Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Posted on by Casey smurph

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Around the world, black hand prints 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 otherworldly 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.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes 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?

Okay um wow I really liked this, so glad I have the next book so I don’t have to wait and see what happens xD

“You were true to her, even if she was not to you. Never repent for your own goodness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength.”

Daughter of Smoke & Bones is something different then what I was expecting and I didn’t really know what to expect.

Karou is an art student in Prague, with her friends loving to see her sketch book full of otherworldly adventures and creatures they all thinks it’s a results of am amazing talent and imaginations, on the flip side of the coin there’s Karou’s true family of Chimera, her drawings come to life, they look over her portfolio as well and keep up with all her human drawings and insights into that world.

Karou has been raised knowing wishes are real as long as you have something to trade and doing tasks from her adoptive family like collecting trades and buying rare artifacts.

Karou has always felt different and a little empty, she doesn’t know her true family or even the history of her adoptive one. After curiosity gets the better of her Karou is kicked out of her family home and the doors are sealed leaving her left in the outside, cold, dark, alone, and with no way to see them or ask questions. Wounded from a sword fight and bleeding she makes it home to suffer and heal with no magical help.

After all the doors to Karous other life is sealed she’s left searching for her family that has now been cut off from the human world, while searching Karou stumbles upon an unlikely ally.

I really like Karou she’s smart, artistic, a bit of a petty person but admits she is and needs to work on that. The magic in this book was by far the best part, the world felt so well done and all the reasoning’s behind what’s happening and how it happens was explained perfectly so it never felt like info dumpy. Not only did Karou impress me but her relationship with her best friend was refreshing. YES TO GREAT GIRL FRIENDSHIP, I liked that she was open and honest and there was never a doubt in trust.

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4/5 Stars

Laini Taylor is really an extraordinary writer the worlds and magic she can create are spectacular.

I gigantic thank you to everyone who yelled at me to hurry up and pick this beauty up!

-Side note: How good would this be as a movie or TV adaptation?! I would love to see Karou come to life on-screen.

Have you read A Daughter of Smoke and Bones? What did you think? I’m super excited to read the rest of the trilogy and explore this magical world some more 

27 thoughts on “Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor”

        1. I’ve read it… ITS SO AMAZING 5/5 stars and one of my fave books I’ve read this year, the world building the characters, the themes AH it’s all magical. It’s not fast paced but the way the story unfolds was perfect not to info dumpy not to much so I had no idea what was happening 100% recommend. I’m struggling to review it properly I just loved it a lot X)

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  2. The worldbuilding in this series is only getting better! It’s amazing, I love this series so much. I’m happy you enjoyed it! This makes me want to reread the series 🙂

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  3. YAY! You loved all the things about the book that I also loved! I especially adored the wishes part, and the teeth, and that Kaoru’s hair wasn’t dyed but actually blue. SO COOL. The friendship is also THE BEST. ❤ I hope you enjoy the rest of the series! I've read book 2 but still have to pick up book 3, although I own it so that's a start. XD

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    1. I have the other two just sitting on my shelf waiting for me to pick it after strange I can’t wait to dive into her writing again! Her hair is so pretty I was looking at fan art before and it makes me want blue hair XD

      I was waiting for the usual oh even though shes my best friend I cant tell her about magic and was so happily surprised that not trusting her didn’t even really come to mind 😀

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      1. I was so happy about that too! I love them haha! ❤ Yes it also made me want blue hair. But only if I could wish it, I can't be bothered dyeing it! XD

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  4. I was pushed into reading the series by Kristy and I’m so thankful she aggressively chased me throwing the books at me. They still remain one of the loveliest and most atmospheric series I’ve ever read. Those aesthetics are absolutely stunning Casey and the series gets better with each installment. I can’t wait to see what you think of book two! Brilliant review! ❤ ❤

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    1. I’ve seen such mixed reviews of the next books but I think I’m going to love them, I just love the atmosphere and writing also the characters are fantastic! So glad you loved them too, hopefully I’ll binge read the next two books next month I need something to help me through my Strange the Dreamer withdrawals xD

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  5. Yay, glad you enjoyed this one Casey 😀 Laini Taylor is such an incredible writer. I REALLY need to read the next books in the series. I’m kinda intimidated by the size though 😂 Lovely review!! And I love the little aesthetic graphic you posted ♥

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    1. I’m planning on just binging them together, I want to get all my arcs out of the way (I’ve haven’t requested anything in ages) so hopefully I can read my back log all this month and just get through these 2 and so many other bigger books just judging me from my shelf xD plus all the new releases are coming out soon ahh why must there be so many books I want to read all at the same time :’D

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      1. Ooooh nope not a retelling, the teeth are for a completely different reason that cannot be revealed without spoilers I cam say Its a really big part in being a magical wish drug dealer ish type thing but also not really… bahaha

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    2. Thank you Amanda! The friendship was sp good in this one, the main character can be petty at times but she always reflects on herself and tries to do better so I loved it. I didn’t realise I was sick if the whole: I cant tell my bestfriend stuff incase they tell the world, or its for their own protection that they dont know. It was just so refreshing to see her not even stumble and tell her friend the truth coz she trusts her 🙂

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    1. If your going to start Laini Taylor I’d actually recommend doing this series first, its fantastic although I loved Strange more I think it was because her writing had developed from here and impressed me. Hope you love it when you pick it up!

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