On This Page
Description
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters--the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
LDiIonno Similar in the beauty of the writing, wonderful characters we care deeply about, sly humor, fabulous dialogue.
41
avalon_today Both have sexy arrogant warrior winged beings. But one is more explicit than the other, can you guess?
22
Member Reviews
It's difficult for me to understand how a book could have such deep, creative and compelling world-building and such shallow and cliche romance.
The good: The world Taylor built is really lush. The politics in the war between the angels and chimera are nuanced and interesting, and more than that, you get a feeling that there's a depth of culture to both sides much more than what you even read.
The start of this book is one of the best I've ever read -- I loved the descriptions of Prague and the rapport between Karou and Zuze. I found Brimstone and Issa and the rest a compelling mystery, and I felt myself quickly caught up in the mystery of who Karou was and what the teeth were for.
For all that there are hundreds of books about the show more morals for and against magic, I thought that this was the first that really made doing magic feel weighty, but not objectively bad and I loved that. I liked the metaphysics of magic in general.
I love books that explore the tension between "real life" and the supernatural and for at least the first half of the book there was still classes and grades and friends that Karou was trying to balance with saving the world.
The medium: Karou is the Mary Sue to end all Mary Sues. She's slender (as we're told at least seventeen times) and The Best Draw-er and Everyone Loves Her Ideas and she has
"naturally" blue hair and never gets scared and is good at everything. But...I kind of liked her anyway. She's strong and self-contained and has a ton of agency, even once she meets up with the male romantic lead.
The ugly: Ugh, the romance. I'm not a romantic; I don't read romance and I certainly don't do paranormal romance, so clearly not the intended audience. But he's handsome and perfect and they're instantly in love and ugh, ugh, ugh. And even though they'restar-crossed lovers from a past life, they were instantly in love then, too. So... . And when they're together all of the descriptions are bland and shallow and cliche.
Supposedly the sequels are more world-building, less romance. I'll check them out... show less
The good: The world Taylor built is really lush. The politics in the war between the angels and chimera are nuanced and interesting, and more than that, you get a feeling that there's a depth of culture to both sides much more than what you even read.
The start of this book is one of the best I've ever read -- I loved the descriptions of Prague and the rapport between Karou and Zuze. I found Brimstone and Issa and the rest a compelling mystery, and I felt myself quickly caught up in the mystery of who Karou was and what the teeth were for.
For all that there are hundreds of books about the show more morals for and against magic, I thought that this was the first that really made doing magic feel weighty, but not objectively bad and I loved that. I liked the metaphysics of magic in general.
I love books that explore the tension between "real life" and the supernatural and for at least the first half of the book there was still classes and grades and friends that Karou was trying to balance with saving the world.
The medium: Karou is the Mary Sue to end all Mary Sues. She's slender (as we're told at least seventeen times) and The Best Draw-er and Everyone Loves Her Ideas and she has
"naturally" blue hair and never gets scared and is good at everything. But...I kind of liked her anyway. She's strong and self-contained and has a ton of agency, even once she meets up with the male romantic lead.
The ugly: Ugh, the romance. I'm not a romantic; I don't read romance and I certainly don't do paranormal romance, so clearly not the intended audience. But he's handsome and perfect and they're instantly in love and ugh, ugh, ugh. And even though they're
Supposedly the sequels are more world-building, less romance. I'll check them out... show less
Perfect. The end.
Okay, in all seriousness, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of those amazing reads that make it so incredibly difficult to try to review. On the surface, the book has some familiar elements that we’ve seen before: angels and devils, forbidden romance, star-crossed lovers, magic, and secrets…Sounds like a few different books out there, right? But, no, you have not read a book quite like this one. Laini Taylor wove the familiar into something so refreshing and unique, leaving me in awe.
I don’t know what it says about me, but I knew that this was a Favorite — with a capital ‘F’ — once there was a mention of “inessential penises” (page 22 of the ARC). There were several other scenes that Taylor infused show more with the perfect brand of humor but, in addition to that, she was a master with her world building and words. Prague and “Elsewhere” came alive.
While Daughter of Smoke and Bone has a love story, an ancient battle, and many other things taking place, at its core it’s a story about the discovery of Karou’s identity. She’s brave, quirky, and a bit of a badass, but she’s also very vulnerable; she doesn’t feel whole because her background is a mystery to her. Enter Akiva and the chain of events that revealed who she is. It definitely took me by surprise!
