Review - Daughter Of Smoke And Bone By Laini Taylor

"Errand requiring immediate attention. Come. 
The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things. 
When Brimstone called, she always came. 
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought"

I've seen so many covers for this book that I was quite confused as to which one was for the UK & as I was reading an ARC version that confused me slightly more.  I believe the cover picture I have posted is the final UK cover & I think it is rather pretty!!  The font style is very eye catching.  I would definitely pick this up in any book store!!

From the start I found this engaging and exciting.  The setting was quite different to anything I have read before & the writing style was both fun and refreshing.  Laini really does this whole writing thing in her own style and I like it a lot!!!

The lead character Karou, is possibly one of the feistiest characters I have read of.  She is seriously awesome & not very ethical in her wish use.  Secretly we'd all love to serve up some justice the way she does & so she is now my book hero!!

The book was generally set in Czech Republic which was very different & I really did enjoy that.  However I did become a little (a lot) confused after a while with all the different styles of names - both Czech and 'magical' This says a whole lot more about my intelligence, than what it does about the actual writing though.
There is also a lot of switching of scenes and even times, which again did confuse me a bit.  Coupled with the confusing names I did start to find the book to become a little hard going, as my mind wandered slightly.  I was so frustrated with myself more than anything as I wanted to absolutely love every second of the book, but sadly this made it hard for me.

But the book totally redeemed itself for me with an awesome conclusion, which to be honest left me with some questions and so wanting more.  I'm sure next time round I will be more familiar with Laini's writing style and the setting of this book world and so I'll be able to immerse myself into the story more easily.
I hope everyone will give this a go as this is a totally different style for YA!!!

Rating 3 1/2 Out Of 5

Check Out The AWESOME UK Book Trailers Below!!

Published In The UK By Hodder And Stoughton

Due For Release September 2011

This Can be purchased HERE and at good book retailers