Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Feb 18, 2012 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: awesome-kickass-heroines, 2012-reads, lodestar-and-andre-norton-awards

A teeth-gathering blue-haired spunky young woman raised by a Wishmonger gets caught in the middle of the long war waged in the 'Elsewhere'. Pictographically:

Was this book perfect? Not nearly. But I still loved it, even despite the annoying 'classic' YA tropes that it was NOT immune to:

(1) insta-love (actually, it happens twice),
(2) the otherwordly, basically underpants-disintegrating beauty of the male love interest - who initially, of course,
(3) tries to murder our heroine.

Still, Daught A teeth-gathering blue-haired spunky young woman raised by a Wishmonger gets caught in the middle of the long war waged in the 'Elsewhere'. Pictographically:

Was this book perfect? Not nearly. But I still loved it, even despite the annoying 'classic' YA tropes that it was NOT immune to:

(1) insta-love (actually, it happens twice),
(2) the otherwordly, basically underpants-disintegrating beauty of the male love interest - who initially, of course,
(3) tries to murder our heroine.

Still, Daughter of Smoke and Bone managed to captivate me and convince me to forgive its flaws by making its kickass protagonist, Karou, the girl who I hope my future (hypothetical) daughter will hang out with.

I love that Daughter of Smoke and Bone avoided the easy and tempting pitfall of presenting the heroine as an ordinary unremarkable girl, a blank slate ready for readers' self-insertion, little else but a plot device to make the reader fulfill the desire of experiencing a relationship with an attractive mysterious male love interest. Some popular YA novels with female characters are really the odes to the male lead using the heroine as our eyes to stare at the hero. Daughter of Smoke and Bone thankfully DOES NOT follow this annoying path.

The blue-haired ass-kicking raised-by-chimaera Karou is clearly not your regular high school girl "blessed" to become the object of attentions of a supernatural being. From the beginning, she is established as a remarkably talented, strong and independent young woman, who - shockingly for the YA novels about innocent high-schoolers - is even sexually experienced. She leads a double life, belonging both to the ordinary and the supernatural worlds.

She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil’s lair. She wasn’t innocent now, but she didn’t know what to do about it. This was her life: magic and shame and secrets and teeth and a deep, nagging hollow at the center of herself where something was most certainly missing.

And most importantly, unlike the innocent all-talk-no-action young women in many a YA book, Karou does not hesitate to stand up for herself. She does not need a protector and does not hide behind the strong shoulders of the male lead; as a matter of fact, she kicks his ass, almost literally. And even in the evil clutches of required YA insta-love she maintains her identity and independence, does not automatically center her life around her romantic interest, and retains the ability - like any young woman should - to call out her romantic interest on the consequences of his actions without blindly trusting and blindly forgiving.

But something unyielding in her shrank from the promise. He might have chosen her, but that didn’t mean that she would do the same if she were faced with the same choice—against Brimstone, Issa, Yasri, Twiga. She had told Brimstone, “I want you to know I would never just leave you,” and she wouldn’t. She would choose her family. Anything else was unthinkable, though even now the idea of turning and leaving Akiva behind brought on physical pain.

She is not afraid to assert her views and values and stick up for what she believes. She is not afraid to call Akiva out on his hate and, for the lack of a better word, racism.

'So basically,' she said to Akiva, trying to gather all the things he’d told her into a simple strand, 'the seraphim want to rule the world, the chimaera don’t want to be ruled, and that makes them evil.'

To recap my excited bumbling - Karou is strong-willed, rebellious, bold, independent, curious, adventurous, talented, funny, and loyal. Basically, I could not help but imagine her as an older sister of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. My future (hypothetical) daughter can definitely have sleepovers at Karou's flat, that's all I'm sayin'.
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This book also, in a way, attempts to subvert the long-standing trope of equating beauty and goodness. It does not always succeed, as both protagonists are exceptionally beautiful, and their attractiveness is repeatedly emphasized. But at least there is an attempt to make the more traditionally attractive otherwordly race the bad guys, making us root for the chimaera, not the angels.