In my experience, side characters often feel so unnecessary in most of my reads because they’re there and then gone without even skimming the surface of who they are. Here, even with the quickest glimpses of some of them, I felt that Taylor created layered personalities. Everyone from Zuzana to Brimstone and the rest of Karou’s family, to Razgut, Chiro, and Iago… A lot of time wasn’t spent with all of them, but attachments and opinions were formed and I had a very clear and vivid picture of who they were.
And then there’s the romance. I honestly get shivers just remembering it! I was quickly on board with the idea of Karou and Akiva, but then it got even better as secrets were revealed and it was just…almost too much. Unexpected. But brilliant and beautiful and so very swoon-worthy. Who knew “Hello” was such a sexy word?
This is a book whose ending I looked forward to with dread because I wanted more. Usually after I finish a book I immediately find a spot for it on my shelf. Not the case with Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It’s been over a month since I first read it and I’ve been unable to move it from my bedside table. I’ve needed it close by for revisits and, though I’ve obviously read other books since then, Karou’s story is one I have not been able to let go of. Taylor’s words, her world, and characters have lingered and I’m aching to experience it all over again in the next two installments. This is not a book you want to miss! show less
Okay, in all seriousness, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of those amazing reads that make it so incredibly difficult to try to review. On the surface, the book has some familiar elements that we’ve seen before: angels and devils, forbidden romance, star-crossed lovers, magic, and secrets…Sounds like a few different books out there, right? But, no, you have not read a book quite like this one. Laini Taylor wove the familiar into something so refreshing and unique, leaving me in awe.
I don’t know what it says about me, but I knew that this was a Favorite — with a capital ‘F’ — once there was a mention of “inessential penises” (page 22 of the ARC). There were several other scenes that Taylor infused show more with the perfect brand of humor but, in addition to that, she was a master with her world building and words. Prague and “Elsewhere” came alive.
While Daughter of Smoke and Bone has a love story, an ancient battle, and many other things taking place, at its core it’s a story about the discovery of Karou’s identity. She’s brave, quirky, and a bit of a badass, but she’s also very vulnerable; she doesn’t feel whole because her background is a mystery to her. Enter Akiva and the chain of events that revealed who she is. It definitely took me by surprise!
In my experience, side characters often feel so unnecessary in most of my reads because they’re there and then gone without even skimming the surface of who they are. Here, even with the quickest glimpses of some of them, I felt that Taylor created layered personalities. Everyone from Zuzana to Brimstone and the rest of Karou’s family, to Razgut, Chiro, and Iago… A lot of time wasn’t spent with all of them, but attachments and opinions were formed and I had a very clear and vivid picture of who they were.
And then there’s the romance. I honestly get shivers just remembering it! I was quickly on board with the idea of Karou and Akiva, but then it got even better as secrets were revealed and it was just…almost too much. Unexpected. But brilliant and beautiful and so very swoon-worthy. Who knew “Hello” was such a sexy word?
This is a book whose ending I looked forward to with dread because I wanted more. Usually after I finish a book I immediately find a spot for it on my shelf. Not the case with Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It’s been over a month since I first read it and I’ve been unable to move it from my bedside table. I’ve needed it close by for revisits and, though I’ve obviously read other books since then, Karou’s story is one I have not been able to let go of. Taylor’s words, her world, and characters have lingered and I’m aching to experience it all over again in the next two installments. This is not a book you want to miss! show less
I loved this book.
Let me start by saying this, the first two chapters are rocky. There are some metaphors by Taylor that made me almost chuck the book in disgust, but the potential in the story, and some very good lines; kept me going for another chapter, and then she won me over completely.
I read this book in practically a sitting. I locked myself in my room, and refused to put it down. The story itself is wonderful, and for an incurable romantic such as myself, it was absolutely perfect. Firstly, the elements of the story were constructed beautifully, the entire story is almost metaphorical in the way that the X-men are. You'll know what I mean when you read it. The romance comes through strong, the passion is incredible, and best of show more all, the female protagonist is strong and independent as fuck. Even better- the male protagonist never steps in to save her, never invades her boundaries, his showing up doesn't have her suddenly turning into a princess with glass slippers. She never stops being fierce. In fact, they are both incredibly fierce, and it fuels my fantasy and desire to see a love made up of equals. No one is hiding behind anyone here. No one needs saving (Well, kind of but spoilers).
