Author-Laini Taylor
Published- September 27th, 2011
Little, Brown & Company
432 pages
Received through PBS
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 grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly 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?--Goodreads
I had been hearing about this book for quite a while before I finally decided to pick it up and give it a whirl. Man, am I glad I did!
The world-building in the book was fabulous! It was as if I could picture it in my mind, the bird cage-esque city of Loramendi and the cobblestone streets of Prague. I love when an author can put a picture in your mind so vividly!
I loved Karou as a character. I love kick-butt heroines in general, but I think the quirkiness about her is what drew me in. She makes her own path in life, rather than follow the road less traveled, which reminded me of myself. I loved the chemistry between her and Akiva. It was almost as if he was dangling right in front of you, but you never really got to know him fully.
One negative that I did not like about this book was the confusing bits in the beginning and towards the end. In the beginning I had a rough time remembering who was who because SO many characters were introduced at once. Also, towards the end of the book when Karou and Akiva break the wishbone, the constant flashing back and forth had me so lost. For about 100 pages, I had no clue if a new character was introduced or if it was the same character in another form. I'm glad the loose ends got all tied up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next book in this series titled Days of Blood and Starlight (due to be released in November 2012)
I will be giving this book four stars!
-McKenna :)
