[Review] Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

Title of Book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 422

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?

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the first book in a young adult fantasy trilogy by Laini Taylor. It follows Karou, a 17 year old art student in Prague. She likes to sketch people around her and otherworldly creatures. Along with her best friend, Zuzana, she seems like a normal student at the Art Lyceum of Bohemia in Prague. Except that the otherworldly creatures that she sketches is not something out of her imagination; they are real. They live in a world which Karou calls Elsewhere. Karou can visit them through doors that act as portals. In a way, they are the only family that she ever knows. These creatures are called chimaeras and they have names. The one who is named Brimstone is like a father figure for her. Karou has been doing errands for Brimstone, travel around the world to collect teeth for Brimstone in exchange for wishes. What Brimstone are doing with the teeth, she doesn’t know. Lately, strange burn marks appear on Brimstone’s portal-doors around the world. Later, they found out that the doors are marked by Seraphim or Angels. These Seraphim apparently have been in war with Chimaera and they are trying to destroy these portals. One Seraphim named Akiva crossed path with Karou. Although Karou basically works for his enemy, he feels a strange pull to her. It was later that they found out who Karou really is and the whole history behind this strange connection between her and Akiva.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this series which made me excited to read it. Honestly, I expected a full-on epic fantasy with a whole new fantasy setting and adventures. I forgot that with fantasy young adult book, there will be romance, and it will take big portion of the book. Though I don’t mind the romance, I still feel a little bit overwhelmed by it.

I do love that Daughter of Smoke and Bone takes place in Prague. I’ve never read a book set in Prague so that was exciting. The fantasy element in this book is also promising. I like the idea of a war between angels and beasts/ demon. However, this book doesn’t necessarily paint the angels as holy and godly beings. Instead, I see the angels as these creatures called seraphim. Just because they’re angels, the seraphim don’t necessarily be the right side of the war. In fact, while with Akiva, Karou examines the war between Chimaera and Seraphim and questions the motive. The seraphim think they’re the right one and so does the chimaera. I like how this book doesn’t simplify the conflict.

The other vocal point in this book is the identity of Karou. Throughout the beginning of the book we don’t really know who Karou is or where did she come from and how come she’s involved with the chimaeras. Karou is this enigma that even her best friend is dying to uncover. As the first book in a series. Daughter of Smoke and Bone really build up the conflict, the world, and introduce us to the main character slowly. The pacing works for me and the way Taylor divided the story into manageable chapters is another thing that I like from this book. Overall, I enjoy Taylor’s writing which has a fairy-tale like quality. It’s dreamy. I recommend this book for those who seek young adult fantasy book about angel and beasts. After reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I’ll read the next book in the series.