It's a love story. One that doesn't compromise the woman by turning her into the weaker sex. It's more than just about the love of two characters however, and it carries a deeper, more important message at it's core. The writing becomes fluid, and beautiful, it flows undisturbed (after those two first very awkward chapters. I prefer to lay the blame on her editor and not on Taylor) and she very skillfully creates worlds and expresses them in a way that I could easily apply to my own experience- if you have ever been up at dawn, to watch the sun come up, or out in the middle of the night to simply look at the stars or the moon, then you will too.
I cried. I cried a lot, and clutched the book to my chest a few times. I'm silly like that. I was sorry that the book ended. I'm going to be headed to the bookstore to get the sequel. I don't even know if it's available or if it's a pre order thing at this point.
I recommend this book highly. Read it. Love it. Fall in love with the characters. Just fall in love. show less
Let me start by saying this, the first two chapters are rocky. There are some metaphors by Taylor that made me almost chuck the book in disgust, but the potential in the story, and some very good lines; kept me going for another chapter, and then she won me over completely.
I read this book in practically a sitting. I locked myself in my room, and refused to put it down. The story itself is wonderful, and for an incurable romantic such as myself, it was absolutely perfect. Firstly, the elements of the story were constructed beautifully, the entire story is almost metaphorical in the way that the X-men are. You'll know what I mean when you read it. The romance comes through strong, the passion is incredible, and best of show more all, the female protagonist is strong and independent as fuck. Even better- the male protagonist never steps in to save her, never invades her boundaries, his showing up doesn't have her suddenly turning into a princess with glass slippers. She never stops being fierce. In fact, they are both incredibly fierce, and it fuels my fantasy and desire to see a love made up of equals. No one is hiding behind anyone here. No one needs saving (Well, kind of but spoilers).
It's a love story. One that doesn't compromise the woman by turning her into the weaker sex. It's more than just about the love of two characters however, and it carries a deeper, more important message at it's core. The writing becomes fluid, and beautiful, it flows undisturbed (after those two first very awkward chapters. I prefer to lay the blame on her editor and not on Taylor) and she very skillfully creates worlds and expresses them in a way that I could easily apply to my own experience- if you have ever been up at dawn, to watch the sun come up, or out in the middle of the night to simply look at the stars or the moon, then you will too.
I cried. I cried a lot, and clutched the book to my chest a few times. I'm silly like that. I was sorry that the book ended. I'm going to be headed to the bookstore to get the sequel. I don't even know if it's available or if it's a pre order thing at this point.
I recommend this book highly. Read it. Love it. Fall in love with the characters. Just fall in love. show less
Excellent! By far one of the best books I've read in a long time, if not ever. From the very first pages, I was sucked into Karou's world. The best adjective I can think of is "juicy" - before we even get a hint of the plot, this book was near impossible to stop reading. The descriptions are rich and vivid, the characters are likeable, realistic and most of all 'understandable' : in the book, we encounter many different points of views and opinions, all of them realistic and believable.One of the things I loved the most about this book were the strong kickass female characters. Most YA books these days are good girl/bad guy; damsel in distress and dashing prince charming. Here, however, Karou can hold her own, can survive on her own and show more never needs to be rescued by some all round superior guy. She's manages to be independent but not aloof, mysterious but not mary sue, and strong but still believable. She's not some hardened warrior, trained from birth to do what she does - while she has had martials arts training since she was a child, she still had a happy childhood, and we're not subjected to pages and pages of spoiled brat/mary sue angst. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I loved loved loved Akiva - with so many books, the main male character is some sort of idealised adolescent wet dream, with no substance or rationality behind him. While Akiva is certainly the object of many fantasies, he has his faults and his weaknesses, and his actions are believable.I loved all the characters (well, the ones on Karou's side), but all were excellently portrayed. The plot was excellent, the world-building breathtaking - all the systems of 'magic' are incredibly well-thought-out.I could really go on and on for ages, but I won't and will just encourage everyone and anyone to go and read this book, BUT to savour it and make it last as long as possible because quality like this is rare and hard to come by.This book is now definitely one of my all-time favourites. show less
I originally read Daughter of Smoke & Bone when it first came out. I remember liking it, but I didn’t really remember what happened in it. What I remembered was basically as follows:
- There is a girl named Karou
- She has blue hair
- She lives in Prague
- There’s a ‘monster’/father figure/creature named Brimstone
- Brimstone is cool (seriously, love him)
- Brimstone uses teeth for something
- Somehow there are wishes being used
- There’s an angel named Akiva
- He’s a pretty angel
Literally, that’s all I remembered. I didn’t remember the plotline or really anything important in the story. Weirdly enough, I still bought the other two in the series as they both came out, but I haven’t read those either since I couldn’t remember show more the first.
