Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Easy read
Unforgettable
Original

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Laini Taylor2011
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, in a unique fantasy by an award-winning author about forbidden love, an epic battle and hope for a world remade.
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Reviews

Photo of Ada
Ada@adasel
4 stars
Jul 16, 2024

It was a pretty cool magic system. I love how the story was slowly revealed. The characters could have been better developed but it was still nice.

Photo of Monicap
Monicap@insult_the_glory
5 stars
Apr 29, 2024

Here it is: I shall say it and I shall be ashamed. I was afraid to read this book. It’s just, it’s so BIG and, yeah, the cover is amazing, as is the title, but the description doesn’t really give you that much other than the main character has a weird, un-girl-ish name. Plus, no one ever told me it was amazing. No one ever told me I’d be up past midnight reading it, and even then, I would put it down only unwillingly, because my eyes were closing of their own accord, completely against my wishes. (Get it? Wishes? Ha-ha, inside joke) I am going to spare you the fear and—well, okay it wasn’t as much fear as reluctance, but anyway—I’m going to spare you that by telling you all those things I just told you. And this: READ THIS BOOK. IT IS AMAZING. Part fantasy, part romance, part mystery and all AWESOME. Okay, so there’s this girl, Karou. She’s kind of weird, and no, it’s not just because she has Blue Hair. She was raised by Chimaera. There’s a lot of angel-devil symbolism in this book. The Chimaera represent the ‘devils’. But the thing is, no one in this book is outright EVIL. Not the Chimaera, who were just living there lives. And not the angels, either, who decided the take over the Chimaera. They’re all just a product of a centuries-old war that takes pace on another world. Sound cool yet? It gets better. We have NO IDEA what’s up with Karou. All we know is she’s not entirely human, not entirely Chimaera, and not entirely Seraph. And, O, but there’s more still. There’s Akiva. My god, his name is just so delicious. Akiva. So this book is divided into parts. At the beginning is a little… I guess quote is right the word, but they’re not quotes that famous people said hundreds of years ago, they come from the authors mind and they are awesome. First quote: Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. I saw that and laughed. “It never does, does it?” I said. This is more of an overall-book quote, as it does not directly apply to it’s part. Btw, what we see in the description of this book is only part 1. And guess what? There are TWO more parts to the Book! *Squeeing excitement* Part two’s quote: Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters. But then the angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone. Part two is definitely aww, Karou. And, AKIVA!!! Part three: Once upon a time, an angel lay dying in the mist. And a devil knelt over him and smiled. This quote made me think like, “ooh, the devil is happy the angel is dying”, even though I technically already knew that wasn’t it at all. Oh, well. Part three is mostly Akiva and Mad’s love story, and it just drags out the finding out of WHAT THE HECK IS KAROU????? for, like, I don’t even know, over 15 chapters. I thought Mad was her mom. I was sooo wrong. Yeah, so, anyways, this book was a pot of delicious awesome sauce that I wasn’t expecting when I picked it up, the third such book/series I’ve read this summer, the other two being Itertwined by Gena Showalter and the Curse Workers by Holly Black. This book ends on: aww, Akiva, and then, No, that didn’t happen, and, finally: Karou=hope. P.S. This book is written in third person.

Photo of Luke Harkness
Luke Harkness@lukesblog1
5 stars
Apr 4, 2024

Amazing fantasy book that surprised me with its writing and intelligence I'd heard good things about Daughter of Smoke and Bone. But I thought, like many other YA fantasy novels, it would be because a bunch of teenagers had enjoyed the imaginative world and love story. But no, there's far more to this story than I thought there would be and am surprised this book isn't spoke more highly of in the fantasy world. The love story was a little bit much at times but the fantastic, genuine characters, the brilliant world that Taylor is building and the clever storyline really made this a sleeper hit for me!

Photo of chateau
chateau@chateau_chante
5 stars
Apr 2, 2024

READ THIS BOOK. IF YOU SCROLL PASS THROUGH THE TIMELINE AND FIND THIS REVIEW, JUST READ THIS BOOK.

