THE FILIPINO TRANSLATION OF LAINIE TAYLOR’S “DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE”: ARTY AND DISTURBING

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

When I got hold of the Filipino translation of Lainie Taylor’s Daughter Of Smoke And Bone, my first thought was … my, what a heavy book!  Four hundred and seventy-four pages long, divided into sixty chapters … I thought this was a book that I would be able to read at leisure …

I was wrong.

I wanted to read this book over the next couple of weeks.  I ended up reading the entire book in ONE day.  I just couldn’t stop.  By the time I was finished reading the entire book, my head was pounding, my eyes were tearing up and the cliffhanger made me want to scream … but this was definitely a HARD but good read.

The book’s title is as mysterious as its cover, that of a porcelain doll-like face covered by a feather mask.  On the inside cover is a photo of author Laini Taylor, a pretty lady with bright pink hair.  These elements alone are enough to give you an idea of what Laini Taylor has in store for her readers … definitely nothing traditional or cookie-cutter.

Daughter Of Smoke And Bone is the story of Karou, a seventeen-year old art student in icy, postcard-pretty Prague.  A beautiful young lady with blue hair, Karou isn’t your typical virginal teen.  Despite her age, Karou has experienced quite a lot in her young life:  falling for a philandering user who took her virginity, traveling all around the world, almost being killed … It turns out that Karou has a strange secret “job”.  From time to time, Karou enters doors that are actually passageways to different parts of the world, and collects all sorts of bones (human and animal).  She then brings these bones back to her “parent,” a monstrous creature named Brimstone who strings them together, day in and day out.

On one of her bone-collecting trips, she meets a gorgeous, mysterious stranger … who then tries to kill her.  His name is Akiva, he’s an angel … and he’s the mortal enemy of Karou’s family.

Despite Akiva’s attempt to kill Karou, Akiva finds himself drawn to her.  Karou feels the same way about Akiva.  They spend time together in secret, and slowly, the truth about Karou’s identity emerges … and it’s NOT a pretty story.  

The angst level in this book is pretty high.  There’s also some violence, a few gory images here and there.  The story isn’t just a love story, for it also raises a lot of serious questions about the nature of war and family.  In a war, just who is one’s enemy or ally?  What IS family, really? 

Taylor’s prose is complicated to read at times; there are just a lot of details that the reader’s mind needs to absorb.  But the effort is worth it, for the images that she evokes in one’s imagination are very unique.  The book is a lot like those works of art in a museum; they’re very beautiful, but sometimes, they’re also very strange and disturbing.

Although this book is supposedly aimed at young adult readers, there is nothing typical about it.  Although there are some elements that would remind you of Harry Potter, such as Karou’s secret passageways and her flying messenger, the world that the author fashioned for her heroine is much stranger and definitely much darker.  Think Romeo and Juliet with Armageddon and Philosophy thrown into the picture. It’s a good, substantial book for the older teen reader. 

RATING: 4