He can’t see it. 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.

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I liked Laini Taylor's writing; it's pretty crisp and flows well. The characters (even Akiva, whom I frankly hated) are well fleshed-out and are quite memorable even if their appearances are quite short. I enjoyed that the messages this book was trying to convey went past the "it's great to have a boyfriend" and "romantic love is the only thing you need to be happy" angle that again, I've seen too many times in the books aimed at girls and young women. I like how it emphasizes loyalty, hope, friendship, and even duty. Thumbs up for all that, book!

Hope? Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.

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All that said, it's an enjoyable and rather well-executed book with a lovely and refreshingly strong female protagonist. It falls prey to some YA clichés, but recovers from them quite nicely. I will definitely read the second book in the series just to see how my new blue-haired friend Karou is getting along. But I do hope it does not fully devolve into another paranormal love story, because then I will be severely disappointed.

4 stars rounded up from 3.75.

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For my review of the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight, (five-star alert, by the way!), you can head over here.
The third and final book, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, is reviewed here.

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Recommended by: Trudi ...more

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Oct 23, 2016 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, magic

I've heard people talk about book hangovers before but never really known what it meant. Until now. Within the first few pages I knew I was going to love this book. I've thought this before and they've ended up being famous last words where the book degenerates into something much less wonderful. But not this time.
The book takes us on an amazing journey. It's only when you get to the end that you realise how far the characters have come. I loved the world building. How did this go from an urban ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-read

I read a lot of YA fantasy books, so I've read the forbidden love in the midst of conflict story before. That said, I really felt like I was reading something different and of a particularly high quality here.

I was very taken with the writing and use of language, which reminded me in many ways of Maggie Stiefvater's books. Taylor also does a masterful job with the worldbuilding, starting the book in present day Prague and spinning a tale where seraphs are locked in an endless war the with the ch ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

Compulsively readable. I just kept reading into the second book, and as of writing this, I'm nearly finished it. Which makes me marvel at just how much things progress from the mysterious blue-haired art student at the beginning of this book.

Karou is a 17-year old art student in Prague who speaks dozens of languages, has blue hair that grows out of head that color, tattooed eyes on the palms of her hands, and who fills a large number of sketch books with intimate portraits of a set of bestial mo ...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, part-of-a-series, re-read, fantasy, urban-fantasy, rrrc, 1st-in-a-series, demons, you-want-me-to-read-what, kickass-spirited-strong

Dec 13, 2018:
Just as good as the first time around.

I really liked this book, original and different. The second half dragged a little for me. But over all the story was great. REALLY looking forward to the next book.

Karou isn't a normal teenager, she is talent artist, speaks multiple languages and was raised by what we call "demons". She constantly feels like there is something missing and alone. Until she meets Akiva, a handsome yet deadly angel, a solider, and enemy. As the pieces fall into pl ...more

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Mar 31, 2016 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This tells an old story in a fresh and interesting way. Edgy and witty writing. It does end in a big cliffhanger so make sure you have the next one ready.

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Aug 26, 2013 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it liked it

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

I thought the concept for this book was friggin cool: teeth-harvesting chimera, an art student in Prague, and a heavenly love interest, topped off with great writing and a quirky voice. My favorite element of the story was probably Karou herself. You see, I’ve always been in awe of people with strong artistic talents, I really feel like this book allowed me to get immersed into her world as she attended her art classes (in Prague nonetheless, whi ...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Helen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I bought this some years ago and it has sat on my e-shelf until a recent push made me read it. Now I'm thinking I shouldn't have waited so long.

I've read a lot of dystopian in recent weeks: demon vs human; different races fighting; evil twin vs contaminated twin. This is another battle but seems completely different to these recent reads. The protagonist lives alone and has an unusual family. Her life evolves around art school and running errands for her father-figure. Karou's art is quite inter ...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Chris Haught rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy-aficionados

A solid 3-stars. At time I thought it might go up to 4, as it has some intriguing world-building and an interesting main character. It dragged quite a bit in the middle, but then finished strong. I'm curious to see where Taylor will go in the sequel. ...more

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Mar 28, 2014 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

4.5 stars

The quote from the front of book by Entertainment Weekly - "You won't want to put it down."

