Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I was interested to learn that this fantasy novel was marketed as a YA offering in the US; in fact, the author's own website declares it as a YA text. But in the UK it's not, and seems to be positioned for a commercial literary fiction market. After reading it I still can't decide what the "right" audience for this fantasy romance is. YA or not YA?

The story follows Karou, a blue-haired and mysterious seventeen-year-old art student in Prague. Karou, however, lives a double life. Some days she goes to life drawing class and drinks coffee in her favourite ghoulish cafe with her friend Zuzana. Other days, she travels the world running errands for a teeth-collecting demon called Brimstone, who has raised her from her birth.

But Karou's biggest difficulty is that she doesn't know who she is. Brimstone will tell her nothing of her origins, and his chimaera helpers are sympathetic, but ultimately they, too, hide Karou's background from her. As the pages turn, Karou and the reader learn about her past and the world of Elsewhere that lies behind various portals in Marrakesh, Paris and Prague.

The novel developed quite differently to what I expected. At first I was a bit anxious: lots of names with xs and zs in them, half-human creatures with magical powers - it all felt a bit contrived. But when the plot surrounding Karou's true identity became intertwined with a quite moving love story I was hooked.

The settings Taylor uses - both real and Elsewhere - are beautifully evoked. Her prose is lush and vivid, although I'm not sure the dialogue always works as well as the description. Later in the book, split narrative is used effectively to give us two different perspectives on events. And I must mention the creation myths Taylor weaves into her novel. Although we aren't sure as readers whether or not to believe these myths, they are compellingly realised.

All in all, I wholeheartedly enjoyed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which is the first in a planned trilogy, with the next installment due soon. I'll certainly be buying the followup, particularly after the gripping conclusion to the first novel.

And on reflection, I think the novel is possibly a true example of a cross-over text. I can see teenagers and adult readers enjoying this and I'm not sure that placing it in a different section of the bookshop makes any difference to that.

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