Photo of Vicky  Nuñez
Vicky Nuñez @vicky21
4 stars
Mar 25, 2024

Rating: 4.5 From the moment I started Daughter of Smoke and Bones I was rendered speechless. Laini Taylor's imagination is incredible, just when I thought originality was extinct she appears with this magical story. This story enraptures you from the start, you might have no idea what is going on, but you will not be able to stop reading. The story is plagued with good characters and a breathtaking story. If you are a fantasy lover with a penchant for the bizarre, this is just for you. Or really this books is for everyone, it has of everything. So if you haven't read it, what are you waiting for?

Photo of chloe rae
chloe rae@heychloerae
5 stars
Feb 14, 2024

Well, that was INCREDIBLE

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Mel @melsbooknook
4 stars
Feb 3, 2024

I’ve been meaning to read this for the longest time. An Extremely interesting world and I love Zuzana.

Photo of fairuza hanun
fairuza hanun@silkcuttofu
3 stars
Jan 1, 2024

when I read this as a teenager, this was probably one of the most life-changing pieces of fiction I've ever read. looking back now, I used to be a hopeless romantic and that's probably why I had rated it 4 stars.

+2
Photo of Pepper
Pepper@storysworled
3 stars
Dec 9, 2023

A book you could gobble up all in one sitting because it's that engaging. Only, life interrupted me like 27 times while I was reading this so the awesomeness got just a little bit diluted. What a googly of an ending though - argh! Don't do this to me! Anyway, love the way Laini phrases things. Reminds me of Elizabeth Knox. They should get together and have book babies. They'd be full of words you never think could go together, similes that are like playful spots of refracted rainbow sunlight, and metaphors that are stars twinkling on a moonless night seen from a wintry hill station sky. Discovering small, sudden wonders on a page - that's what I love about reading <3

Photo of Geoffrey Froggatt
Geoffrey Froggatt@geofroggatt
3 stars
Nov 29, 2023

This book centers on a young blue-haired girl named Karou, an art student who encounters unusual creatures and dangerous angels as she travels the world to carry out mysterious errands. I’ve put off reading this book for years because of my perception and judgement of the summary. A naturally blue-haired girl with a Japanese name in a secret underworld full of supernatural creatures and angels? It felt like there were only two ways this could go. At worst, it sounded like bad fan-fiction. At best, it sounded like a bad young-adult novel. In spite of my reservations, the high ratings convinced me to give this book a try. I found the names of all the characters a little strange, but I disregarded this as a fantasy story creative choice. The writing style was decent, and the author has a talent for giving each character a distinctive voice and personality. The world building was unique, even if the concept was similar to many other stories in the urban fantasy genre, but I never felt like the story resonated with me the way that it has for other readers and reviewers. While the story was moving at a decent pace, I never felt engaged by the story until the second half of the book, and I did feel like the flashback chapters messed up the pacing in the second half. The flashbacks do add to the story in the end, which make them worth it. I didn’t care for the romance. It felt like every typical paranormal romance trope was mixed up in their interactions. The small snippets we get of the human world reacting to angel sightings were interesting and I wish we got more of that storyline. I recommend this book for fans of young-adult urban fantasy books. While I didn’t connect with this story the way that many others have, I have heard that the second book is the best in the series, so I do plan on continuing on in the future.

Photo of fris🐝
fris🐝@lfrisbee
4 stars
Nov 27, 2023

I really enjoyed the first half with her in Prague, balancing her two lives and friendships (esp zuzana I love her that is my babygirl!!! let her be happy with violin man!!!!) but I can’t lie I was not as enthralled once all the madrigal stuff came in, I did not like that as much. the writing is very rich and pretty! I will be reading the next one!

Photo of Melissa Palmer
Melissa Palmer@melissapalmer404
5 stars
Nov 5, 2023

Book #78 Read in 2012 Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor Karou collects teeth for Brimstone, a magician of sorts. Little does she know how her past is going to come colliding with her present. Then she meets Akiva, an angel, and she is drawn to him in ways that she does not understand. Her world is then rocked when Brimstone, and her connection to the other world, is destroyed. Karou then truly feels alone and without meaning. Akiva wants to help change that, but cost may be incredibly high. This was a good young adult fantasy read. This is the first in a series. Karou is an interesting female lead character. She is tough, intelligent and has a sarcastic sense of humor that I enjoyed. Akiva is a good romantic lead. He is a flawed hero which draws readers in. Secondary characters are interesting--the concerned best friend, the slightly odd actor ex-boyfriend and Brimstone, a man of mystery. I enjoyed this read and hope to get to the sequel soon. http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Photo of Ajda Perko
Ajda Perko@ajdika_10
3 stars
Sep 2, 2023

I liked it. I think that the magic sistem was really cool. I just didn't really connect to the characters.