So, I made Daughter of Smoke & Bone my first reread of 2016.
And boy, I should have done it sooner.
The biggest thing I forgot before rereading: how FANTASTIC of a writer Laini Taylor is. Like, seriously. How does someone weave such a wonderful story? With such imagination. And so many feels.
I want to talk about everything, EVERYTHING, but I don’t want to spoil anything, if you haven’t read it. But you should have (or you must go read it now) because it’s fabulous.
Karou I want as a best friend. She’s got such a great sense of humour even though she’s sort of adrift in the world. Even though she has Brimstone and the others, she doesn’t really have a family in the human world. She isn’t (and therefore you aren’t) sure where she came from, and it’s interesting to see the story unfold from her point of view. Things would happen that if you knew her backstory, wouldn’t be that interesting, but because you only find out things as she does, IT MAKES NO SENSE AND YOU MUST FIND OUT MORE.
Akiva was alright, although I didn’t feel as much towards him. I know he’s pretty, he’s got wings that he can hide, and he’s had some terrible stuff happen in his past. Some chapters are told from his point of view, but they didn’t speak to me as much. Nearer the end of the book, I did start to feel bad for him so I’m hoping these feels continue with the other books.
The story itself was super interesting. I just love the tiny little hints Laini Taylor drops into the story during the beginning and then BAM it’s key later on and you go OH MY GOD. Thank you, Laini, for actually keeping those threads going and tying them up at the end. I have to say, before rereading, I honestly couldn’t remember what Brimstone used teeth for. Not for the life of me. But as the story progresses and I found out, I loved it. So imaginative. One of my favourite plot…points, tools, lines?…in forever.
Now for the slightly spoilery part of the book I didn’t like: I strongly dislike the insta-love between Akiva and Karou. I mean, it sort of made sense after you find out who Karou is and their backstory, but I hated it. I get that it’s sort of supposed to be a “love knows no bounds” or “love conquers all” or something, but no. I dislike insta-love. I have a hard time believing that after one day of meeting someone, especially someone who tried to KILL ME, I’d be all “let me kiss you, you beautiful angel”. I know she’s still cautious and everything, but that quickly fades and it irks me. Rant over.
Overall, I really did enjoy my reread of Daughter of Smoke & Bone. show less
- There is a girl named Karou
- She has blue hair
- She lives in Prague
- There’s a ‘monster’/father figure/creature named Brimstone
- Brimstone is cool (seriously, love him)
- Brimstone uses teeth for something
- Somehow there are wishes being used
- There’s an angel named Akiva
- He’s a pretty angel
Literally, that’s all I remembered. I didn’t remember the plotline or really anything important in the story. Weirdly enough, I still bought the other two in the series as they both came out, but I haven’t read those either since I couldn’t remember show more the first.
So, I made Daughter of Smoke & Bone my first reread of 2016.
And boy, I should have done it sooner.
The biggest thing I forgot before rereading: how FANTASTIC of a writer Laini Taylor is. Like, seriously. How does someone weave such a wonderful story? With such imagination. And so many feels.
I want to talk about everything, EVERYTHING, but I don’t want to spoil anything, if you haven’t read it. But you should have (or you must go read it now) because it’s fabulous.
Karou I want as a best friend. She’s got such a great sense of humour even though she’s sort of adrift in the world. Even though she has Brimstone and the others, she doesn’t really have a family in the human world. She isn’t (and therefore you aren’t) sure where she came from, and it’s interesting to see the story unfold from her point of view. Things would happen that if you knew her backstory, wouldn’t be that interesting, but because you only find out things as she does, IT MAKES NO SENSE AND YOU MUST FIND OUT MORE.
