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savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Mini reviews for each book are below, but the main takeaway: READ THESE BOOKS!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (4.5 stars): The world building was incredible and the characters pulled me in! Also the ending absolutely BROKE ME into a million pieces.
Days of Blood and Starlight (5 stars): Possibly a hot take but this was my favorite of the series! I absolutely loved it, start to finish, and literally could not put it down.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters (4 stars): An amazing conclusion to an incredible trilogy! It wasn’t my favorite ending and I could probably nitpick a lot of things, but overall SO emotional and captivating!
Night of Cakes and Puppets (5 stars): An absolute DELIGHT of a novella spotlighting Zuzana and Mik, who might be two of my all time favorite secondary characters.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment
marzreadz2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, and War
doodeedoda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
_alyssar_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Genocide, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
lanid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, and War
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is book one in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. This was an interesting twist on the angels and demons story and lore with plenty of romance.
We follow Karou, a blue haired girl going to art school in Prague. Karou has a secret: she was raised by and runs errands for chimera in a different world. But she constantly feels lonely and feels like something about her is missing, that it's something she can't remember. Then black handprints are appearing on portal doors around the world and Karou is dragged into an ancient war between Angels and Chimera. One problem: Akiva the angel seems inexplicably linked to her. We get POVs from Karou and Akiva. Their romance is very sweet.
I really liked the angel and Chimera lore in this and that it wasn't connected to religion. Karou has to learn that magic comes at a price and no one is innocent. Hope was a major theme in the book and how it can be its own kind of magic. Taylor also reminds us of the importance of perspective. To the Angels, chimera are beasts and killers that need to be ruled over. To chimera, angels are cruel and brutal slavers. But the best part is that you can make a new way of life.
I look forward to the rest of the series!
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery and Blood
Minor: Self harm