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Briar's Reviews@briarsreviews
1 star
Jul 31, 2023

I had high expectations of this book after hearing it from many people that it was incredible, but I wasn't impressed. Laini Taylor is an amazing writer, but I found this novel to have many issues. My list of issues: It was to slow - I found myself two hundreds pages in and it felt like I could have been in the fourth novel. It wasn't that the book is to long, it just doesn't move fast enough for my liking. There is to much content that wasn't explained. By the time I got through the novel I still didn't know half of what was going on. It was very thrilling and exciting, but I just felt utterly confused. If less content was explained more with a fast pace and adventure or action, it could have been better. Overall, not impressed at all. I might pick up the next book, but I'm not impressed enough to go get it now. One out of five stars.

Photo of Zaira A
Zaira A @zai
4 stars
Jul 28, 2023

I finally got around to finishing this book. The first half of the book made me so confused I had to set a side and re read some chapter to get a grasp of the story. Taylor goes into a lot of details of this new world so makes very vivid. At the same time the overly detail narration makes it a little tedious to progress through the storyline. The book has very good twist and Taylor tied every loose end from this part of the book. Akiva and Karou love story is not your typical love story, can't go into too much detail without spoiling it. I really enjoyed this book, very likely going to read the other two to see where the story leads.

Photo of Marz
Marz@marzreadz
5 stars
Jun 12, 2023

Now one thing I can hate about books is that they are so predictable- but this book had me surprised at every turn. I loved this book so much, it kept me wanting to read and more to explain wtf happened in the book to my coworkers to see their reactions match my shock. I only cried twice and I can’t wait to read the next one!

+7
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Ralie Sutton@ralie
5 stars
Jun 7, 2023

everything about this is perfection!!!! the interconnected stories could have gotten so lost but they were tied together so perfectly!!

Photo of Janna Romano
Janna Romano@jnnrmn
2 stars
Jun 2, 2023

I fast read. Though, reading goodreads reviews after rating it made me think. I really don't know if I should reread this because I feel like I lost something that others did like. It's okay.. as I rated it. But not the kind of book I'd dwell on... Perhaps, I was still thinking of Sarah Dessen's. However, the scenes were well-described.

Photo of Teeeeeesha
Teeeeeesha@slytherinreads_s
3 stars
May 14, 2023

We've seen enemies to lovers but we've not seen angels fall for devils. With its emphasis on prejudice amongst a superior race and it's consequences, it's Beautifully paced with a unique magic system.

