Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I picked up Daughter of Smoke & Bone for the November Forever Young Adult book club meeting, not having heard much about it. It had only been out for about a month at that time. With its typically-cheesy YA cover and a description that speaks of "winged strangers" and devils, I wasn't too excited to start reading.

It only took about a paragraph for me to get hooked. Between Laini Taylor's beautifully elegant prose and a kick-ass, smart lead character in Karou, I couldn't put the book down. In fact, I read the first 100 or so pages during lunch breaks and such before settling down and reading the rest of the 400-something page book in one go (and even then, I didn't want it to end). I still don't want it to be over, and I can hardly wait until the sequel comes out, because it ends on such a cliffhanger that it upset me.

The story is, much like the cover described, about angels and demons, but not in a cliched way. In fact, the terms angels and demons are used almost more like a placeholder, a way for us to understand the basic ideas behind these creatures without starting from scratch. But even the angels can be seen as bad, and the demons can be perceived as good, so everything is not as black and white as "angels and demons."

I can't say too much without giving plot away, and every time I've tried, I've made the book sound horrible, so I'll just say that it was one of my top picks of the year thus far. If cliffhangers upset you as much as they do me, you may want to hold off. Otherwise, give Daughter of Smoke & Bone a read. I've already picked up a few copies to give to friends this Christmas.

5/5 stars

Buy Daughter of Smoke & Bone on Amazon
Buy Daughter of Smoke & Bone at a local store through Indie Bound