Around the world,
black hand prints 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 grows 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?
5 STARS out of 5
TITLE: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
AUTHOR: Laini Taylor
GENRE: Young Adult
Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself again. I'm Airah and with the exemption of HP, I can never be a solid fan of fantasy books.
That is, UNTIL NOW.
Around the world,
black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged
strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
Amidst the bizarre names, and equally bizarre world-building, I can't help but ask myself at first.. Who the heck is Karou anyway?
As the story unfolds, I got my answer -- she is THE daughter of smoke and bone!
:) Like, IN YOUR FACE!
On a more serious note though, Karou seemed like your typical Czech teen. That is, if a typical Czech teen actually sketches weird creatures and paints nude people at school. I haven't met one, so pardon me.
What made Karou stand out from the rest was her naturally blue hair, the tats on her arm.. and wait, was that also tattoo on both her palms?
As I went on with my reading, I learned what it was, and many other things too. I loved how the symbols in this book were beautifully interwoven. The teeth, the hamsas, Karou's name, the crescent-moon knives and the wishbone.
Of course, the wishbone.
"Magic?" Akiva had asked. "What bird does this come from, that its bones make magic?"
"Oh, it's not magic. The wishes don't really come true."
"Then why do it?"
She shrugged. "Hope? Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic."
It was that piece of relic which snapped something in Akiva to finally recognize Karou for who and what she truly is. And I say, it's my most favorite moment in the book. Akiva on his knees, crying in front of Karou. I didn't exactly know the magnitude of Akiva's discovery at that time, but it was certainly heartbreaking to read.
I tell you guys, this is one heck of a love story only a fantasy novel could give! I'm so much in awe!
Also, let me share how much my heart is bursting with love for Brimstone. He remained to be the father Karou never had. I will always imagine him sitting in his shop, working endlessly with those jars of teeth.
Oh, and a big shout out goes to Karou's real life sketchbook characters -- Kishmish, Yasri, Issa and Twiga -- for also staying loyal to her after all those years. You will be missed, darlings.
The moment I'm done reading, all I could think of was how perfect the title fit, and the overall brilliance that this book has achieved.
This is literature you guys! One so captivatingly written that I won't likely forget in a long time. Very much worthy of the hype and the 5 stars!
*Photo courtesy of the author's Pinterest page
It’s been six weeks
since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world.
Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her
seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.
Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.
Raffe
is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of
fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a
desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.
Traveling
through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each
other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’
stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her
sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for
the chance to be made whole again.
5 STARS out of 5
TITLE: Angelfall
AUTHOR: Susan Ee
GENRE: Young Adult
WOWOWOWOW!!! 5 BIG STARS!!
The first YA book I've read about angels was Hush, Hush; and that doesn't even compare to this one.
THIS BOOK is phenomenal! Hooked me from the very beginning and never let go! It was so unputdownable that I started this a bit late last night, only to sleep past 4am then continued reading this the moment I woke up 2 hours ago. It's like this book took precedence over brushing my teeth and eating brunch.
WOW. Just wow.
This is a dystopian story about Penryn, a teenage girl who is truly determined to save her 7 y/o crippled sister, Paige, from the hands of angels.
The angels in this book are not much different from the angels we know. Though they're definitely not the cherubs type, they were described to have flawless skin and have really beautiful, strong wings -- on varied colors, of course.
Unfortunately for Penryn, she was stuck with a dying angel. A dying angel with deep blue piercing eyes, that is. And no wings to boot. He's one of the fallen, or so they claimed.
Actually, he looks exactly like a gorgeous Olympian champion. It's more than a little disturbing just how much he looks like a supreme example of a human being. I mean, shouldn't an angel that's part of a legion to eradicate humanity look, well, evil and alien?
Raffe -- short for Raphael -- is actually one of the few archangels left. He was beaten and mutilated all due to angel politics. Just when I thought God was supreme and omnipotent.. who knew dirty politics exist among the angels?
He was saved, then kidnapped by a human. And a teenage girl no less! Penryn needs his help to find her way to the aerie to save her sister.
What came next was a bunch of giggle fits directed at Penryn and her illusion that she can stand her own against an angel like Raffe. She actually tried to use the angel sword against him!
"My sword would never hurt me. And my sword is the only one you can wield."
Reminds me of Harry Potter and his wand. I just loved this! Loyalty was tested, and Penryn proved to be on Raffe's side all through it all.
Together they took up a journey back to the aerie with different goals -- for Penryn, it was to save her sister and for Raffe, to find a way to stitch his wings back.
Let me share the lines which made me grin really hard:
It occurs to me that I might be in the unprecedented position of being able to glean some intelligence on them.
What I would do with angel intel, I don't know. But it can't hurt to gain a little knowledge.
And of course, who could forget about this one?
"Oh. My. God." I lower my voice, having forgotten to whisper. "You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I'll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That's what you are."
That actually made me super LOL! Oh, how much I loved this book! It's extremely well written and the world building is absolutely perfect! This is surely one of the most memorable paranormal reads I've had. Can't fight this angel cravings! I need the sequel ASAP!
Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted
Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel
emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an
inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has
always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness
within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan
Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put
to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone
had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?
2 STARS out of 5
TITLE: Sweet Evil
AUTHOR: Wendy Higgins
GENRE: Young Adult
Oookay. That was so ANTICLIMACTIC!
Don't get me wrong though. I enjoyed the first half of the book.
It was well written. The world-building was really good, though it came off as plain storytelling from a few characters. But I can't blame the author for that. There's no way one can tell the origin of this angels & demons fiasco without going back to the days where earth wasn't even created yet.
The author gave her own spin to this angels & demons tale -- adding Dukes of sins and their kids, the Nephilims, who work their asses off to bring chaos to mankind.
I even liked the main character, Anna, and her unquenchable thirst to find out who she really is.
Being able to hear and see and smell everything within a one-mile radius was major sensory overload. And unfortunately, perfect health did not make me immune to pain.
It would definitely suck to have talents like that and then knowing you aren't exactly a normal human being to begin with... thanks to a fellow Nephilim and the son of the Duke of Lust, Kaidan Rowe, for the knowledge he had so easily and willingly imparted.
At one point, I actually giggled at what he shared:
"I had a tattoo once," said Kaidan. "Last year, just before we left England."
"What do you mean, you had 'once'?"
"Bloody thing was gone by the morning!" His voice was indignant. "Sheets were black with ink. I put myself through all that for hours, and my body just pushed it back out!"
I WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS BOOK. I really would.
But here's a sad thing about world-building taking precedence over character development -- CHARACTERS GET LOST IN THE MUDDLE. I couldn't feel them anymore. This book got so much potential but then lost it.
I should be ending this review here but I couldn't help myself.
Here's a note for you, Kaidan, because you frustrated me the most! ---
Kaidan (Ky-den),
First of all, let me tell you
how very much distracted I am about the right way
to pronounce your name in my mind
every time I glance on my Nook.
To say the least, it frustrates me,
Even while writing this now.
I know you're a smokin' hot drummer
with an English accent;
and your work of seducing the ladies
should earn you a ticket to my swoon-worthy shelf,
BUT you, Mr. Rowe, came up short.
Almost halfway,
your lines seemed a bit off and forced.
You used the word "Er..."
and sometimes stuttered like a virgin teenage boy.
UGH. Where was the hot Kaidan guy I met at the beginning??
Where the heck was he?!
Your fear of your demon father is perfectly understandable.
Unfortunately, it made you appear as a wuss.
No offense.
Though I will be watching your moves on the next book.
I hope you grow a freaking backbone.
Much hate for now,
Your less-than-thrilled reader
ME
