Karou lives in two worlds, both filled with mysterious unknowns. When asked, she can’t really answer who or what she is. She was raised in the shop of the demon wishgiver known as Brimstone. With his few loyal servants, Brimstone spends his days making necklaces of teeth and gems. Human traders bring teeth in exchange for wishes, but no one knows the purpose for Brimstone’s necklaces. Karou spends part of her life in the human world and the other part with Brimstone.
When Karou meets Akiva, a seraph and sworn enemy of her demon family, Karou learns answers to some of the unknowns. However, as she learns the truth about her past, she also learns of great pain in her future. Daughter of Smoke and Bone gives a unique take on the traditional war between angels and demons. The story is intriguing and the characters are complex and filled with strengths and weaknesses. I found the love story a little too mushy (a lot of gazing into eyes and feeling fire), but never inappropriate. It is a good book for fantasy readers who enjoy a lot of talk about love, but like it to stay clean.
Recommended for ages 14 and up
Another Pan is a much darker version of Peter Pan placed in a more modern age with hints of Egyptian mythology sprinkled throughout. Wendy and John Darling are students at Marlowe, an elitist New York high school, because their father is a member of the faculty. They are embarrassed by their father’s obsession with Egyptology until they begin working on a special exhibit arranged for the school. They meet Peter, a mysterious new RA, and his gang of boys who refer to themselves as the LBs. Soon Wendy and John are swept up in Peter’s quest to find ‘bone dust’, a dust in the bones of certain mummies and purported to bring eternal life. Strangely, these bones are found in a part of the Egyptian underworld that has relocated to beneath the Marlowe school.
This novella by Neil Gaiman manages to present a profound story about love and forgiveness (of yourself as well as others) in a very short space. It includes Gaiman’s typical poetic brilliance, odd darkness, and compelling characters. It is an intriguing story and an excellently read audio book (Katherine Kelgren—my favorite). With the dark story, I would recommend it for teen readers.
