I’m incredibly excited about today’s discussion of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, a novel by Laini Taylor. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the second book selected for Fall Book Club, brainchild of the lovely Tracey Neithercott. (If you’re interested in checking out my take on last month’s selection, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, you can read it HERE.)

From Goodreads: 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?

*Disclaimer: I’m going to do my best to discuss this book without revealing any major plot elements. I do mention small specifics here and there, though nothing that will spoil your reading experience. That said, if you haven’t read Smoke and Bone and prefer to go into books with a completely fresh perspective, proceed with caution…

So. I’m sort of at a loss as to what to say about Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Simply, I loved it. A few weeks ago I blogged about the Elusive Perfect Novel. Smoke and Bone is a combination of everything I included on the list of qualities MY perfect book must possess, plus an unidentifiable and unmatched sort of magic that’s hard to put into words. Very few books seduce me and capture me entirely, then gut me and leave me desperate for more. Daughter of Smoke and Bone did.

In a Twitter conversation with Tracey and Jaime Morrow last week, shortly after I’d finished reading, I tweeted this profound nugget: I’m trying to figure out how to write a coherent review. Can I just say: ENVIABLY BRILLIANT and call it a day? Because that pretty much covers it. And when I say “enviably brilliant,” I mean in a literal sense. I want to utilize language as beautifully (and seemingly effortlessly) as Laini Taylor does. I want to build a world as unique and dreamy and terrifying. I want to craft a plot that enraptures readers as Smoke and Bone enraptured me.

I should point out that if I had picked up Smoke and Bone in a bookstore and read the cover blurb, I probably would have put it back down. Fantasy, in general, is not my thing. Luckily, though, I’ve got my brilliant book friends and the YA community to fall back on for recommendations, and I knew better than to pass this one up based on genre alone. Even if you’re someone who’s resistant to fantasy (like me!), I suspect you’ll love Smoke and Bone. The fantastical elements, while certainly strong, are expertly executed and, for the most part, grounded in reality. They’re stated so clearly–of course there are otherworldly portals spread around Earth’s greatest cities; of course wishes come in denominations and at a price–you can’t help but jump feet first into the world Laini Taylor has created.

Let’s discuss main character, Karou… Words I’d use to describe our heroine: Fun, feisty, loyal, artistic, courageous, autonomous, lithe, talented and at times, funny. She’s everything I want out of a (female) protagonist, and additionally, everything I want in a friend. Plus, hello, her hair is azure. How cool! But poor Karou… as outwardly perfect as she may seem, she’s battling some major… um, demons. Her past is riddled with secrets and there’s just something missing from her life. I felt deeply for Karou, because her confusion and her pain felt genuine, just as genuine as she felt, and I was rooting for her up until the final page.

It’s hard to discuss the plot of Daughter of Smoke and Bone without giving its secrets away. I’m not going to go too far into the heart of the story, but I will say that there’s an element of “soulmate-ishness” at work. Usually, soulmate-ishness (yes, that’s totally a word) is cause for eye-rolling on my part. It often feels too easy, like a cop-out some authors use to get right into a romance without putting in the time and necessary back story. That was NOT the case here. The soulmate-ishness in Smoke and Bone made absolute sense, was explained thoroughly, and was necessary to the plot. It also raised the stakes considerably. The forbidden love, the impossible decisions, irrevocable actions, they made my heart hurt in the very best of ways.

While I’ve alluded to the awesomeness of Laini Taylor’s prose, I feel it warrants greater commentary. Smoke and Bone is told in third person, which is not my preferred POV. Here it works perfectly, though, giving enough distance to truly share the novel’s vast world, yet lending a sense of intimacy that lets us really know Karou. And the writing is just SO gorgeous; after the first few pages, I didn’t even notice the POV. The language is clever, thought-provoking, visceral, and full of voice–beautiful, but never, ever showy. I found myself reading sentences over and over, first to savor them, then to analyze what it was that I loved so much about their construction.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they “flew through” Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I did not. I spent a week with it, and purposely. I read slowly, enjoying every word, every twist, every revelation. And oh, the revelations are SO worth the ride. I read the last quarter of this book with my jaw on the floor, my heart literally pounding. So… if you’ve yet to pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you do. It’s among the best books I’ve read. Ever.

Oh, and these pictures BEG to be shared:

Though I bought the hard copy of Smoke and Bone (with the blue mask, pictured above) I was lucky enough to win this ARC from Kiersten White. Isn’t the cover image lovely?

And–holy crap!–it’s signed! This ARC might just be one of the rare material possessions I’d save in a house fire.

So… have you read The Daughter of Smoke and Bone? Were you as enchanted as I was? And don’t forget to drop by Tracey’s blog for links to today’s other Smoke and Bone posts!