Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – bilingv review

My Ranking: 4/5 Stars

(ENG) 

Taking a break from my sweet and romantic books, I totally changed the pattern and began “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Laini Taylor, an unknown writer for me, although I read that she is really talented and delivers some awesome paranormal stories. So, my curiosity got the best of me and taking all this things into consideration, let the fun begin.

And OMG it was awesome and I don’t regret taking my time in enjoying this book, because it was one of the most complex and interesting stories I have ever read in terms of paranormal.

Karou is our heroine, a very different type from what I am used to, because she is far from fragile and defenseless. She is strong, witty and very mysterious. Everything about her is not clear, beginning with her past, looks and ending with her friends. Her hair grows blue, she draws strange and out of this world creatures that she knows from childhood. She is very guarded as a person, never letting someone in, never letting them see her true side. Even if she is all of this things, her world is very peaceful.

She was raised by her friends -chimaeras- that are ever present in her drawings and despite that everything can be very strange looking from outside, she is actually happy and has the closest place to home. Although having all of this, she is full with questions regarding her past. She feels like she doesn’t belong in this world and is searching for answers that don’t come easily. Nobody knows that she can make wishes that come true, that she can travel by portals in all the corners of the world and that her friends are part human, part animals, part demons, that can talk and create the same kind of magic she does.

Everything is kind of in a daze, because she can’t discover herself if she doesn’t know what or who she is. But one day, while running an errand, her world will be turned upside down. Enter Akiva, an angel, a soldier, a demon hunter. He fought all his life against dark magic and demons and when he sees Karou, he has the impulse of killing her because of the bonds she has with her demon friends. But in the same time, the connection he felt with her is impressive and inexplicable.  Reason says she is the enemy, but his heart tells him otherwise. Because of this conflicted feelings, Akiva will be drawn to Karou and their paths will be more alike than they want to realise.

Akiva was a very conflicted hero for me, but did justice to Karou. Being a strong heroine, she needed somebody to match her and I think Akiva did a good job. A soldier all his life, he had seen so many battles, blood and dead people, that he almost lost count. He was like a robot, without a purpose, only to respect the natural laws that guvernate his land. Seeing Karou for the first time was a very impressive experience for him and she was branded into his brain, without any chance of letting go. He felt the need to be besides her, even if from a distance, and soon he will begin to feel something that was long forgotten by him: love.

The book was very complex and I have to admit that Laini really made me struggle a bit with her penmanship. I imagined myself being in a La Fointaine fable, with animals of different shape and sizes that could do extraordinary things. The descriptions were so detailed, so precise and inserted you in the moment and made you part of the action. The way the dialogues were shaped was very different from what I have read before, because apparently not all the words connected at first sight, but once having the big picture, you were shocked by how great this association was. She is really talented and this different approach intrigued me and kept me going, even if there were parts of the book I considered difficult to asimilate. The twist and turns and socking moments were all over this book and every turn of the page will guide you through a new revelation or important moment.

So, in the end, I can totally recommend this book because of the unique style of writing and describing the action and because of the beautiful way the characters were created. This idea of forbidden is very intriguing for me and I just couldn’t wait to see at how extend their love for each other will go, in order to have the possibility of living it happily. I am really looking forward to reading the next book, because I have many questions to be answered.

(ROM)

Genul Young Adult întotdeauna este pentru mine o provocare și încerc să găsesc povești din ce în ce mai deosebite, care să îmi atragă atenția și să mă captiveze.
Așa s-a întâmplat și cu “Născută din Fum și Os” scrisă de Laini Taylor. Recunosc, m-a atras sumarul și am zis că trebuie să încerc această “alegorie” imediat.

Încă de la primele pagini am fost fascinată de modul diferit de narare al autoarei, chiar complicat uneori. Nu îmi este rușine să recunosc faptul că am citit aceeași pagină de mai multe ori pentru a înțelege mesajul/acțiunea, deoarece este destul de greu de asimilat. Bravo lui Laini pentru acest stil deosebit pe care și l-a ales, a reușit să mă impresioneze în mod plăcut.

Karou este o tânără studentă la Liceul de Artă din Praga, ce încearcă să se împartă între viața reală și cea a prietenilor ei mai “diferiti”. Atunci când nu este la cursuri, își petrece mult timp cu aceste creaturi deosebite, innaripate, jumătate om jumătate animale, care o cunosc de mică și sunt singura ei familie. Karou însă se simte de asemenea diferită, în ciuda modului “normal” în care arată. Chiar dacă are părul albastru, știe că ceva nu este în regulă cu ea, nu se regăsește complet aici și caută constant răspunsuri la întrebările care o macină.
Nimeni nu îi spune nimic, totul pare un mare secret și la un moment dat de hotărăște să afle singură de unde provine și ce drum are de urmat.

Akiva este un soldat, un luptător, care toată viața a trebuit să vâneze creaturi ce îi amenințau lumea, dar și lumea oamenilor. Atunci când o vede prima dată pe Karou simte un lucru ciudat, parcă o cunoaște de o viață, însă sunt multe lucruri care îi despart, inclusiv originile lor. Începe o luptă grea, atât una internă cât și între cei doi, ce va fi presărată de sentimente infranate, obstacole și multe amintiri suprimate, care la un moment dat vor erupe ca un vulcan.

Sper că v-am făcut cât de cât curioși. Încă de la primele pagini m-am simțit într-o fabulă aparținând lui La Fontaine, o lume unde creaturi alegorice au sentimele umane, unde totul se îmbină într-un mod ciudat dar perfect, deși la început poate nu ai fi crezut în această asociere. Cele două personaje deși diametral opuse vor avea o atracție ce nu poate fi negată, dând acestei povești un aer de interzis și de mister. Sincer, deabia aștept partea a doua pentru că am impresia că aventura deabia a inceput.