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?

Karou has always been…different. And not just because of her aquamarine hair. All her life, the only family she’s known are chimaera, creatures made up of multiple animal and human parts; by human definition: monsters. But Karou doesn’t see them as monsters; she loves these creatures, Issa with her serpent body and the huge, hulking Brimstone. Karou fills her days with art school and running errands for Brimstone, often dangerous errands wherein she procures…teeth. She doesn’t know what the teeth are for (animal and human), but she does as Brimstone wishes.That is, until angels make their way to Karou’s world and incinerate the portals Karou uses to reach her family. One particular angel, Akiva, is confused by Karou and sets out to kill her for aiding his sworn enemy, but when the two finally face off, he finds he can’t do it. There’s something familiar about Karou, a feeling he can’t quite shake. Through Akiva, Karou learns of a centuries-old war between angels and chimaera that she now finds herself in the middle of. Choosing a side should be easy, until Karou learns Brimstone’s been hiding secrets from her, secrets about who she really is.

I can’t believe it took me this long to pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And yet, crazily enough, I wish I’d waited even longer because now I’m obsessed and the third book in the series isn’t due until next year. I cannot handle that much suspense. But, in case you haven’t already guessed, I’m in love with this book and these characters. Going into the first chapter, I had no expectations. The synopsis isn’t very telling, but the cover was cool and I’d heard plenty of positive reviews. I just didn’t know what kind of world or plot to expect.

Straight up originality it what I received. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is unlike any other book I’ve read in years. Laini Taylor’s take on angels is fresh and invigorating. I don’t think I’ve read about chimaera…ever. These new plot points and ideas immediately captured my interest so that there was no chance of putting down the book once I started. But then there are the politics behind the war between the two races. I’m a sucker for well-laid-out war books. I like having both sides presented to me equally, their flaws and strong points presented for the reader to choose. There’s no black and white here, only gray, which makes the book and Karou’s particular situation endlessly fascinating. I love the way Taylor offers up both sides sympathetically so that we fully understand why Karou’s choice is so hard. Plus, Taylor’s super specific details ensure the reality of this world and highlights the sad truths of war.

Karou is an amazing protagonist. One of the first things I fell in love with was her honesty. Whenever she’s questioned about the unreal aspects of her life, she tells the truth with a quick smirk. When a waitress asks her how she managed to fly, Karou answers, “I really was flying,” with her trademark smirk. As soon as I read about this, I wondered why more characters in YA haven’t caught onto this trend. Think about it: so many shady things happen in YA fiction; vampires are secretive about their desire for blood; werewolves hide their transformation or their wolf-like characteristics; telekinetic characters blame a falling lamp on the wind. And in all these books, it’s so very obvious that these characters are hiding ENORMOUS SECRETS and yet no one ever calls them out. Our protagonists think to themselves, “Huh. That’s weird. There’s something off about him but he’s sooo dreamy,” while we’re yelling at our books, “How stupid can you be?” So, I guess, I appreciate that not only is Karou not stupid, but neither are the people in her world. When something weird happens, people point it out. And when Karou can’t easily cover up an unexplainable phenomenon, she doesn’t. Simple. Believable. Refreshing.

But Karou is awesome for a host of other reasons. She can defend herself. She’s snarky and witty. She’s suspicious (a trait sorely lacking in many YA females). She acts out like any teenager, makes mistakes, but is loyal to her family and friends and never stops trying to help others. And Taylor doesn’t just give us Karou; she also gives us Karou’s best friend, Zuzana, an insanely likable and tough friend. Zuze is not sidekick and she’s definitely not afraid to call Karou on her bullshit. She’s a force to be reckoned with and a person Karou absolutely needs in her life, as well as a person we need for comedic quips and jabs. Karou couldn’t get any luckier than having Zuze for a best friend, and I came to love her just as much as Karou and, later, to appreciate Zuze’s budding relationship with Mik. It’s easy to see that the two deserve each other and that Karou deserves a positive relationship role-model.

Speaking of relationships, Akiva is as smoldering a love interest as any. At first, there’s a slight fear of insta-love, but the further into the book you get, the more you come to trust Laini Taylor and realize she would never make that mistake. As I held out for the end and the answers I knew she would provide, I wasn’t disappointed. Well, I mean, I was, because the ending is absurdly heart-wrenching, but I was happy to see the relationship fully developed and in such an interesting style. Speaking of which, Taylor’s writing style is remarkable; her prose is beautiful, succinct, and poetic. She describes her fascinating settings in intricate details, yet cuts to the point of her plots, allowing her a smooth read that’ll sate any book-lover’s desires. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a must-read for fantasy and paranormal lovers. I admit, it does get a little graphic in its violence at parts, but all the devastation is realistic and necessary to the story’s development. The characters, settings, and conflicts are rich and captivating. This is a book I plan to read again and again.