Akiva was alright, although I didn’t feel as much towards him. I know he’s pretty, he’s got wings that he can hide, and he’s had some terrible stuff happen in his past. Some chapters are told from his point of view, but they didn’t speak to me as much. Nearer the end of the book, I did start to feel bad for him so I’m hoping these feels continue with the other books.
The story itself was super interesting. I just love the tiny little hints Laini Taylor drops into the story during the beginning and then BAM it’s key later on and you go OH MY GOD. Thank you, Laini, for actually keeping those threads going and tying them up at the end. I have to say, before rereading, I honestly couldn’t remember what Brimstone used teeth for. Not for the life of me. But as the story progresses and I found out, I loved it. So imaginative. One of my favourite plot…points, tools, lines?…in forever.
Now for the slightly spoilery part of the book I didn’t like: I strongly dislike the insta-love between Akiva and Karou. I mean, it sort of made sense after you find out who Karou is and their backstory, but I hated it. I get that it’s sort of supposed to be a “love knows no bounds” or “love conquers all” or something, but no. I dislike insta-love. I have a hard time believing that after one day of meeting someone, especially someone who tried to KILL ME, I’d be all “let me kiss you, you beautiful angel”. I know she’s still cautious and everything, but that quickly fades and it irks me. Rant over.
Overall, I really did enjoy my reread of Daughter of Smoke & Bone. show less
Teen paranormal romance with a dash of urban fantasy, this. Generally not really my thing, though I do understand the appeal. Taylor creates a really fascinating paranormal world, an interesting main character, and a decent romance. While I never cared really deeply for the characters, I was completely invested in finding out what was going to happen.
My biggest problem with the story puts me solidly into cranky old lady territory. I am so tired of paranormal romance heroes who are beautiful beyond all imagination and of "destined" romances. Daughter is much, much better about making the relationship complex and real than some other paranormal teen fare (Twilight, I am looking at you). But there's still this tendency to show more over-romanticize, to make the relationship the only important thing. I know, I know. It's a story, it's a fantasy. And nothing annoys me more than the suggestion that a teenager's (or anyone's) entertainment diet ought consist of nothing but spinachy substantive tales bound to the workings of the real world and better preparing one to face it. Sometimes you just need a custard-filled doughnut-story swathed in chocolate icing with sprinkles on top. But even so, there's something off-putting about this wrapping up of impossible ideals in a supernatural package: Okay, we know there's no such thing as perfect beauty, but, see, the character is an angel, so it's okay. See, we know that a girl shouldn't let her relationship become the only thing that has any meaning for her, but their love is destined, so it's okay. We know that love is more interesting and lasting if it's a choice rather than fate, but their destined romance will bring peace to the world, so it's okay. We know that we can live without the ones we love dearly, but they actually can't because of Supernatural Stuff, so it's okay.
This kind of use of the supernatural as excuse to keep telling all the old "romantic" untruths appears to be a new trope, and I think that's too bad. I don't read enough of this genre to know whether there are books out there that get inside this trope and turn it on its ear. (I hope so. Maybe Taylor's going to do that as she continues on with this series--the characters are flawed enough, the heroine smart enough, the set-up complex enough that I think she certainly could.) There could still be a happy ending. There could still be overwhelming joyful squishy ecstatic love. They could still bring peace to the world. But how much more interesting it would be if, instead of just being irresistibly drawn to one another, they really loved each other, saw each other for what they are, shit and all, and still chose to be together. How much more compelling if they were complete alone and a truly kickass team together. What if the supernatural elements, instead of making it "okay" to slot back into the old stereotypes, opened up whole new worlds and ways of understanding love? show less
My biggest problem with the story puts me solidly into cranky old lady territory. I am so tired of paranormal romance heroes who are beautiful beyond all imagination and of "destined" romances. Daughter is much, much better about making the relationship complex and real than some other paranormal teen fare (Twilight, I am looking at you). But there's still this tendency to show more over-romanticize, to make the relationship the only important thing. I know, I know. It's a story, it's a fantasy. And nothing annoys me more than the suggestion that a teenager's (or anyone's) entertainment diet ought consist of nothing but spinachy substantive tales bound to the workings of the real world and better preparing one to face it. Sometimes you just need a custard-filled doughnut-story swathed in chocolate icing with sprinkles on top. But even so, there's something off-putting about this wrapping up of impossible ideals in a supernatural package: Okay, we know there's no such thing as perfect beauty, but, see, the character is an angel, so it's okay. See, we know that a girl shouldn't let her relationship become the only thing that has any meaning for her, but their love is destined, so it's okay. We know that love is more interesting and lasting if it's a choice rather than fate, but their destined romance will bring peace to the world, so it's okay. We know that we can live without the ones we love dearly, but they actually can't because of Supernatural Stuff, so it's okay.