Photo of Colleen
Colleen@mirificmoxie
3 stars
Apr 15, 2023

3 Stars *This review contains some spoilers.* Last year I read Strange the Dreamer, and it was my favorite book of the year. It was my first experience with Laini Taylor, and I was utterly captivated. While I wait impatiently for the sequel, Muse of Nightmares, I thought I would check out some of Taylor’s earlier work. Sadly, Daughter of Smoke and Bone was NOWHERE NEAR as good as I expected. Yes, some of that had to do with my high expectations. Between my enjoyment of Strange the Dreamer and the glowing opinions on Goodreads about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I really expected to enjoy this book. But even if I had not read Strange the Dreamer first, I would have had the same issues with Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Because despite an extremely interesting setup, the story is suffocated by an extremely angsty, ridiculous love story. I just can’t stand those overly-dramatic, doomed love stories. It was awkward right off the bat due to a misunderstanding. You see, within the first few pages, the author says that the main character’s ex-boyfriend is twenty-years-old. The exact words are “at twenty, he was several years older than Karou.” I’m a literal person. I interpreted that as Karou being thirteen which was completely disturbing because she was in a sexual relationship with this guy. That totally grossed me out and almost made me stop reading. As it turns out, it was just a misuse of the word “several.” Karou is actually seventeen, but that was not explicitly stated until a couple of chapters later. Until that point I kept wondering why the hell people were so excited about a book with pedophilia. Even after that was cleared up, I still felt skeeved out. So it was not a good start. Overall, the writing felt more New Adult than Young Adult both in characters and writing. Karou does not sound like a seventeen-year-old most of the time. Maybe because of things like the description of her covered in tattoos and drawing a nude male model. There were tons of casual references to sex. No, there is nothing explicit in the story. But things are clearly referenced and alluded to. There were many scenes that took place in bed obviously post-coitus. And since some of this involved non-humans, it felt a bit like bestiality at times. Too many references to stroking horns… (I half expected someone to get accidentally impaled mid-shebang because surely, antlers really get in the way??) Maybe young readers would miss some of the in-between the lines stuff, but I doubt it. The overall tone of the story felt New Adult to me. On the positive side, Taylor’s lyrical writing was still evident although clearly not as developed at the time. There were beautiful descriptions of Prague that definitely piqued my wanderlust and set the atmosphere excellently. The ideas behind the fantasy aspects to the story were intriguing and imaginative. From mysterious doors to magical teeth to the enigmatic wish system, I was excited about how it would all turn out. “It is a condition of monsters that they do not perceive themselves as such. The dragon, you know, hunkered in the village devouring maidens, heard the townsfolk cry 'Monster!' and looked behind him.” Unfortunately, there was a major hurdle that nulled my excitement. MASSIVELY ANGSTY INSTALOVE. (view spoiler)[I can’t get into the insta-love. Even though some will argue that it isn’t instalove since it is from reincarnation when Karou loved Akiva in her previous life. But neither of them know that at first which leads to a bizarre love triangle where Akiva loves Karou and who Karou was in her previous life… it was a bit chaotic and muddled. (hide spoiler)] I was never the least bit invested in the love story. And since that ended up monopolizing most of the book, I had a hard time continuing at times. In fact, I got the part where the Big Reveal is supposed to happen and had no trouble putting down the book for days. I finally picked up it up again, read two pages, and put it down again. Prior to that point there were so many instances where characters knew info and withheld it for dramatic suspense which was annoying. I don’t like being kept in the dark like that especially when it drags on and is combined with a saccharine, tragic love story. I never truly recaptured my engrossment after that point. The info about the past and the other world came too late in the story. And as I mentioned, it focused more on the doomed love than worldbuilding. The abundance of angst really pushed me out of the story. This was a story with creative and interesting concepts that got swamped by an unbelievable, extremely angsty love story which resulted in the overall story barely getting three stars. And then the ending was so abrupt. I had no idea it was coming. I was reading the ebook, and it was only at 79%. So when the story abruptly cut off with a “to be continued” I was shocked and more than a bit peeved. It turns out that the version included sneak peaks for three different books as well as the typical acknowledgements, about the author, etc.. It’s just not cool to have a book end at barely over three-quarters of the way through. It simply was not anywhere near as captivating as Strange the Dreamer. That may not seem fair, but I did have high expectations. On the one hand, I think that this shows that Taylor has significantly grown as a writer since writing this book. But it kind of makes me nervous to read Muse of Nightmares now, because what if Strange the Dreamer was a fluke? Honestly, I’m not really anxious over that, but the thought did cross my mind. I will probably try the next book in the series eventually, but it is getting knocked way, way, way down the list. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 4 Stars Writing Style: 3 Stars Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars Level of Captivation: 2 Stars Originality: 3 Stars

Photo of Andrea Pais
Andrea Pais@moonmypassion
5 stars
Feb 19, 2023

I MORE THAN LOVED IT BUT I CANT EVEN, THAT ENDING WAS NOT FAIR, WHYYYYY

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April@april_bm
4 stars
Feb 17, 2023

** spoiler alert ** AHHHHHH!!! This book got me out of my reading slump! Wow first off, I love Laini’s poetic words that are just so smooth and flowy like butter omg. Like girl, the descriptions are just so detailed to perfection and so beautifully worded mwahmwahmwah! On the other hand, this is such a good take on the enemies to lovers trope because gerrrrrrl was I in it for the ride! I’ve read quite a few enemies to lovers stories before, but none have pained me as much as this one. Akiva and Karou are just heart wrenchingly imperfectly perfect for each other that it HURTS. and the ENDING. THAT WHOLE BACKSTORY. At first i was a lil thrown off cuz lmao who puts a backstory at the END of a book bahaha but then I got to the end and im like DANG OK i get it. Bro Brimstone really do be Dad of the Year. Also, i LOVE how it just says “to be continued” at the end—like yalready know the author's in the process of writing whats next and had to tell her readers to not be afraid cuz there’s more to come. I hate when books pull that “oh the end(?)” crap at the end of the first book solely because—and this is how I imagine it lol—the author themselves are just sitting there mulling over their own work thinking they may or may not be able to pull more from the story lmao. So I’m glad Laini knew right away that she wasn’t gonna leave her readers hanging—she knew right away this was a series typa story! Anyway, onto the next one!