Pages: 417
Publication Date: September 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Source: Purchased
Rating :

Teaser: “She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil’s lair. She wasn’t innocent now, but she didn’t know what to do about it. This was her life: magic and shame and secrets and teeth and a deep, nagging hollow at the center of herself where something was most certainly missing.“

In New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine’s “thrilling”* Revivalist series, Bryn Davis finds out that making a living can be rough if you’re already dead…
After dying and being revived with the experimental drug Returne, Bryn Davis is theoretically free to live her unlife—with regular doses to keep her going. But Bryn knows that the government has every intention of keeping a tight lid on Pharmadene’s life-altering discovery, no matter the cost. Thankfully, some things have changed for the better; her job at the rechristened Davis Funeral Home is keeping her busy and her fragile romance with Patrick McCallister is blossoming—thanks in part to their combined efforts in forming a support group for Returne addicts. But when some of the group members suddenly disappear, Bryn wonders if the government is methodically removing a threat to their security, or if some unknown enemy has decided to run the zombies into the ground…

I was a big fan of the first book in this series, Working Stiff, so I was really excited to read this book. Unfortunately, I don’t have much good to say about it. It was really boring throughout the entire thing, I didn’t feel any connection to the characters, and I was quite frankly grossed out.

The main character, Bryn, grated on my nerves from the very first page. I didn’t overly love her in Working Stiff, but I never exactly disliked or even hated her. I couldn’t stand her in this book! She was annoying and whiney, and I just could have done without her. I also didn’t fall in love with the romance between Bryn and Patrick, which is really interesting since I loved them in the first book. I don’t know if it’s because I couldn’t stand her or just because of the writing style, but I was really let down.

If you are really grossed by gore and blood and all that nasty stuff, then this is not the book for you. Don’t get me wrong, I like The Walking Dead and a little bit of action and nastiness in my books, but this was just disgusting. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to read about someone’s eyes getting scooped out (yes, that really does happen.) It was nasty on a whole different level, and I was not okay with it. I feel the need to wash my eyes out right about now.

The ending of this book was so awful and so disgusting that I skimmed that last chapter. I don’t even know how the ending went down because I was SO grossed out! Nasty! I don’t want to ruin the ending for all of you guys and girls who are going to read the book, but it gets GROSS! I’m talking dead people, zombie chompers, eyeball scoopers, decaying bodies, chewing on arms GROSS. I will not be continuing this series because I don’t even want to see where else Rachel Caine can take this crazy storyline. Yuck!

In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

I love dystopia books, and I was not let down with Gravity by Melissa West. The book is about this unique world set several years in the future where aliens and humans sort of co-exist. The aliens are allowed to come to Earth at midnight each night to “take” from each human. The main character, Ari, peeks during her taking one night and realizes that the alien above her is her classmate, and number one competition, Jackson Locke.

As the story progresses, Ari and Jackson begin to work together to create peace for both humans and aliens alike. Unfortunately, things don’t go quite the way they planned and soon Ari learns about some of the horrifying things the humans are doing to the aliens behind closed doors. And to top it all off, Ari is now experiencing new….abilities. By the end of the story both Ari and Jackson have some very tough decisions to make about who they’re aligned with and who they want to be.

Gravity can be summed up into 3 different words and sections; interesting, lacking and amazing. The beginning of the book was very interesting. There was just something really cool about aliens and humans coexisting, and I liked it. I did find the taking process to be a little creepy, but I felt that there needed to be a creep out factor where aliens were concerned.

The middle chunk of the book fell a little flat for me. It started to lose the spark that captured me in the first place. I wouldn’t say that the book got boring or bad, but I did almost put it down. I wanted a lot more, and I was worried that the book was about to tank.

The ending of Gravity was so amazing that I stayed up late into the night sucking down every single word. I don’t know how Melissa West pulled out from that middle funk she created, but she did. The ending was AMAZING! Seriously, I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved the ending of this book.

I also really enjoyed the characters of Gravity, especailly the characters of Ari and Jackson. I really appreciated how West made Ari stick to her original character. That probably makes no sense right now but let me explain. Ari’s father is the current commander, and Ari is already destined to be the future commander. By cooperating with Jackson, Ari had to turn her back on her father and her friends and cooperate with the enemy. Some authors would have made Ari completely okay with that decision, but Melissa West really made it a challenge for Ari. There were times that I was really unsure which direction Ari would take, and I loved not knowing exactly what was going to happen.

Jackson was such a sweetheart! Yes, it was a little creepy that he was an alien, and I didn’t really understand how the aliens could have human bodies, but I loved him! He was strong, hot, and he seriously cared about Ari. He wasn’t over the top mushy gushy and he wasn’ta complete jerk either. I really enjoyed his character!

Now, as much as I enjoyed the ending of this book, I’m a little nervous about the second one. Because of how Gravity left off, the second one will either be really good or really stupid. This really concerns me because of how invested I now am with this series. I’m hoping that the second book will be great. It has such potential and could possibly be a five star book. The book could also tank by incorporating too much alien weirdness. Regardless, I’m going to be checking it out.

Dystopia lovers will really enjoy this book. I would encourage readers to stick through the middle section of the book because the ending is so worth it. Sci-fi fans will also get a kick out of this book since aliens make up a large majority of it! I can’t wait to read more from Melissa West and to hear what you guys think of Gravity! Happy reading!

Pages: 400

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Publication Date: December 18, 2012

Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “There is a lot of gray between life and death. Life isn’t worth living if you aren’t with the ones you love.”