Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) 
Author: Laini Taylor
Date Read: June 7 2017

Published: September 27 2011 @ Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Fantasy

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."

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I had heard over the past few years, and especially with the release of her newest novel Strange the Dreamer, that Laini Taylor has a way with words. That being said, I never imagined that I'd be so taken with the world building of this story. I've had kind of a difficult relationship with fantasy in general for the past little while, as I find that it's not an easy task to create a world (and especially an original world) without either being too vague or dumping so much information over the reader's head that they feel really overwhelmed. Daughter of Smoke & Bone actually really beautiful straddles this line to create a lush and imaginative environment for Karou that features an interesting magic system and magical creatures, but doesn't spend too much time over-explaining itself. Which is a feat, as there's a lot to explain: the world, the wishes, the war.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone is a compellingly original retelling of a classic story of forbidden love. While the story borrows from the likes of Romeo and Juliet, it is situated in modern-day Prague where Karou, an art student with a mysterious family situation, juggles her ordinary life with running errands for a wish monger named Brimstone by travelling through portals between worlds.  On one such errand, Karou is met with a terrible sight: a vicious and deadly angel, who will change the course of her life forever.

I have a great admiration for the characters in this novel. While it took me some time to warm to the protagonist, Karou, who begins the story basically being a brat, I grew to love her tenacity. Also Zuzana. I absolutely love seeing healthy female relationships, especially in young adult literature. It was so refreshing to see that external elements, like fallen angels and significant others, never diminished the friendship between Karou and Zuzana.

The only thing keeping this novel from a five-star rating for me was the romance itself. All of my favourite parts of this book, like Karou and Zuzana, or Karou searching for her family, could have gone without the romance entirely and have been all the better for it. I realize this is becoming A Thing™ with me (not to get into the pandora's box that was Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me), but I'm not here for the "redeemable villain turned love interest" trope, where the antagonist for half of the book is an evil hot guy and eventually the sexual tension gets the best of them and they miraculously turn to the good side. So while I appreciate the way that Laini Taylor transformed the story of the star-crossed lovers, that particular trope has never settled well with me. Which is unfortunate, as such a large chunk of the plot was dedicated to it.