This kind of use of the supernatural as excuse to keep telling all the old "romantic" untruths appears to be a new trope, and I think that's too bad. I don't read enough of this genre to know whether there are books out there that get inside this trope and turn it on its ear. (I hope so. Maybe Taylor's going to do that as she continues on with this series--the characters are flawed enough, the heroine smart enough, the set-up complex enough that I think she certainly could.) There could still be a happy ending. There could still be overwhelming joyful squishy ecstatic love. They could still bring peace to the world. But how much more interesting it would be if, instead of just being irresistibly drawn to one another, they really loved each other, saw each other for what they are, shit and all, and still chose to be together. How much more compelling if they were complete alone and a truly kickass team together. What if the supernatural elements, instead of making it "okay" to slot back into the old stereotypes, opened up whole new worlds and ways of understanding love? show less
This book is so highly praised that I was apprehensive when I started reading it. While Daughter of Smoke and Bone was not an instant favorite, it was very good and I was pleasantly surprised.
Karou is a wonderful main character. She’s witty and strong, but also sometimes sulky and impetuous. She really grows in confidence over the course of the book, which is saying something, since she doesn’t exactly start out as a low-confidence character. By the middle, I was actually beginning to worry that she was seeming a little too strong and perfect, but after learning her back story, her character made sense, and I could embrace it once more. She’s a great main character who really holds her own.
Akiva, the “Angel” in this “Angel show more and Demon” romance, is quite intriguing, to say the least. He’s the epitome of a soldier who’s become dead on the inside and tortured by his past, and you can practically feel his pain radiate off the pages. He’s the type of soul who just seems so broken and beat down by everything that’s happened, you can’t help but to root for him, even when he’s potentially an enemy.
The writing is this book just blew me away. The entire story has a mystical feel, even when it’s set in our world. I loved the introduction to the chapters. They were all short, full of impact, and relevant to the plot. The writing in this book is the type of writing that sucks you in and eventually seems like it disappears altogether. I never consciously felt like I was reading when I was reading this book. It felt more like someone telling a fairy tale or watching a play, and I love when authors are so good at disappearing from their own books that you just completely forget you’re actually reading.
The plot in this book isn’t terribly complex, but it is compelling. Most of the “twists” were easily spotted, but this only slightly inferred with my enjoyment. The back story becomes fairly obvious before it’s actually told, but despite that I was still racing towards the end because I had to be sure. I really like how Laini Taylor takes fairly well-used tropes and subverts them to make a story that feels completely new.
Final Impression: This wasn’t an instant-favorite for me, but there are many things I loved about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, mostly the characters. This is a really unique story that compels you to want more, and I loved Karou. 4/5 stars.
Review originally posted on my blog at Book.Blog.Bake. show less
Karou is a wonderful main character. She’s witty and strong, but also sometimes sulky and impetuous. She really grows in confidence over the course of the book, which is saying something, since she doesn’t exactly start out as a low-confidence character. By the middle, I was actually beginning to worry that she was seeming a little too strong and perfect, but after learning her back story, her character made sense, and I could embrace it once more. She’s a great main character who really holds her own.
Akiva, the “Angel” in this “Angel show more and Demon” romance, is quite intriguing, to say the least. He’s the epitome of a soldier who’s become dead on the inside and tortured by his past, and you can practically feel his pain radiate off the pages. He’s the type of soul who just seems so broken and beat down by everything that’s happened, you can’t help but to root for him, even when he’s potentially an enemy.
