Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)
Laini Taylor
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 27, 2011

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About Daughter of Smoke and Bone

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?

My Review

I first read DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE years ago, but I somehow skipped over ever posting a review. I remember that even when I first read it, I found the story super addicting and loved the cast of characters. Reading through it again has been like picking up an old friend– a very addicting friend! I still flew through the story on my second read.

One of the things that struck me and stayed with me after reading is what Karou shares about having regrets about having sex with her boyfriend, who turns out to be a a pretty big disappointment. It felt super real and very easy to relate to.

I also realized that I somehow always picture Akiva completely wrong. I’m not sure how I did that since the story described him, particularly his golden eyes, lots of times. But this time through I’ve tried to picture him more closely to what the author describes.

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE contains some violent scenes and threads. There’s this underlying sense that the world– both worlds, really– are a violent place. I had forgotten about that element to the book.

If you liked SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo or The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta, you want to add this series to your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most human characters are Czech.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex.

Spiritual Content
The monsters Karou sketches are chimaera from another world which also includes angels– which look like humans with fiery wings. Each of those groups has myths about their creation and worships gods and goddesses.

Karou receives wishes in payment for running errands. They can only be used for small things, like wishing an itch on someone or something like that. Larger wishes are available.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of battle or fighting and situations of peril. References to war. References to some grisly murders. Karou runs errands which include meeting with some unsavory characters.

Drug Content
None.

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