Daughter of Smoke & Bone
In a nation on the brink of war, a young art student's star-crossed love begins to bloom in the first book of the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Laini Taylor. 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 otherworldly 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 one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored 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?
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Readers say *Daughter of Smoke & Bone* features captivating, lyrical writing and a richly imaginative world that draws readers in. Karou’s independenc...
I'm so glad this book was recommended to me. I've stepped back from YA books for a while. Not as a judgment against YA, but I hit a string of them that felt formulaic and unsatisfying. So I took YA off my reading list for a while. But after hearing the recommendation for this one (thank you again!) and reading the dust jacket synopsis, I put it on my list.
I absolutely loved this book.
Let me start with the things that made me step away from YA.
1) Main characters who are "chosen ones" without earning it. They are the chosen one through heritage or luck or intervention. And they do very little other than follow momentum.
2) Teenage love drama that feels forced, contrived and is almost always a triangle.
3) Weak, or thin, world building. I don't want pages and pages of world building, I don't want an entire chapter on a coat of arms. But I want a world that will swim around in my thoughts and dreams long after I finish the book.
4) Characters that are perfect, but powerless. They have no flaws of other than being too cute or stubborn, and yet they have no agency in their own story.
That's defiantly not all YA, it's just symptomatic of the streak I had been reading.
...until this book. This book has none of those flaws. The main character (Karou) is so well done. She is likeable but flawed. She is strong and has her own agency. The world that the author created is wonderful. I'm still thinking of teeth and wishes, wings and doorways. And the romance in this book.. is just right. I remember thinking about a quarter of the way into the book that I thought I could see where it was going. And I didn't hate it. It wasn't my favorite part of the story, but I didn't hate it. And the, the last third or so of the book things happen, like really happen! And by the end the relationship was one of my favorite aspect of the book.
This ended up being one of my favorite books in a while. not just favorite YA books, but favorite books period. I am now blessed/cursed with recently finding two series that I absolutely love through recommendations. I think I'll alternate between them.
(Cross posting from my Instagram https://instagram.com/winteregress )
I absolutely loved this book.
Let me start with the things that made me step away from YA.
1) Main characters who are "chosen ones" without earning it. They are the chosen one through heritage or luck or intervention. And they do very little other than follow momentum.
2) Teenage love drama that feels forced, contrived and is almost always a triangle.
3) Weak, or thin, world building. I don't want pages and pages of world building, I don't want an entire chapter on a coat of arms. But I want a world that will swim around in my thoughts and dreams long after I finish the book.
4) Characters that are perfect, but powerless. They have no flaws of other than being too cute or stubborn, and yet they have no agency in their own story.
That's defiantly not all YA, it's just symptomatic of the streak I had been reading.
...until this book. This book has none of those flaws. The main character (Karou) is so well done. She is likeable but flawed. She is strong and has her own agency. The world that the author created is wonderful. I'm still thinking of teeth and wishes, wings and doorways. And the romance in this book.. is just right. I remember thinking about a quarter of the way into the book that I thought I could see where it was going. And I didn't hate it. It wasn't my favorite part of the story, but I didn't hate it. And the, the last third or so of the book things happen, like really happen! And by the end the relationship was one of my favorite aspect of the book.
This ended up being one of my favorite books in a while. not just favorite YA books, but favorite books period. I am now blessed/cursed with recently finding two series that I absolutely love through recommendations. I think I'll alternate between them.
(Cross posting from my Instagram https://instagram.com/winteregress )
Our group was pretty underwhelmed by this book, and the general consensus was that we would have enjoyed it more if we were teenagers (which makes sense, since this is a YA). While the worldbuilding had potential, it was undercut by the nonlinear plotline which conspired to force readers to care about a star-crossed romance. Some YA are equally enjoyable at any age; however, this is not one of them.
I can easily see Laini Taylor becoming one of my top favorite authors, I'm captivated by the writing! And this is one of the few books I was unable to put down with all of the twists and turns. A human with an unknown past capable of impossible magic & living in a world of monsters. A curious angel breaking apart his "life's purpose" as he discovers not everything is as he has been taught. And an insane discovery as to why they would feel so connected to each to each other at first meet.
I can't get enough, on to book 2!
"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."
Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
4 out of 5 Stars
Great book, very easy to digest
When you first read the back of the book, you'd expect it to be far more religion based. After all, the tagline discusses angels and devils. Luckily, it's not. The so-called "angels" aren't the angels in the Christian sense and neither are the devils. They aren't based in "Heaven" and "Hell", but more like they just come from different realms.
Either way, it's a pretty baller book.
So, I am not a romance girlie. In fact, if romance is the main thing, I tend to avoid the book. This time, though, the gorgeous cover and that tagline up there made me make the exception. That being said, I'm lucky. While it says it's a romance, it doesn't feel like just another romance novel. The focus is more on the world and building up our relationship with the main character Karou instead of the romance aspect of the story.
My only issue is that the entire book feels more like it's focused on world-building and character introduction. I wouldn't call it filler, because it is a good story. I just think the real story starts happening in book 2. Nothing truly major happens until the third act of the story. Just by reading the back of book 2, you can see it's going to be far more intense than book one.
The writing itself flows and is easy to read. Even with strange terminology, it doesn't stop the flow of the writing. She also does great at balancing description. In today's world, attention spans are waning. Some authors let themselves get bogged down with description when most of today's readers simply won't read it. Taylor doesn't have this issue. She doesn't let description or her new terminology weigh down the story.
I highly recommend this book. The world is cool and exciting; her writing is easy to read and understand. I'm no romance girlie, but the characters feel rea despite their unworldly origins.
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