Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Audiobook)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Genre: Young Adult, Angels/Demons
Length: 12 hours and 32 minutes
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Source: eLibrary
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Description:

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 grown 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. When one of the strangers - beautiful, haunted Akiva - fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Rating:

My Review:

This is not.  This is not a story about some unsupervised teen who meets a boy with powers, nor is it a story about a girl who has powers she didn't know she had.  No this...this is different.  Karou is a seventeen-year-old art student.  She loves to draw, hangs with her best-friend Zuzana, and she has guy problems.  Occasionally she runs strange errands for which she receives wishes.  While she doesn't know who she is, she finds comfort in a small family of creatures.  Where others see demons, she sees family.  One day, an errand doesn't end as planned and Karou ends up alone.  How does she explain to Zuzana that an angel is trying to kill her?

On the story...
This, my friends, is my favorite read of the year by far.  I. AM. IN. LOVE. The story unfolds in a dramatic and suspenseful way.  It was perfect.  I wish I had more words but when I think of this book, I can't explain it.  I just see particular scenes unfold in my brain and I can't tell you that.  I can't spoil it.  The world building alone should make you want to read this book.  Ms. Taylor tells you just enough to satisfy the reader and having you wanting to know more (is that really possible?).  At the end, I feel like I know this world.  It even seems almost real.  Now this isn't a fairy tale, folks. This is a bit dark and the imagery will make you shiver.  But there is love...and hope.  The romance comes in sprinkles.  We get a taste but the story doesn't center around the romance. 

On the narrator...
Ms. Hvam did a fantastic job.  I loved every single voice and every single everything.  Okay, this isn't my most articulate moment.

Over all...
 I'm in awe. Really.  This is one of the greats in my mind.  I'm going to have to put it it up there with Hunger Games & Company.  I will continue this series (in case you didn't know) in whatever format I can get my hands on.   Thanks Tanya (from Girl Xoxo.com) for the recommendation.

Have you heard of this book?  Thoughts?