Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by 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 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.

I really really enjoyed Daughter of Smoke & Bone. The idea was so original and unlike anything I've ever read before. I loved the world that Laini Taylor created and her writing is simply amazing. After reading and being blown away by her story in My True Love Gave To Me, I was so excited to finally get started on this series. And it did not let me down. I was amazed with everything she wrote, all the different people, creatures and places. I felt like I could see it all in my head and it all felt wonderful.

Why didn't I give it five stars then, you're asking? Well, that's a good question and I myself have thought it over many times. But in the end, I decided to not give the highest rating possible for two reasons. The first and more important one was that I couldn't really feel the romance. This might seem weird but usually I get this tingly feeling in my stomach whenever the characters first kiss or something like that (stupid, I know). But here, I didn't. And I really don't know why. The beautiful writing certainly shouldn't have been a problem and overall I have no explanation.

And yes, I am very much aware that the romance isn't and shouldn't be the main focus of the book. But I would be lying if I told you that I don't - just a tiny little bit - read fantasy books also because I like seeing the characters fall in love. Still, I know it's not enough to only rate this book four stars even though I enjoyed it a lot. So here's the other reason why I did such an unspeakable thing: I'm hoping that the second and third book in the trilogy will be even better than this first one and maybe even entirely perfect, so that I can give them a higher rating than this first one. Is that at least a little bit understandable? I hope so. I've heard only the best things about this trilogy and I can't wait to see whether the second and third book can live up to that. The first one did live up to all the hype, although maybe it was also just a little bit ruined for me by the great expectations I had going into it. 

What I did like, though, is that I went into it completely blind. Honestly, all I knew was that the main character had blue hair and that's about it. I don't know how I had never found out more, maybe I just ignored anyone who ever talked about the book and gave a short summary, but I hadn't even known it would be about angels. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who, even if it's just a little bit, likes fantasy. Laini Taylor's writing makes everything better, so even if you're not a huge fan of the genre, you might want to give it a try.

Let me know if you've read Daughter of Smoke & Bones and, if yes, what you thought.