“Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.”
So, I have finally,
finally, FINALLY gotten around to reading this book. I swear to God, this book had
until now been sitting on my TBR list for I think over three years (!!). But I
have now finally read it (yay!) and will share my thoughts on this book.
I am incredibly happy
to announce that…I really loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone! It did take
me a couple of chapters in to really connect with the story, the characters and
the lore, since it is just so unlike anything I have ever read before! First of
all, I love that the book didn’t just take place in the U.S., like 99% of YA
books that are set in the real world (not that there’s anything wrong with that,
but I love me some European representation!). Although I personally have never
been to Prague, I now feel incredibly drawn and interested in this city and all
its little nooks and crannies (and the marionette puppets that are apparently
to be found on many street corners).
Karou herself was also
a very interesting and non-basic (for lack of a better description) protagonist.
She herself doesn’t know much about her own past and practically everything
about her screams “mystery!”, from her hair color and sketching books to
the little teeth she keeps in her pockets. I myself was very curious to learn about
Karou’s heritage and where she had come from. I have to say that although I did
pick up on some major hints throughout the book, I actually didn’t expect the
exact reveal that we got at the end (SPOILER ALERT I definitely picked up on Karou’s connection
to the woman that Akiva kept mentioning, so I assumed she was either just
related to her or her reincarnation) so it was nice to be surprised at the end.
Zuzana was also a character that I thought was hilarious and I definitely
cherished the relationship between her and Karou. In particular, I loved the
scene where she meets Akiva for the first time (who knew a man could have such
a prominent widow’s peak?!) and Karou has to end up being their translator. What
I also appreciate is that the title of the book is basically a mini-non-spoiler
spoiler about Karou’s heritage.
Although I did enjoy
the romance between Karou and Akiva, I did at first experience it as incredibly
insta-lovey. Even though I now totally understand the reason why the two of them
basically fell head over heels for one another, prior to having this
information, it just felt very fast and obvious that they would end up
together. The ending was incredibly heart-breaking though and I hope the two of
them will eventually be able to find at least a semi-happy ending with one
another. I do feel like now that I as a reader have gotten the full package
of why Akiva and Karou were so drawn to one another and have gotten Madrigal’s
full back-story, I will now definitely be able to fully savor their romance in
the second book.
The best part of this
book for me was by far the lore and world-building. Laini Taylor has truly constructed
such an intricate world full of sorcery, wishes, angels, chimaera, resurrection
and wars that is really very unique. I really loved that concept of there being
different types of “wish-beads” that could grant someone a wish depending on
how strong they were and I was especially fascinated by the reveal of Brimstone’s
work. Although I loved the world-building and the lore, I did feel like this
book didn’t present much conflict for Karou and the general plot besides her
coming closer and closer to knowing who she truly was. Even though I flew
through the last couple of chapters (when we finally learn about Karou’s
heritage), it did feel like this information – this crucial backstory – was kind
of what most of the plot had been leading up to and the story as a whole didn’t
really have too much conflict or any type of climax besides this. Not that this
detracts anything from the greatness of the backstory reveal. I just would have
hoped for at least a small amount of antagonism coming Karou’s way at some
point.
Now as for the smaller
things that I really loved about this book. First off, I will appreciate any
book that talks about normal human bathroom activity since this is something
that always baffles me (being able to go on some sort of an adventure for 12 hours
without even having to pee once? I think not!). And while I totally understand
why authors don’t usually include this in their books, I always appreciate a
good toilet scene (page 214 if anyone wants the reference). I had to also laugh
out loud when Kaz was the naked model for their art class at the beginning of
the book. Truly hilarious!
My hopes for the
second book are that we’ll get to see more about stories about Eretz (the world
where the seraphim and chimaera live) and delve even further into the lore
(especially the aspects of resurrection that were briefly shown at the end of
the book). SPOILER ALTER I also hope that Karou and Akiva will be able to go and save
Karou’s family (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they didn’t actually die!).
Likes
- Lore
- Zuzana
- Kaz’s unveiling of sorts (posing naked in their art class)
- Madrigal and Akiva’s backstory
- The wish-beads
- Unique world-building
Dislikes
- Lack of conflict
- Slightly insta-lovey
Favorite Quotes
“I don’t know many rules to live by,” he’d said. “But here’s one. It’s simple. Don’t put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles – drug or tattoo – and…no inessential penises, either.”
“That widow’s peak is preposterous. God. It really makes you feel the sad dearth of widow’s peaks in daily life. We could, like, use him as breeding stock to seed widow’s peaks into the populace.”
“My god. What’s with all the mating and seed talk?”
“I’m just saying,” Zuzana said reasonably. “I’m crazy about Mik, okay, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do my part for the proliferation of widow’s peaks. As a favor to the gene pool. You would, too, right? Or maybe…” She shot Karou a sidelong glance. “You already have?”
“Love is a luxury.”
“No. Love is an element.”
“Never repent of your own goodness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of great strength.”
“Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.”
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