Book review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy

Ms. Taylor Adair meets her idol: Laini Taylor.

Here at Time Out we have been fortunate enough to receive a visit from the amazing author Laini Taylor, who not only has a great last name but also wrote one of my favourite series of books; Daughter of Smoke and Bone. In honor of this visit, and the signed copies of her books that we have in store [weehee], I thought I would write a little something telling you why this is a book you should read!

I will start with a little disclaimer: We all have different taste in books, just like with everything else in life. Some love chick-lit, some loath it. Some love sci-fi, some run the other way. Laini’s series is a fantasy series, and if that just isn't your book-jam I completely understand and will not bully you into reading this series.

That being said; YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY ALL READ THIS SERIES!

Meet Karou; a prague art student who speaks more languages than she has fingers and whose hair seemingly grows out of her head a fierce topaz blue. She often disappears for days at a time and the monsters she draws in her sketch books and the stories she tells of them make you believe they might be real. Which, of course, they are. On the other side of a door that can only be opened from the inside lies a world where angels and monsters are real, and they really don’t like each other very much. Caught somewhere in the middle Karou has to figure out who she is and what she wants, and what she is prepared to lose to get it.

I have to admit that when I heard the premise of the story I was skeptical. Angels and monsters and [spoiler] love?  It seemed like a story that could too easily succumb to cliches. BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE!

Laini Taylor fills her story with quirky, lovable and hilarious characters. Kas, the ex-boyfriend who makes his living lurking around prague dressed as a vampire. Zuanna, the tiny, fierce and hilarious best friend who brings light and reality to the fantasy. The plot has strength that comes from far more than the love story at it’s center, this is a story about war just as much as it is a story about love. Taylor writes beautiful prose that makes you laugh, and then in the same moment evokes powerful emotions of sorrow in the heart of the reader. I think what I love the most about this series, besides the fact I could not put it down (seriously I was reading them in lectures sneakily using my laptop to hide behind), is that although so much of the story is fantastical, the characters, reactions and interactions are so real that you start to believe that it could all be true somehow. And you want it to be!

All three of the trilogy are out now so if you are looking for your next page-turner, look no further. We have all three books in stock and if you get in quick you could get one of the copies Laini signed for us!

Thank you to Ruby Mitchell and Hachette for bringing Laini to visit!