The writing is this book just blew me away. The entire story has a mystical feel, even when it’s set in our world. I loved the introduction to the chapters. They were all short, full of impact, and relevant to the plot. The writing in this book is the type of writing that sucks you in and eventually seems like it disappears altogether. I never consciously felt like I was reading when I was reading this book. It felt more like someone telling a fairy tale or watching a play, and I love when authors are so good at disappearing from their own books that you just completely forget you’re actually reading.
The plot in this book isn’t terribly complex, but it is compelling. Most of the “twists” were easily spotted, but this only slightly inferred with my enjoyment. The back story becomes fairly obvious before it’s actually told, but despite that I was still racing towards the end because I had to be sure. I really like how Laini Taylor takes fairly well-used tropes and subverts them to make a story that feels completely new.
Final Impression: This wasn’t an instant-favorite for me, but there are many things I loved about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, mostly the characters. This is a really unique story that compels you to want more, and I loved Karou. 4/5 stars.
Review originally posted on my blog at Book.Blog.Bake. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Top Five Books of 2013
1,562 works; 721 members
Jean's Sci Fi/Fantasy Reading list
189 works; 12 members
NPRs your favorites: 100 Best Ever Teen Novels
237 works; 49 members
Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years
2,168 works; 601 members
Bookriot's 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels By Female Authors
100 works; 9 members
READ in 2023
244 works; 1 member
Absolute Power
107 works; 1 member
Best BRUTAL of Urban Fantasy
244 works; 1 member
To Read
617 works; 7 members
Books Read in 2020
4,379 works; 124 members
infjsarah's wishlist
408 works; 2 members
ALA The Reading List
490 works; 28 members
Books whose title names an object usually found in the kitchen
171 works; 14 members
A(n) [X] of [Y] and [Z]
35 works; 2 members
Books Read in 2012
59 works; 1 member
Elaina's
183 works; 1 member
In-Yun: Historias de Amores Escritos en las Estrellas
11 works; 1 member
Author Information
33+ Works 23,674 Members
Laini Taylor was born in Chico, California in 1971. She received a degree in English from UC Berkeley in 1994. She also studied illustration at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a travel book editor, a bookseller, a waitress, and an illustrator/designer. Her works include Blackbringer, show more Silksinger, Lips Touch: Three Times, and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. In 2014 her title Dreams of Gods and Monsters made The New York Times Best seller list. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Laini Taylor is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
DanielaLombard is also the author Laini Taylor.
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Daughter of Smoke & Bone
- Original title
- Daughter of Smoke & Bone
- Original publication date
- 2011-09-27
- People/Characters
- Karou; Akiva; Brimstone; Zuzana; Madrigal; Issa (show all 20); Kazimir; Izîl; Razgut; Thiago; Liraz; Hazael; Chiro; Nwella; Mik; Bain; Yasri; Twiga; Joram; Svetla
- Important places
- Prague, Czech Republic; Marrakesh, Morocco
- Related movies
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone (IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.
- Dedication
- For Jane, for a whole new world of possibilities
- First words
- Walking to school over the snow-muffled cobbles, Karou had no sinister premonitions about the day.
- Quotations
- Humanity, perhaps, that quality of benevolence that humans have, without irony, named after themselves.
She tastes like nectar and salt. Nectar and salt and apples. Pollen and stars and hinges. She tastes like fairy tales. Swan maidens at midnight. Cream on the tip of a fox's tongue. She tastes like hope.
Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes it own magic.
If it's not chocolate, it's not breakfast.
Evanescence was not, in itself, a grim fate. It was the way of things, to be unmade; it happened in natural death, every day.
So you are a child of love. It seems right, that you were made by love.
There was almost always something to take delight in, if you were trying. But this was different. It couldn't be contained. She sometimes imagined it streaming out of her like light.
Happiness. It was the place where passion, with all its dazzle and drumbeat, met something softer: homecoming and safety and pure sunbeam comfort. It was all those things, intertwined with the heat and the thrill, and it was ... (show all)as bright within her as a swallowed star.
Hope is the real magic, child.
You were true to her, even if she was not to you. Never repent of your own kindness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That this was not the end.
- Publisher's editor
- Howard, Kate
- Blurbers
- Rothfuss, Patrick
- Original language*
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PZ7.T214826
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 7,711
- Popularity
- 1,473
- Reviews
- 563
- Rating
- (4.05)
- Languages
- 20 — Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 69
- ASINs
- 25