Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1)
Author: Laini Taylor
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Pages: 418 pages

Around the world, black handprints 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. (More from Goodreads)

First Impression

It's easy to get lost in this book. I have heard so many good things about it, and I was afraid I would be disappointed with the first few chapters. Everything overwhelmed me, but not necessarily in a bad way; no, I was assaulted by the visions of a setting entirely new to me because I wasn't brought up in art school in the middle of one of the most historical cities in Europe. 

But more than that, the characters that opened the books did so with gusto. 

They weren't slowly introduced to the reader by means of tedious monologues; rather, witty banter and daily happenings abound, and just like that you are easily introduced to Karou and her seemingly odd world, with its quirky occupants and musings.

Hiatus #1 Has Ended!

And...

I passed! \o/

The update took so long because I was so busy paying back my lost hours of sleep for almost the entire duration of the past two days. Nothing quite like a great spell of hibernation~

Now that that is done, a huge sigh of relief, followed by more reading and reviewing to come soon.

Currently reading: Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor.

ONE MORE DAY

TO FREEDOM.
Hopefully. Let's pray I pass.

All I have to do is make the last mad 3.5-hour dash and read as much as I could.

Oh lord.

Can't wait to read more books and write out my thoughts on them- and the ones I've read since the end of my last review. Also, to share my most recent book hauls- my first adventure into ordering books online. Which is funny, because I only started ordering books for my self after I got my boyfriend, a not-quite-reader, to order some for me on my birthday.

Soon, very soon...

26th Orbit Around the Sun

Hello!

It's my birthday. Many things occurred on this day.

I know I don't sound too enthused. Please come back in a week an indeterminate period of time when this post has been updated well, with pictures.

Okay. :)

Fulfilling Friday: Reads, Presents and Revision

Fulfilling Friday is a feature where I talk about the happenings of the week, focusing on the positives, and plan for the upcoming days- on a Friday, of course!

The past two weeks of February have been rather exciting.

Bookish

First of all: Big Bad Wolf Fire Sale! I went on 3rd February, reaching the doors before they opened with my friend on our Thaipusam holiday. I bought 15 books on that trip. The second time around was on the final day of the sale, 9 February- on which I bought another 17 books.

Sorry for the blurry photo, but nevertheless you could see a queue at the entrance.

It's nuts. More on that in the previous post!

Reb and the Big Bad Wolf Book Sales

It would be unfair of me to leave this blog empty for so long this month, even with major exams coming up. It is, after all, my birthday month. Cue non-review posts!

This post will be about The Big Bad Wolf Book Sales, which are humongous bargain book sales that take place in Malaysia. It is run by Mr Big Bad Wolf, affectionately called the Wolf for short. Okay, it is actually run by his minions (or more accurately the owners of the wonderful BookXcess and their minions) but psh. Technicalities.

Meet my main dealer- of books, that is.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my favourite sale.
Of all time.

No competition.

If you're currently residing in Malaysia (or even Singapore) and haven't been living too far from civilization, you have most probably heard of the sales. If you're also a bibliophile who lives rather close by, chances are this is also your favourite sale of all time. If not, it's fine- you still have time to discover them at the end of this year, and hopefully many years to come!

The main sale happens for around a week or two annually since 2009. It is a smorgasbord of books, in a venue large enough to house up to millions of tomes, hungry crowds of bibliophiles who are attracted to them like moths to a candle on a dark night, and other buyers not quite so obsessed. There is space even for food and beverage stalls, charming knick-knacks and merchandise, the odd vehicle or two (or five)- plus countless other things. Of course, it didn't start with millions of books in 2009 but that is not relevant now.

Hiatus Announcement #1

With the exams in two weeks and my scheduled contents out of their run, I would now formally announce a hiatus on reviews until probably the end of February.

This does not mean I won't occasionally pop in to write things, especially on my birthday...
Or maybe it should mean exactly that, because my exams are very VERY important.

After that, I would have a three-week long holiday which I will spend reading and reviewing books I've already read. This might mean a lot more content in March to make up for February.

See you real soon! :)