Review Detail

This book has one of those vague yet intriguing cover blurbs that tell you a book is going to be good. Only a truly good book can afford to give half-truths about its contents. That, combined with the extreme amount of hype for this enigmatic little book, had me completely interested.

What I Liked: The first thing about this book was Karou’s character. Within twenty pages, I knew she was the sort of heroine that I look for (and rarely find) in non-contemporary YA. For one thing, in one of the very first chapters, she complained about teenage girls who think that boyfriends are the answer to all life’s problem. Amen! And just…wow. She’s tough, edgy, but at the same time uncertain of herself. She knows her limits but still tests them. She loves her “family” and defends them. True, she has a bit of an insta-love moment, but there’s actually a semi-okay reason behind it.

In short, Karou is one awesome chick.

Another huge factor to my enjoyment of Daughter of Smoke & Bone was Taylor’s writing. The narrative is third person past, limited, going between two (maybe two-and-a-half) perspectives—I’m a huge fan of this more “traditional” approach to storytelling. And while the author’s style isn’t flashy or overly purple-prosey, it’s effective and works well for Karou’s personality. It’s crisp and sharp, with moments of creative imagery that get repeated throughout the novel.

Even though angels/demons are getting to be little tiring in the world of YA fiction, Taylor’s approach was unbelievable. I couldn’t have custom-ordered a better angel novel. For one, it humanizes both sides. The angels aren’t righteous, perfect beings—they make mistakes. And the demons aren’t terrible monsters—they have compassion, they’re self-sacrificing. Oftentimes, when an author tries to show both sides to a story, it doesn’t exactly work—you can always tell which side the author sees as “right.” Not so here, and I appreciated Taylor’s objectivity.

Halfway into the book, I only had one complaint: the plot was too predictable. I wanted something more. And then, in the last hundred pages, I got my “more.” It was unexpected and totally shook my opinions on the book. I was like: “whoa, a novel that managed to surprise me for once. Sweet.”

What I Didn’t Like: From the intense gushing above, I’m sure you can tell that I really liked this book. A lot. Actually, I was (a bit unwillingly) going to give a 5/5 rating. But then there was the epic plot twist, which was fantastic. However, what happened after said plot twist pretty much ruined the book.

Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that Taylor essentially backtracks about twenty years and spends a hundred or so pages detailing what happened in the past. After the truly fantastic climax the reader just experienced, the sudden series of flashbacks brought everything to a screeching halt. It was an info-dump at the worst possible time.

For one, I really don’t think the information was necessary. By this time, the reader has already gotten the gist of what happened twenty years ago. I don’t think we needed a hundred pages of clarification. A simple paragraph of explanation from Akiva would have been enough.

Secondly, the flashbacks take you away from the now, which at the time was a very intense moment between Karou and Akiva. So while you’re reading what happened decades ago, you’re like “Hey! What about those guys? I don’t CARE about Madrigal right now! What’s going on with Karou?”

It was an awful, awful way to end the book.

In my opinion.

Verdict: Well, if I rated this book on the lasting impression it gave me, it’d be 2/5. The end was a train wreck. However, if you look past that, the first three-hundred pages were absolutely phenomenal. I was completely wowed and blown away. So, I’m disappointed by this book, but I still think it deserved some recognition. Laini Taylor did an excellent job here.
And, of course, there’s always next time. Days of Blood & Starlight looks promising, just so long as there aren’t any more unnecessary trips into the past.