This isn't some goddamn Narnia book.
Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Fantasy
About: Karou is just an ordinary, blue haired art student living in Prague. Or so she seems. But Karou has another life. Her family are not human, they're monsters living in a shop that lies somewhere in Elsewhere but which she can access via a magical portal. Until one day she can't and all the portals burn. Alone, Karou searches for answers, for her family, and toward that pull she's felt all her life: the one that tells her that she isn't quite whole...
The Good
The imagination of this novel is truly brilliant. Like sparks of genius brilliant. I love the world-building, the characters, the sense of fun and creativity that this story is brimming with. It's whimsical, it's funny, it's mysterious and ultimately it's just so full of heart. You can tell how much Laini Taylor loves her characters and world she's created. The excitement for the story is in all the pages, it's fun to read and re-read.
And the mysteries! I remember first reading it and being completely confounded by the Brimstone mystery. What on earth could the teeth be for? The answer is fantastic, as are so many of the twists, and the whole set up for the rest of the series is laid out so well.
The Bad
Okay so I both love and hate the romance. Of course I love it because, duh, it's Karou and Akiva. The characters are great and I totally ship them. Same goes for couples like Zuzana and Mik. Very, very cute. Only... in small doses. A large chunk of this book is full on epic love, gooey, star-eyed, everyone's so beautiful and soulmates in an instant, kind of vibe. I do love it, but also think it limits the readership. It's such a good story with an interesting world, great twists and cool characters... but the romance is heavy handed and I imagine a turn off for a lot of fantasy readers.
The Somewhat Iffy
The pace is still strange to me. I like that we begin the story in the human world and I think it's necessary to give Karou a sense of a full life, while also being torn between the human world and her monster world. However some aspects of this 'normal' life is around for too long I think. Like Kaz. Or the mention of her art professor. A lot of the sense of humour reads like YA contemporary so these very un-fantastical characters being highlighted so frequently makes the novel sit strangely between genres and, for me, distracts from the real story. It's almost like the story starts out as a YA contemporary romance, but then magic happens.
Overall
This is my third re-read and I'm loving it. Daughter of Smoke & Bone is imagination come to life. If you love mythology, if you love kookiness, if you love epic love stories, you can't read this and not be swept up in all its beautiful weirdness.
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