Review – Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Review:

Okay. To start off, I’ve had my eyes on this trilogy for quite a while and finally, this Christmas I got the whole boxset (I actually ordered it myself from my parents because when it comes to buying books for me… it’s easier if I do it myself). So imagine my shocking surprise (not) when I opened this beautiful present.

Fast forward almost three months later when I actually got around to reading the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

And wow.

Why did I wait?

So here’s the deal:

Meet Karou. She’s a young art student living in Prague, who 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 his 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? (summary from Goodreads)

I love that the setting is in Prague – you don’t get that very often. Although throughout the story we get to visit several other places as well, both on this earth and somewhere else. I was immediately drawn into the story and wanted to know more about Karou and the things she did when she wasn’t in school like a normal teenager like the errands she runs for the mysterious (and not quite human) Brimstone.

I also liked how bits of information was given to the reader throughout the whole story. No info dumping, but just enough snippets to keep making you turn those pages to find out more.

And sure, some may have guessed the plottwist from early on, but come on, this isn’t a guessing game to see who can figure everything out first. I enjoy reading a book and not think too much about it. It’s not often that I will think ahead and try and guess the plottwist. For me that sort of ruins the reading experience, unless it’s blatantly obvious or if I actually, without too much thought, pick up on the clues, so I’d rather just go with the flow and get surprised because I didn’t immediately put two and two together after overanalysing every single sentence.

But despite that I really truly enjoyed this book – I mean, I didn’t give it 5 stars for nothing and it thoroughly deserves it.

So would I recommend this book (if you haven’t guessed it)?
Hell yes!

To who?
To those who love a good fantasy story with twists and turns and where the plots aren’t always all that obvious (to some at least who don’t overthink everything from the get go) and who will enjoy another heaven and hell dilemma, but with so much more in between.

I am so happy that I have the whole trilogy sitting on my shelves, because I cannot wait to continue this story with the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight. So stay tuned for a review of that (hopefully sooner than later).