Swoon Thursday #78 ~ Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme.

Here's how it works. From the book you're currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag#YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog!

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My Swoon for this week comes from:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
(Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)

by
Laini Taylor

First - The Blurb:

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 beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery 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?

Second - The Swoon:

He reached for her face, and Karou covered his hand with hers, pressing it to her cheek.

He said, "I want you to know..." He swallowed. "I need you to know that I was drawn to you - to you, Karou - Before the wishbone. Before I knew, and I think... I think I would always find you, no matter how you were hidden" He was focused on her with extraordinary intensity. "Your soul sings to mine. My soul is yours, and it always will be, in any world. No matter what happens..." His voice cracked, and he took a breath. "I need you to remember that I love you."

For me, this might just be the most tender scene in the book.

Third - My Thoughts:

I kind of held out reading this book for a while but I'm glad that if finally worked it's way to the top of my TBR pile. I found it to be a deep read, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Karou is a young girl who is caught between two worlds. In the first - the human world - she is an art student who is trying to lead a normal  life.  In the second - the world of chimeras (human/animal hybrids) and angels - she is trying to understand how she fits in.

Brimstone, a chimera and her adoptive father, holds the answers but is unwilling to give them.

Then one day she crosses paths with an Angel - Akiva - and with his help, the mysteries of her past are slowly revealed.

The story is beautifully written, and although a little intense at times, it certainly kept me captivated.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

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Okay, so what do you think?

If you liked my Swoon, please leave a comment below!