Opposites Attract

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor is a riveting rollercoaster of fantasy and mythology. 

I've been putting off reading this book for some time now. And I just have to ask myself, why???

Karou is an art student in Prague. She also runs errands for a chimaera called Brimstone. She's done a fine job for 17 years, blending in to the human world while fetching teeth for Brimstone. She's an orphan, raised by Brimstone and three other chimaera. Until she runs into an angel during a routine trip to get teeth, an angel who nearly kills her.

This book was incredible. Taylor's writing is beautiful—the descriptions are lively and vibrant. I've always had a distant urge to visit Prague, but this book really emphasized it for me. Taylor does a fantastic job of bringing her story to life.

It's the first in a trilogy, which has made me antsy to grab the next two. The story, even as a single book , is heartfelt and touching. It might be a fantasy novel, but it's really about feeling like an outsider and searching for love.

I did struggle with the names at first. I don't usually have a problem with unusual names, but some reason this book had me struggling to form the names and attach them to the personalities. After about a 100 pages, I finally managed to make it work, but it did make it slightly slow going at first.

I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers who are prepared to keep track of a new universe of mythology.

Favorite Quotes: I don't know many rules to live by but here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles—drug or tattoo—and...no inessential penises, either.

Love in an element. An element. Like air to breathe, earth to stand on.