Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Paperback)
Other Books in Series
This is book number 1 in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series.
Staff Reviews
We have all heard the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ but that wouldn’t need to be a saying if it wasn’t something we all inherently do. Taylor’s new 2020 cover art has me thrilled because the outside finally matches the inside! Daughter of Smoke and Bone begins in bohemian Prague from the perspective of blue-haired Karou, an art student with intriguing tattoos and an unusual home-life. If you enjoy travel, romantic angst, and warped Biblical reimaginings--this is the young adult series for you. Taylor’s writing style smoothly sweeps you off your feet and into her dark yet brilliant imagination. Not for the faint of heart, the trilogy does get increasingly morbid as you read on. I first read these as a young teen and I still find comfort in their pages today as it lets me imagine what it would be like to be someone covered in tattoos, multilingual, an avid traveler, and it doesn’t hurt to have an angel fall in love with you despite your vastly different and otherworldly backgrounds. Forbidden love, mystery, and fantastical creatures both celestial and monstrous with the most human of hearts. -Josie
Check out the Audiobook HERE
— From Jocular January Staff PicksDescription
In a nation on the brink of war, a young art student's star-crossed love begins to bloom in the first book of the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Laini Taylor.
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages -- not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers -- beautiful, haunted Akiva -- fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
About the Author
Laini Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Honor Book Strange the Dreamer and its sequel, Muse of Nightmares. Taylor is also the author of the global sensation the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy and the companion novella Night of Cake & Puppets. Taylor's other works include the Dreamdark books: Blackbringer and Silksinger, and the National Book Award finalist Lips Touch: Three Times. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, illustrator Jim Di Bartolo, and their daughter, Clementine. Her website is lainitaylor.com.
Praise For…
YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
* "Rarely -- perhaps not since the author's own Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer (2007)--does a series kick off so deliciously."—Kirkus, starred review
* "Fans of torturously star-crossed lovers a la those in Marr's Wicked Lovely and Black's Tithe will find much to enjoy here, but those who flock to innovative, character-driven fantasy with thematic depth will be equally enthralled."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
* "Lush description of a gothic and ghostly Prague beckons readers from the first page and fulfills its promise, leading to a star-crossed romance that spans worlds and transcends death...[Leaves] the reader both satisfied and eagerly anticipating a forthcoming sequel."
—The Horn Book, starred review
"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is that rare beast: a novel that takes the familiar and makes it appear startling and new. Taylor has embraced the mythology of angels and reworked it in an extraordinary form, so that by the end of this lyrical, haunting book, I wanted to believe in the existence of these violent, tormented beings. I can hardly wait for the next installment."—John Connolly, author of The Book of Lost Things
"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a lush, sweeping, romantic marvel of a book. Taylor's writing is a revelation, masterfully blending an intricate fantasy world into our own, with an artist's flair for exquisite details. Funny, devastating, delightful, unforgettable. Pure storytelling perfection."—Kiersten White, author of the Paranormalcy series