Karou is a quick-witted, blue-haired art student living in Prague. She fills her sketchbooks with fascinating characters her friends can't get enough of - a horned character comprised of parts of a ram, a lion, a raptor, a reptile and a man, who collects teeth of all sorts, a crow with bats wings who works as a messenger. Her secret is that all of the "stories" she tells people are real. Her hair grows out of her head that way and the creatures she draws are the closest thing she has to a family. She lives her own life day to day, but her world is mystically entwined with the world of her family of chimera. When it becomes clear that the chimera world is being threatened, Karou is forced to face off with Akiva, a huge, powerful, and majestically beautiful angel to whom Karou feels cosmically connected, but is also deeply afraid.
Why It's Worth Reading:
Three reasons (with exclamation points!):
1) It's been hugely popular for good reason! It's a new paranormal romance with tons of action. It's the first book in a trilogy. What's not to love?!
2) The setting is fantastic! I have never wanted to visit Prague more than I do now after reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone. If I never make it there, at least I will feel that I visited it vicariously through this novel.
3) The writing is excellent! The fantasy elements are interesting and original. The plot is complex but not overly complicated. The romance is dramatic but the emotions feel real. The vocabulary is unique and challenging, but I didn't feel the author was talking down to me.
Bonus) The cover is cool! Grab it today!
Book Details:
ISBN: 9780316192149
Format: eBook
Publisher: Little Brown
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Do We Own a Copy?: We own the whole series!