Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)
by Laini Taylor
Published 27th 2011
P. 432
Rating: 5/5
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 have to admit, after a few pages in this book I was utterly confused. Karou, the female lead, was baffling. The book starts off with her natural bright blue hair, her mastery of languages, a charismatic ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, the beautiful city of Prague -- not so confusing, but then...
Karou is an artist and the first few pages refers to her skill, specifically her notebooks filled with pictures of creatures with names, personas, and little anecdotes. Kishmish, Issa, Twiga, Yasri, and Brimstone -- made up of different animal and human parts -- all creations of her mind. Or so I thought, even when she says she spends time with them I thought it meant like the time I spent with characters in a book. No not so much, they really existed.
That's when I was confused, but intrigued with the storyline. I already liked Karou and her attitude, but things just kept getting more and more bizarre without warning. She has a necklace that grants small wishes, her drawings are not imaginary, and then a bizarre bird/messenger Kishmish sends her a message while she's in the middle of dinner with her best friend Zuzanna.
And it gets even stranger...
Brimstone is a real creature, who works in a magically hidden workshop and sends Karou on various missions to collect... teeth. Yes, teeth. Brimstone and these other creatures have raised Karou her entire life and she knows next to nothing about them. She loves them, they really are her family, but their entire existence is shrouded in such mystery that it's impossible to fully understand what is going on. It also adds to the mystery of Karou, she barely knows anything about them, but she also knows less about herself. She doesn't know where she came from, or how she came to belong to this group.
Now enter Akiva, an unemotional, but of course gorgeous angel-type. He and his kind have been marking all the doors leading to Brimstones lair. Why? Who knows? Karou doesn't, but she faces him during one of her teeth finding missions. Apparently, they are not on the same side. Karou doesn't know why, she's clueless to all this alternate life that goes on around her, but the mysterious tattoos on her palms save her from this battle... another mystery. Akiva seems confused by her tattoos as well, but he knows their meaning. From that point on Akiva is drawn to her, but can't explain why.
Now the entire book seems very unclear and confusing. It's filled with this partially explained otherness surrounding Karou, but without clear definitive answers. That's the magic of the book. She knows nothing about her life, nothing, and all these events leave the reader fully aware of this fact. Then bam... it's a story inside a story. All of a sudden all these secrets are revealed. That's when I fell in love with the book. Everything made sense. All the confusion turned into an unexpected fairy tale.
This was a great book, magically written and I cannot wait for the next one to come out.
Forgiven (The Demon Trapper's Daughter #3)
by Jana Oliver
Published March 27th 2012
P. 354
Rating: 4/5
The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of a certain hunky Fallen angel, and a freshly-made deal with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s Demon Hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s in hiding, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list.
But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than Riley, and rapidly getting out of control: something sinister is happening in Atlanta… or someone. The demons are working together for the first time ever and refusing to die, putting civilians in harm’s way. Riley thinks she might know who’s behind it all, but who’s going to believe her? Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming – and it may be closer than anyone thinks…
I enjoy this series more with each passing book. I think it's a case of familiarity with the characters and setting. I'm emotionally invested with Riley and her endeavors in life.
So the ending of the last book left A LOT of unfinished business. First, kinda shocking, Riley gave her virginity away to Ori not realizing his true intentions. He was a fallen angel who wanted her soul -- fun first time. Right afterwards Lucifer shows up and imprisons him, with the condition that Riley owes hell a favor. So now she owes heaven and hell. After her huge mistake, Riley runs to Beck and tells him what she's done only to have him react like a jealous jerk. Some of the things he says to her makes him plummet on my list -- Bad Beck!
The last scene, Riley escapes Becks home knowing the hunters are after her, and runs to Mortimer's house for help. Once there, she finds her dad. Through all the bad that happened those last few pages, when she sees her dad my heart stopped.
Alright... Book Three
- I've never mentioned Stewart, a master trapper who is like the wise old guru. He knows exactly how to handle Beck and Riley. I love him and the fatherly role he takes in these last two books. He has a way of dealing with those two and their obvious problem.
- Riley finds her dad! Yay! He's reanimated, but there's something different about him. Not to mention he was reanimated by Lucifer himself, there seems to be a point to this at the end of the novel, but I have to admit I almost missed it.
- The hunters are after Riley to ask her questions in the very beginning of this book. There are too many coincidences following her: Grade 5 demons hunting her, demons knowing her name, a strange relationship with a fallen angel, etc. They take in Beck instead, but Riley comes forward to save him even though he was horrible to her the last time they met. They decide that Riley will be released onto Stewart's custody because their not really sure what to make of her. The hunters begin to play a more active role in this novel.
- Some of the hunters are not bad guys, especially Salvatore. He seems vary laid back and starts building a friendly relationship with Beck and even helps Riley.
- Justine is an evil seductress, I hate her even more at the end of this book. Hate her.
- Um.... Beck and Riley finally start to understand each other. Again, this book reveals a lot more about Beck. I start to like him again, especially when he changes his pet name for Riley from "girl" to "woman." In this book you can see they make the conscious effort to be decent to one another, not pushing buttons and trying to respect boundaries. I enjoyed their relationship in this novel, you can feel the walls breaking down between them. It's nice. They would be great for each other if they can resolve their personal quirks (and they try).
I have to say, that I'm so involved in the Riley vs. Beck relationship that I overlooked every other sub-plot in the story. Again, there were so many in book one that it was hard to keep track. I think I just focused on this one and let the others slip away. There was a few more major events at the end of this book, some surprises left unfinished. So I'll have to read the next book... but I have to reread this last one and focus on something other than Beck and Riley -- or try to anyway.
And even though I find myself lost in some of the story lines, I like this book. I really like Riley, so I will continue to read the series to find out what happens.