This was certainly true for me. If I could have read this all in one sitting, I would have. Lani Taylor created a unique fantasy world, filled with angels and monsters, mystical worlds and engaging mythology. Her writing style is gorgeous, creating well-crafted worlds and characters while shaping words and sentences that come together beautifully.

The mark of a great story for me is how much I can ...more

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Jan 27, 2016 Leticia rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, fantasy-urban, fantasy-paranormal, series_i_will-did_definitely_finish

This book has an interesting premise, setting and characters and I'll go on reading the series. Still, three stars due to the excess of romance in detriment of the fantasy plot. ...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Viv JM rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-female, fantasy, young-adult

A well written young adult fantasy with imaginative world-building and a strong female protagonist. I enjoyed this one!

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Sep 13, 2012 Jackie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, 2012-read, 2021-read

I have to thank YA SYNC summer listening program for this one. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was on my TBR for a while. The hype, bad luck with previous angel stories and a series of bad run-ins with YA books left me reluctant to pick it up right away. The audio was free though, so I took a listen to it while on a long drive and well…simply put I fell in love.

I hate writing reviews for books I love because it’s hard for me to express all the gushy things that my little heart feels without going in I have to thank YA SYNC summer listening program for this one. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was on my TBR for a while. The hype, bad luck with previous angel stories and a series of bad run-ins with YA books left me reluctant to pick it up right away. The audio was free though, so I took a listen to it while on a long drive and well…simply put I fell in love.

I hate writing reviews for books I love because it’s hard for me to express all the gushy things that my little heart feels without going into a rabid girly fit. Words always fail me and I end up screaming incoherently at some poor GR friend “I LOVE THIS! READ THIS!” while thrusting the book at them. So to prevent that from happening I’m going to try to keep this simple.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, let me list the ways I loved thee:

• I loved the writing. It was smooth, lyrical and at times even poetic without being overdone.

• I loved the world building. Yes, the basics of this story has already been done with its Romeo and Juliet story line and angels vs demons theme, but I thought Taylor offered something different in her telling. I thought her world building was solid. Some of the story takes place in Prague, which has a magical quality to it through Karou’s eyes. There is also quite a bit of traveling to various places including Brimstone’s Lair. What I really enjoyed is that the world is slowly revealed as the story unfolds and that we learn about the world through the other characters’ eyes, like the chimera.

• Speaking of which, I liked that Taylor told the story from multiple perspectives. It kept the book fresh. The multiple points of view helped this story remain interesting and helped set the book apart for me from other YA books. I like Karou, but if the story was all told from her perspective this book could have become like the hundreds of other dull teenage girl angst-ridden melodramas out there.

• I LOVED the characters. Karou on her own is an interesting character, but add Brimstone, some chimera and Akiva and his gang of angels and you have a nice stew of dynamic characters. Taylor manages to bring her characters to life by giving them flaws and making them behave in a realistic manner. Even Karou who is physically perfect makes bad decisions sometimes. I loved that the characters are so multidimensional. This story was more than I thought it was going to be because it wasn’t just about an angel and demon falling in love. There’s war, betrayal, coming of age, self discovery and most importantly there is love. Not just love of the romantic kind, but love in all its different forms. That is what really set this book apart for me because Taylor managed to make this book much more than it said it was going to be. She tackles many themes flawlessly.

Now that I’m done waxing poetic about the things I love I should mention that if you get a chance to listen to the audio do so. The narrator did a wonderful job of bringing this story to life. Also, be warned that this story does end on a cliff hanger, but unlike other stories (ahem, Fallen) many events are revealed in this first book and you will definitely be excited for the sequel. I know I am :) ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Candace rated it liked it

This book started out slow but it really picks up when Akiva comes into the picture. A different spin on a starcrossed romance. Also the first book I've read with such a detailed mythology of Chimera. An angel book that I enjoyed much more than some of the others out there right now. But Unearthly still better! ...more

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