All around the world, mysterious black handprints are appearing on doorways, left there by winged strangers who have crept through a crack in the sky. Seventeen year-old Karou fills her sketchbooks with drawings of monsters. She speaks many languages (some of them are not human), grows blue hair straight out of her head, and tends to disappear on mysterious errands. She wonders who she really is... and she is about to find out. When one of the winged strangers, handsome Akiva, sees Karou for the first time in an alley in Marrakesh, their star-crossed love story is set into motion and secrets are unveiled. When Karou learns the truth about herself, will she live to regret it?

Daughter of Smoke and Bonehas all of the makings of a great read. It's action-packed, lyrically written, compelling, highly imaginative, and has a strong heroine with a serious case of forbidden love. Karou is a brave and creative character who leads a double life. She's a spirited, blue-haired, martial arts-trained, tattooed girl who lives in Prague, loves drawing, and attends school. She also runs mysterious errands for her foster father, who has a shop filled with teeth. No one knows that the monsters she draws are actually real creatures called Chimera. No one knows that she is an orphan who has been raised by these creatures. Although this book's genre is technically an "gothic urban fantasy," it has all the elements of a good (albeit dark) fairy tale. The heroine knows little about who she is and where she is from. She comes to find out that hers is quite a story and she is caught up in an ancient otherworldly war. Meeting angelic-looking Akiva kicks off a forbidden love affair reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. As with most wars, there is gruesome violence and death. Knife-fighting, war scenes, and a beheading occur. There is also some nudity. In one scene, a male model poses for an art class and there is talk about his parts from the students. Karou loses her virginity to a human boy and regrets it, wishing she had waited for someone more special to come along. When someone more special does come along, she does have sex, although it is not described. Making out occurs, and a few fringe characters smoke and drink. Language is mild (godd-mn, b-tch, b-stard, a-shole, and jack-ss). Due to the mature subject matter, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is probably best enjoyed by older teens and would certainly be enjoyed by adults as well. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers eager for the second book in the series.
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