Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Rating: 9/10

Overview: 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the first book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor. It's a heated tale about a girl who lives a double life, traveling between her "family" of demon-like creatures and the art school she attends in Prague. Karou struggles to balance these two worlds, and is bogged down with questions about who she is and where she truly comes from. Her identity crisis moves to the back burner when angels begin descending from the sky to seal up the portals that connect the human world and the demon world Karou grew up in. Now stuck with the humans, Karou confronts one of these angels, only to feel strangely drawn to him. As their bond grows, Karou beings to discover more about herself than she ever wanted to know, and comes to the realization that sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. 

P.S. This book was another recommendation from the friend who introduced me to Six of Crows and The Infernal Devices. I have reviews up for both of those as well, so go check them out if you want more great books to read!

As a Reader: 

From a reader's perspective, this book was beautifully written, elegant in both language and description, and a story that kept me up late into the night. What I really enjoyed about it though, was its uniqueness. The angels weren't just angels and the demons weren't just demons. Taylor was putting a heavy spin on creatures I thought I knew, and dishing them back out to me as brand new ideas that I just couldn't get enough of. There were still familiar aspects, especially in regard to the progression of the love story, but just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, everything got flipped upside down again. The way Taylor played with this balance of the familiar and the jaw-dropping aspects of her world/story was just SO well done. I think I can share an example without giving anything away. Here goes. So Karou's dad-figure is named Brimstone and he has this really weird obsession with teeth. The story makes him out to be some sort of craftsmen, and one of Karou's jobs is to get teeth for him from (often shady) business associates in the human world. The only thing is, Karou has no idea what he does with the teeth, AND NEITHER DOES THE READER. The whole teeth thing was just such a unique idea to me, I was dying to know what he needed them all for. And when that question is finally answered, oh boy, prepare yourself. And that was JUST ONE of the many mind-blowing twists in this book. The only, and I mean the ONLY reason I didn't give this book a 10/10 rating is because I wasn't dying to read the second book in the series as soon as I closed the first one. This absolute NEED to know what happens in the next book has only hit me a few times in my adult life due to a combination of me being both incredibly picky and dare I say it, too busy to read. This means I have to shove a whole lot of personal mess aside to make time to read a book, and I often won't do that unless I think it's going to be really REALLY good. I don't necessarily think the ending of Daughter of Smoke and Bone was boring or anything. It was actually really great. For some reason though, it was just missing the last little spark that makes me go straight to the nearest library. 

As a Writer: 

From a writer’s perspective, the worldbuilding and pacing were phenomenal. I thought the characters were strong, well written, and relatable, all except for the male lead. The angel Akiva is Karou's love interest in the book, and he felt a little flat to me. It could very well just be my personal preference because I don't usually get along well with what I call the "broody" guy in the story. Akiva didn't say much, and he was stereotypically gorgeous which also rubbed me the wrong way. I like my male leads to be a little flawed. In my opinion, it makes them both more adorable and more tangible as a real person, because let's be honest, nobody is THAT perfect. This is something I need to keep in mind in my own writing as I craft characters. I want them to be loveable, relatable, and real. I want readers to fall in love with them, laugh when they tell a joke, cry when they feel sad, and cringe when they do something embarrassing. Another aspect of Taylor's writing that I'm trying to work into my own projects is her mastery of subtlety. (That might not be proper English but I can't think of any other way to say it 😅) This was most notable at the beginning of the story, where we see Karou as just a normal college student in Prague. We don't initially know about her association with the demonic world, and Taylor just slowly reveals it to us in the most subtle and perfect ways. For example, Karou is digging for something in her school bag and accidentally pulls out some kind of crazy animal tooth. She just smiles and puts it back like it's no big deal, but as a reader, you're thinking what the heck? Was that important? That looked important. And with each little tidbit like this, you spend the whole first part of the book painstakingly putting together the puzzle pieces of Karou until you think maybe you understand what's going on. Taylor's reveal process just felt so perfectly timed and effortless. I only wish I could someday manage to pull off something so delicately crafted.

So what do you all think? Has anyone else read this book? What are your thoughts on "broody guys," tooth obsessions, or the perfection of a subtle reveal? Do you have any tips on how to master this technique of subtlety? Let me know in the comments!