Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Page Count: 422.

Genres: Fantasy, young adult.

“Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.”

Karou is a mystery. Seeming to have come from nowhere, she shares little personal information with her peers. She has a habit of disappearing on mysterious “errands” with no notice, and no explanation when she returns. With bright blue hair, she spends her time filling sketchbooks with monsters that she treats as real. The truth is, they are real. Where Karou calls home is actually a shop run by monsters who deal in wishes. Karou has no idea where she came from, or how she came to be raised by monsters, but she wants answers. The question is, will she end up regretting it when she learns the truth?

I’ll be honest, I went into reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone having low expectations. I had heard that there were a lot of typical YA tropes in this story, particularly about romance. But after reading it for myself, I was pleasantly surprised.

One of my favorite aspects of the story was how Karou navigates the two worlds she lives in. Orphaned when she was an infant, Karou was taken in by a group of monsters, known as “chimaera.” The chimaera are what you would expect when you hear that term – creatures whose bodies are made up of different animal parts.

In charge of the group is Brimstone, who runs a shop that deals in wishes – in exchange for teeth, Brimstone grants a certain level of wish to the buyer. Karou grew up in the shop, and considers it her home. As she got older, Brimstone started having her run various wish and teeth-related errands. Karou knows little about Brimstone’s mysterious shop – she knows it’s not on Earth, but rather in another dimension, or another world. But it can be accessed on Earth through various portals in numerous cities.

But Brimstone wanted Karou to be educated and interact with her fellow humans, therefore she has had to maintain an additional residence somewhere in the human world. At the start of the story, Karou is living in Prague, studying art and nearly finished with high school. Karou’s peers regard her lifestyle as mysterious, as she frequently disappears with no reasonable explanation to give to her friends.

I think Prague was the perfect setting to contrast with Brimstone’s mysterious (and at times gruesome) shop. I don’t think I’ve ever read a story set in Prague before, and the way Taylor describes it in the story made it feel so atmospheric and tangible. It’s a very old city, full of history and mystery. The mystery of the city contrasted so well with the mysteries and questions Karou has about Brimstone’s shop.

Another great aspect was the plot. What really kept me driven was the pacing of the plot, and the intense build-up that one gets from all the unanswered questions and mysteries the story poses to the reader. Why does Brimstone need all those teeth? Where did Karou come from? Who were her parents? Why does she feel a strange emptiness? And when Akiva enters the picture, there are even more questions.

I’ll be honest, I got a little unsure about the story when Akiva was introduced. Akiva is one of a species called the Seraphim – basically angels. I am very apprehensive about stories involving angels, (it’s one of the reasons why I started losing interest in Supernatural). I find angels in stories to be kind of cheesy, and so much of the story ends up revolving around describing how ~unearthly~ and ~beautiful~ they are. While this unfortunately became an element to the story, I do believe this was one of the more tolerable stories I’ve read involving angels. I liked that the seraphim and chimaera were presented as being from another dimension/world, rather than being angels or demons being taken directly out of the Bible.

As far as the characters go, I am not really crazy about Akiva – yet. His part of the story mostly involves his obsession with Karou, and wondering why he feels so drawn to her. Not a lot of development occurs that cements him as a character apart from his obsession.

I really loved Karou, however. I loved her attitude, I loved how resilient she was. And even though she is also drawn to Akiva, she is developed much more as a character. She has motivations outside of attraction, and she is determined to solve the mysteries of her life.

Overall, I think this first book in the series involved a lot of set-up and build-up for the books that follow. It felt a lot like an introduction to me. I really enjoyed the suspense that was given throughout – I had a lot of fun reading it, and there really wasn’t a boring moment. But there is a huge reveal at the end that changes the stakes and the feel of the story completely. I’m really eager to see where the next book goes. Because I wasn’t crazy about the romance, and because I think some of the characters could be developed more, I couldn’t give it more than four stars.

Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What about you all – I know this is a really popular story that many have already read before me, but what did you think of it? What did you like and/or dislike the most? If you haven’t read it, do you think you will? Let’s have a discussion below!

Happy reading!

~ Zoë

Other Stories Like Daughter of Smoke and Bone:

• Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – Also about girl with a mysterious/unknown history.
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – Involves travel through dimensions.
• The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey – Similar blend of magical realism. Orphaned boy helps a dysfunctional scientist hunt and kill monsters.

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