off like that, do you think I can stop reading?

By page 12, I had a serious case of nerdgasm. This book was oh, so beautifully written.

By page 50, I was determined to dye my hair blue-black.
to Not that I was blonde before but anyway...

You know, this book was like this exotic fruit, durian.



As like the exterior of durian, I was indeed repelled by the cover and the title of the book. As like the smell of durian, once I opened it, I was drawn by the exquisite oddness of Karou’s world. As like the case of overdosing durians, I had to take regular breaks while reading this book because I felt feverish after about every 50 pages or so. Not feverish bad but feverish good. Like, this book literally assaulted my senses, emotions and imaginations.

And hello, I think if everyone wants their honeymoon to be in Paris, I’d say, screw that! I’ll have mine in Prague. Even if that means I have to marry myself.



Here’s the funny part, do you remember Taylor Swift’s Love Story music video? *wink2* The ball scene in this book was a perfect, yet odd reminiscent of that video. Like, majestic!

The last quarter of the book was quite an erratic ride because I was desperate for the answer! Who is Karou for God sake! And Laini fed me with this flashback within a flashback (flashbackception) that intensely threaten my patience and sanity. I even thought if I had to wait until the second book to know the answer, I’d gone mad in between.

***Spoilers ahead***

Some did pointed out the insta-love element of this book but I thought, it was a justifiable insta love (they were lovers in past life)[(they were lovers in past life) (hide spoiler)]? Alas, Karou and Akiva did kick each other’s butt in their first two or three encounters. One small criticism would be that I was a bit uncomfortable with Madrigal sneaking out at nights to make love with Akiva. I know, me and my conservative mind! :/

***Spoilers finished***

So...I heard that the Universal Studios had bought the right to make the movie adaption. Gee...I think the only adaption possible is to make the it into an anime because this book was so out of this world. But we’ll see...

View all my reviews