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

Author Laini Taylor brings to life the character of Karou, a seventeen year old living in Prague with peacock blue hair and a less than average lifestyle. Her best friend Zusana watches as Karou goes off on secret errands, and seeing her come back with wounds and sometimes even bullet holes! Karou makes up for it with her artistic ability to draw creatures that some might never dream of, including Brimstone, whom some would refer to as a demon. Everyone around her thinks Brimstone and his friends are a figment of Karou’s artistic imagination, but when Akiva enters Karou’s life, everyone’s perspective changed.

‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ is a fresh new look on what hell and heaven really is. We are introduced to the chimera and the seraphim, the angels and demons of this world. Brimstone plays off as a harsh father to Karou, while Akivia is someone you want to fall in love with. Their stories are captivating and you cannot tear your eyes away!

With all good comes some bad, and I am happy to say there isn’t much negative to say. It is a young adult novel, so it’s pretty PG when it comes to to swearing and violence. I would have enjoyed more of the battles, and more in depth battle sequences, but I understand the target audience and why there was a lack of one.

Since this is a series (the second book should debut in fall of 2012) I’ll expect more detail behind Akiva and Brimstone’s story. And where there are some minor holes in Karou’s back story (I don’t want to give away any spoilers!) I hope they get filled with some more details as well. I think there are a lot of stories and worlds to be explored in this universe, and I anticipate getting to do just that in the next books!

Overall, this is a fantastic beginning book to a new series. The character development is solid and Laini Taylor brings to life a whole new universe that is sure to captivate you. Her intricate storytelling weaves you into this world that makes you feel like you’re standing next to Karou, feeling the heat off of Akiva’s wings and being welcomed with open arms into the world of the chimera. As I was reading, I pictured exactly how I want to see this filmed and was excited to find out that it has been optioned for a film. I’m excited to see if the director and screen writer have some of the same ideas I do about filming and what to keep in.

‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ is available now at major retailers like Amazon.com. I highly recommend giving this new series an honest chance, because it has potential for greatness.

Did you read ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’? What did you think? Are you excited for the upcoming movie?