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Maggie Berver@maggie_berver
5 stars
Feb 7, 2023

Too many feelings.

Photo of Olena Dorosh Stsira
Olena Dorosh Stsira@olena
5 stars
Feb 6, 2023

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me on the hook through all the story. There aren’t filler pages, every single chapter is good and the story is different from all I’ve read.

Highlights

Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"It was Chiro, you know"


Madrigal knew

Page 406

💔

Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"I wish my hair was blue."

Page 384
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"Would you want to be me?"

"I don't understand."

"No, you wouldn't.. You're beautiful."

Page 343
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"I want you to know... I need you to know that I was drawn to you-to you, Karou- before the wishbone. Before I knew, and I think... I think I would always find you, no matter how you were hidden. Your soul sings to mine. My soul is yours, and it always will be, in any world. No matter what happens-... I need you to remember that I love you."

Page 303
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"Karou, you life is here, in this world. If Brimstone cares about you, he can't want you to go to that bringen place. You should stay.

I could stay here with you"

Page 247

😭😭😭

Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"She's not actually very scary. You had me worried."

"Well, you disarm her. You have that effect."

"I do? It didn't seem to work on you yesterday."

"I had more reason to fight it. I have to keep reminding myself we're enemies."

Page 239
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"I came back to find you. I don't know why. Karou. I don't know why. Just to find you and be in the world you're in..."

Page 210
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?"

Page 122
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

He should have stopped her, could easily have killed. Instead he'd struck slowly, giving her time to spin clear, dance free. Why?


It was simple. He'd wanted to look at her.

Page 100
Photo of Beyza
Beyza@deatheater

"Brimstone. I want you to know I would never just... leave you"


"You can't know what you will do"

Page 76
Photo of Marz
Marz@marzreadz

“when a street musician lowered his violin to inquire, “Hey lovely, what you got there?” she said, “Musicians who asked questions,” and kept on dragging.”

Photo of Marz
Marz@marzreadz

“Her bare feet paddled for purchase and found none”

Photo of Ralie Sutton
Ralie Sutton@ralie

I took your recommendation… I lived.

screaming crying throwing UP

Photo of Ralie Sutton
Ralie Sutton@ralie

Was there any fate more bitter than to get what you long for most, when it's too late?

ouchie

Photo of Ralie Sutton
Ralie Sutton@ralie

My life is blood because my world is beasts.

seraphim being vulnerable when they’re supposed to be heartless >>>

Photo of Laura Scanlan
Laura Scanlan@lauralollipop

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well.

An intriguing beginning…

Photo of Kimmy Hobden
Kimmy Hobden@kimmyhobden

"What?" asked Zuzana. "Did you get me a present?" It was Karou's turn to snort. "You're like a kid when her parents come home from a party, checking their pockets for cake" "Ooh, cake. I'll take cake. But not pocket cake, because yuck!" “I have no cake." "Sigh. What kind of friend are you anyway? Besides the mostly absent kind!"

Page 164

i love them

Photo of Kimmy Hobden
Kimmy Hobden@kimmyhobden

Karou wished she could be the kind of girl who was complete unto herself, comfortable in solitude, serene. But she wasn't. She was lonely, and she feared the missingness within her as if it might expand and... cancel her. She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark. Someone who would wait with an umbrella to walk her home in the rain, and smile like sunshine when he saw her coming. Who would dance with her on her balcony, keep his promises and know her secrets, and make a tiny world wherever he was, with just her and his arms and his whisper and her trust.

Page 71

ouch

Photo of Kimmy Hobden
Kimmy Hobden@kimmyhobden

"I don't know many rules to live by" he'd said. “But here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles-drug or tattoo-and...no inessential penises, either.” "Inessential penises?" Karou had repeated, delighted with the phrase in spite of her grief. "ls there any such thing as an essential one?"

Page 22

i love her already