Once upon a time a little girl was raised by monsters. But angels burnt the doorways to their world and she was all alone…

This is an exceptional book, the best I have read so far this year, and words don’t really express what I want to share. Hours after finishing the book I was still mesmerised under its spell and for days I literally carried it with me, reluctant to admit I was finished.

I loved this story for several reasons; the gorgeous, rich, seductive writing, the original storyline, the characters so well portrayed that I feel as though I know them personally and the alluring descriptions of beautiful Prague… But the bar was raised with the unpredictable twists and the conclusion which left me desperate for the sequel, not because there’s a ‘cheap’ cliff-hanger (there isn’t), but because I want to be there for the next stage of the adventure and I miss my friends the characters.

Tears, hope and laughter followed me through the pages where I met characters so unique that I will never forget them, dived into enchanting magical worlds, and witnessed wicked hatred, powerful all-consuming love, betrayal and fierce loyalty, all while learning the magic of bone jewellery and at last the hidden truth that blew everything apart and changed the game – forever.

I leave you with this quote: Hope makes its own magic… and hope that you are inspired fall head-over-heels into this book.

Recommended age: 13+

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone – # 1
Author: Laini Taylor
Publication Date: 5 June 2012 (1st published 1 January 2011)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Source: Purchased

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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?     — Extract from Goodreads.com