A review by _persephone_
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Is this book perfect? No. Did I still give it 5 stars? Fuck yes. This is definitely a new favorite. The worldbuilding was beautiful, and the way it was introduced was amazing. There wasn't any info-dumping, everything you learn is weaved so neatly and naturally into the plot and dialogue. The writing is amazing too, it was poetic at times, but also blunt when it needed to be. The characters were amazing as well, and the main character, Karou, is a new favorite of mine. She was strong, but could be soft, and though , she was painfully relatable. And motherfucking Akiva, I love him so much. I mean he practically worshiped Karou. Speaking of which, the romance was literally perfect, the love they have for each other is precious. . As for the one thing that might make it less then perfect in people's eyes is the predictability, although I feel like most of it is definitely on purpose, she drops some pretty major hints, and I'm pretty sure you're meant to know some stuff before the characters do. And then there's the lack of diversity, which is sad, but it's also a 2010's book so honestly I didn't expect anything more. Overall though, this will definitely be a book I reread over and over again.
Rep: None really. Though I wouldn't call it representation, most of the human characters are Czech, and apparently one of the side characters are canonically ace, but that is never said or explored, and she is a very minor side character (although it's possible it will be talked about in the other books)
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Insta Love, Forbidden Love, Star-Crossed Lovers
Spoiler
she's a mythical, knife wielding karate chopping, chimeraSpoiler
although the the ending had me pissed at him (although i do lowkey already forgive him (almost))Spoiler
although for people who are big about enemies staying enemies for a while will probably be disappointed at first, they fell for each other pretty quickly, but they do end up as 'enemies' again at the end anyway, so...Rep: None really. Though I wouldn't call it representation, most of the human characters are Czech, and apparently one of the side characters are canonically ace, but that is never said or explored, and she is a very minor side character (although it's possible it will be talked about in the other books)
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Insta Love, Forbidden Love, Star-Crossed Lovers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Minor: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail