Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
(Hachette Book Group)
Date published: September 27, 2011
10th Anniversary Edition, published December 1, 2020

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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 grows 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?

⤖ My Review ⬻

Back in early 2020, I picked up Daughter of Smoke & Bone because it had been recommended to me by quite a few people. But I don’t know if I was in the right mood for it because while I absolutely loved the writing, I didn’t quite connect with the characters like I might have another time. I know this because when I read the second and third books in the series quite a few months later, I absolutely adored everything!

But I’ll save my detailed thoughts on Days of Blood & Starlight and Dreams of Gods & Monsters for their respective review posts. I’m disappointed in myself for not clicking with the first book the way that I did with the others, and I definitely plan on re-reading it this year or next because I feel like I missed out! It’s almost as if I put the first episode of a TV show on and dozed off, but then continued on with episodes 2 and 3 etc.

I feel like part of the experience of absorbing this series as a whole is missing for me. But enough about that. Here’s what I really enjoyed about Daughter of Smoke & Bone: 1) As I mentioned before, I absolutely loved the writing (the tone, the style, the turns of phrase). I was so there for it! Taylor writes beautifully and I can’t wait to pick up her other books.

2) The world-building was incredible! I will say that there was quite a bit that had to be explained and laid out as well, which might actually be one of the explanations why I enjoyed books two and three more as well? Maybe the world-building took the front seat over the plot sometimes? I don’t remember though, so I’ll have to revisit this after I re-read Daughter of Smoke & Bone.

3) The story. The beginning of the plot intrigued me, but then it just became more and more complex, and I loved that! I was in awe and savouring the amount of detail and thought that went into this book as well as the books that followed! I highly highly recommend this book!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Laini Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Honor Book Strange the Dreamer and its sequel, Muse of Nightmares. Taylor is also the author of the global sensation the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy and the companion novella Night of Cake & Puppets. Taylor’s other works include the Dreamdark books: Blackbringer and Silksinger, and the National Book Award finalist Lips Touch: Three Times. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, illustrator Jim Di Bartolo, and their daughter, Clementine. Her website is lainitaylor.com.

⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻

⤖ Let’s Chat ⬻

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS!