Daughter of Smoke & Bone
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Contributors
Published
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers , 2011.
Status
Available from Libby/OverDrive

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Libby/OverDrive
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Description

The first book in 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?

More Details

Format
eBook
Street Date
09/27/2011
Language
English
ISBN
9780316192149, 9780316192156

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Also in this Series

  • Daughter of smoke and bone (Daughter of smoke and bone trilogy Volume 1) Cover
  • Days of blood & starlight (Daughter of smoke and bone trilogy Volume 2) Cover
  • Dreams of gods & monsters (Daughter of smoke and bone trilogy Volume 3) Cover

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Author Notes

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Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
In these steamy paranormal romances, seemingly doomed love affairs begin in the context of visits to earth from morally-ambiguous angels. However, fast-paced Angel Burn is more suspenseful, while Daughter of Smoke and Bone features more lyrical language and detailed world-building. -- Hayden Bass
Though these two fantasy series have very different plots and settings, both lyrical, character-driven series contain complex world building and will appeal to fans of strong and self-possessed heroines. -- Alina Gerall
Though their settings are very different, both of these vivid and richly detailed fantasy series rely heavily on their complex world-building, and feature memorable characters and nail-bitingly intense climaxes. -- Alina Gerall
Readers drawn to elaborately constructed supernatural worlds that exist just outside of our own will find much to love in these two atmospheric urban fantasy series, which contain plenty of romance, high drama, and dashes of humor. -- Alina Gerall
The heroines of these urban fantasy series are caught between two worlds: the ordinary and the fantastical. Both of these lyrical, atmospheric urban fantasy series amp up the drama with a thrilling mix of romance and peril. -- Alina Gerall
Both of these dark and lush urban fantasy series are equal parts action and romance. Though both have roots in traditional tales, the gorier Fairy Tale Retellings more overtly adapts fairy tales for the modern world. -- Alina Gerall
Urban fantasy fans drawn to unique magical creatures, independent but imperfect heroines, richly detailed worlds, complex plots, and star-crossed romance will find much to love in these two books, which feature heroines caught in an ancient magical conflict. -- Alina Gerall
Fans of urban fantasies populated by monsters and magic will find much to love in these two series, which follow heroines swept up in ancient supernatural conflicts, family drama, and the excitement of new love. -- Alina Gerall
Engaging characters, rich descriptions, suspenseful and twisted plots, and slow-burning romance are the hallmarks of these two fantasy series. Fans looking to immerse themselves in lush tales of magically gifted heroines will find much to love. -- Alina Gerall
These series have the appeal factors romantic, suspenseful, and world-building, and they have the genres "urban fantasy" and "contemporary fantasy"; and the subjects "imaginary wars and battles" and "teenage girls."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful, evocative, and intricately plotted, and they have the theme "reluctant allies"; and the subject "imaginary wars and battles."
These series have the appeal factors world-building, and they have the genre "epic fantasy"; and the subjects "imaginary wars and battles" and "teenage girls."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful, and they have the genre "urban fantasy"; and the subjects "imaginary wars and battles," "parallel universes," and "teenage romance."
These series have the appeal factors romantic and world-building, and they have the subjects "imaginary wars and battles," "supernatural," and "parallel universes."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors romantic, creepy, and world-building, and they have the theme "forbidden love"; and the subjects "supernatural," "seventeen-year-old girls," and "teenage girls."
These books have the appeal factors romantic and world-building, and they have the theme "forbidden love"; and the subjects "supernatural," "seventeen-year-old girls," and "teenage girls."
These books have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the theme "forbidden love"; the genre "urban fantasy"; and the subjects "angels," "supernatural," and "parallel universes."
Fans of immersive, lush fantasy stories will find much to love in these two books, which both feature talented heroines who gradually develop their powers, twisted plots and unique settings, and heartstring-tugging romance. -- Alina Gerall
While their settings and stories are very different, both of these character-driven fantasies will thrill readers who love lyrical, evocative writing. They'll also please romance fans who like their leading ladies strong and self-possessed -- no fainting couches here! -- Ellen Foreman
Beautiful, transcendent writing makes both of these somewhat dark and melancholy urban fantasies stand out from the pack. Each book also features great characters and spins a tale of star-crossed love. -- Ellen Foreman
While The Ghosts of Rose Hill is a novel in verse and Daughter of Smoke and Bone is urban fantasy, both lyrical stories follow artistic teen girls who find paranormal love and fearsome monsters in a magic-inflected version of Prague. -- Malia Jackson
These lyrical, atmospheric urban fantasies raise the romance and danger to dramatic levels for their heroines caught between two worlds: the ordinary one and the fabulously extraordinary one next door. -- Lesley James
These dark urban fantasy novels both delight readers with their fascinatingly described settings, gorgeous writing, and whiff of counter-culture sensibility. -- Ellen Foreman
The star-touched queen - Chokshi, Roshani
Readers who love immersive world-building and lavish, lyrical writing will appreciate each of these fantasies featuring swoon-worthy (but extremely complicated) romances. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
These descriptive, atmospheric urban fantasies combine elaborately constructed supernatural worlds existing just beyond the threshold of our own, with high drama and dashes of humor. -- Lesley James
The girl at midnight - Grey, Melissa
These two books revolve around heroines caught in an ancient magical conflict and feature unique magical creatures, independent but imperfect heroines, richly detailed worlds, complex plots, and star-crossed romance. -- Alina Gerall

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Sarah Rees Brennan and Laini Taylor write richly imagined worlds with compelling, fierce characters burdened by mysteries (often family-related) from the past. Violent action and dark emotions are leavened with humor and grace. Brennan incorporates more humor while Taylor plays with lyrically descriptive language. -- Jennifer Brannen
Although Taylor's style is more lush and lengthy than Stiefvater's, both write with memorable lyricism, crafting intricate plots, richly detailed settings, pulse-pounding romance, and intensifying suspense. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
With their lush and vivid storytelling styles, these authors create compelling, richly described fantasy worlds (sometimes influenced by real-world cultures), as well as nuanced characters who inspire emotional investment from readers. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
These authors' works have the genre "urban fantasy"; and the subjects "supernatural," "gods and goddesses," and "demons."
These authors' works have the genres "urban fantasy" and "contemporary fantasy"; and the subjects "dreams," "supernatural," and "fairies."
These authors' works have the subjects "dreams," "orphans," and "supernatural."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, intensifying, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genres "urban fantasy" and "mythological fiction"; and the subjects "imaginary wars and battles," "gods and goddesses," and "soldiers."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the subjects "supernatural," "fairies," and "demons."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Seventeen-year-old Karou moves deftly between her relatively normal high-school life in Prague and the strange world of the chimaera, in which she collects the human and animal teeth that the wishmonger, Brimstone, painstakingly sorts. The chimaera are the only family Karou has known, and when access to their world suddenly disappears behind smoldering black handprints, she vows to find them. Could this have been a result of the perpetual war between the chimaera and the seraphim? Along with this central mystery of monsters, a fantastical Romeo-and-Juliet romance develops between Karou and the angel Akiva, a romance destined for hurt and betrayal. Author Taylor has created a variety of worlds, time frames, and creatures with such detail and craft that all are believable. Blurring the boundaries of good and evil, slaves and owners, human and beast, she careens readers from sadness to love, from the predictable to the amazing, and from the outlandish to the bizarre. Readers will look forward to the suggested sequel to this complex, exciting tale.--Bradburn, France. Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

National Book Award finalist Taylor (Lips Touch: Three Times) again weaves a masterful mix of reality and fantasy with cross-genre appeal. Exquisitely written and beautifully paced, the tale is set in ghostly, romantic Prague, where 17-year-old Karou is an art student-except when she is called "home" to do errands for the family of loving, albeit inhuman, creatures who raised her. Mysterious as Karou seems to her friends, her life is equally mysterious to her: How did she come to live with chimaera? Why does paternal Brimstone eternally require teeth-especially human ones? And why is she "plagued by the notion that she wasn't whole.... a sensation akin to having forgotten something?" Taylor interlaces cleverly droll depictions of contemporary teenage life with equally believable portrayals of terrifying otherworldly beings. When black handprints begin appearing on doorways throughout the world, Karou is swept into the ancient deadly rivalry between devils and angels and gradually, painfully, acquires her longed-for self-knowledge. The book's final pages seemingly establish the triumph of true love-until a horrifying revelation sets the stage for a second book. Ages 15-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-Blue-haired Karou is 17, and, in addition to her unusual tresses, has other intriguing aspects to her personality. She supports her life as an art student in Prague by running errands for her foster parent, a supernatural chimera named Brimstone. These errands, which take Karou through strange portals to strange places to meet with even stranger individuals, reap rewards not only of money, but also wishes. Taylor builds a thoroughly tangible fantasy world wherein a complex parallel universe competes with far-flung geographic locales for gorgeously evoked images. Karou herself is a well-rendered character with convincing motivations: artistic and secretive, she longs for emotional connection and a sense of completeness. Her good friend Zuzana goes some way toward mitigating Karou's solitude, but a sour breakup with beautiful bad boy Kaz has left her feeling somewhat bereft. Taylor leads readers from this deceptively familiar trope into a turbulent battle between supernatural species: angel-beings seek the destruction of demonlike chimera in revenge for the burning of the archive of the seraph magi. The more Karou discovers about the battle, however, the less simple good and evil appear; the angels are not divine, the chimera are not evil, and genocide is apparently acceptable to both sides in this otherworldly war. Initially, the weakest part of the story appears to be the love story between Karou and Akiva, an angel of "shocking beauty"; there is little to support their instant bond until their true connection is disclosed. The suspense builds inexorably, and the philosophical as well as physical battles will hold action-oriented readers. The unfolding of character, place, and plot is smoothly intricate, and the conclusion is a beckoning door to the next volume.-Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Horn Book 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. Except for brilliant blue hair and an air of secrecy, art-student Karou is a seemingly normal teenager, nursing the hurt from a recent breakup over bowls of goulash with her best friend, Zuzana. No one, including Zuzana, knows that the strange, fascinating creatures from Karou's sketchbook are in fact her family. The chimaera, part human and part animal, exist behind a magic door leading to Brimstone's wish shop, where Karou was raised in a place she knows only as "Elsewhere." The characters, oth human and otherwise, are fully fleshed. Trained in martial arts and gifted with a new language for each birthday, Karou runs errands for the horned and clawed Brimstone, trading with murderers all over the world for the gory teeth he requires, but never knowing what they're for. In a Marrakesh marketplace, Karou meets a gorgeous angel with wings of fire; the two are drawn together by a powerful force. Desperate for answers, Karou begins a dangerous search and discovers a parallel, war-torn world that is the key to her true identity. Taylor builds a fantasy realm with mythic creatures, human desires, and battles of biblical scale; an inventive magic power is credibly balanced by the pain it requires. Taut plotting moves Karou's quest briskly along while developing deeper mysteries. The climactic revelations connect many strands, leaving the reader both satisfied and eagerly anticipating a forthcoming sequel. lauren adams (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

A love thought lost proves anything but when another world's 1,000-year war spills over into this one.Seventeen-year-old Karou leads a double life: as an art student in Prague with normal boyfriend troublesand as a runner of bizarre errands for Brimstone, a scarred and saturnine sorcerer with the head of a ram and the lower body of a dragon. With similarly chimerical associates, he has raised her from infancy and dispatches her through magic portals to destinations all over the world. She knows nothing of her past or purposeuntil a sudden, fiery closure of all the portals cuts her off from the only family she's ever known, and an initially violent but ultimately "sweet and beckoning collision" with winged, inhumanly beautiful Akiva leads to revelations of an ancient conflict between Seraphim and the supposedly bestial Chimaera. Switching points of view and settings, Taylor then fills in a back story that links Akiva and Karou in an older tragedy, while planting seeds that might lead ultimately to peace. The plot hinges on major contrivances, but along with writing in such heightened language that even casual banter often comes off as wildly funny, the author crafts a fierce heroine with bright-blue hair, tattoos, martial skills, a growing attachment to a preternaturally hunky but not entirely sane warrior and, in episodes to come, an army of killer angels to confront.Rarelyperhaps not since the author's own Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer (2007)does a series kick off so deliciously. (Fantasy. 13-16)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Seventeen-year-old Karou moves deftly between her relatively normal high-school life in Prague and the strange world of the chimaera, in which she collects the human and animal teeth that the wishmonger, Brimstone, painstakingly sorts. The chimaera are the only family Karou has known, and when access to their world suddenly disappears behind smoldering black handprints, she vows to find them. Could this have been a result of the perpetual war between the chimaera and the seraphim? Along with this central mystery of monsters, a fantastical Romeo-and-Juliet romance develops between Karou and the angel Akiva, a romance destined for hurt and betrayal. Author Taylor has created a variety of worlds, time frames, and creatures with such detail and craft that all are believable. Blurring the boundaries of good and evil, slaves and owners, human and beast, she careens readers from sadness to love, from the predictable to the amazing, and from the outlandish to the bizarre. Readers will look forward to the suggested sequel to this complex, exciting tale. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

Few books have delighted me as much as Taylor's National Book Award finalist, Lips Touch: Three Times (2009), so I eagerly anticipated the coming of this first in her new fantasy series. By day, Karou is an art student, living in beautiful and "ghostly" modern Prague. Only her (naturally) blue hair and the unusual tattoos might give her fellow students cause to suspect that the fantastical creatures she draws are not mere products of her imagination. Karou lives a double life, running grisly errands for a chimaera named Brimstone. The doors in his workshop lead to destinations as far away as Marrakesh and Idaho, where Karou is sent to collect an unusual bounty: teeth. On one of these missions, she is attacked by Akiva, an impossibly beautiful angel. Unbeknownst to Karou, Akiva and his warrior siblings are bent on destroying the chimaera in an ages-old battle of their kinds. Taylor's masterly world building marries reality, fantasy, and mythology, creating a wholly unique setting in which to place her story of star-crossed lovers and tragic destinies. Readers hooked in the book's final pages will impatiently await the sequel for resolution. - "35 Going on 13," Booksmack! 8/18/11. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

National Book Award finalist Taylor (Lips Touch: Three Times) again weaves a masterful mix of reality and fantasy with cross-genre appeal. Exquisitely written and beautifully paced, the tale is set in ghostly, romantic Prague, where 17-year-old Karou is an art student—except when she is called "home" to do errands for the family of loving, albeit inhuman, creatures who raised her. Mysterious as Karou seems to her friends, her life is equally mysterious to her: How did she come to live with chimaera? Why does paternal Brimstone eternally require teeth—especially human ones? And why is she "plagued by the notion that she wasn't whole.... a sensation akin to having forgotten something?" Taylor interlaces cleverly droll depictions of contemporary teenage life with equally believable portrayals of terrifying otherworldly beings. When black handprints begin appearing on doorways throughout the world, Karou is swept into the ancient deadly rivalry between devils and angels and gradually, painfully, acquires her longed-for self-knowledge. The book's final pages seemingly establish the triumph of true love—until a horrifying revelation sets the stage for a second book. Ages 15–up. (Sept.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC
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School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Blue-haired Karou is 17, and, in addition to her unusual tresses, has other intriguing aspects to her personality. She supports her life as an art student in Prague by running errands for her foster parent, a supernatural chimera named Brimstone. These errands, which take Karou through strange portals to strange places to meet with even stranger individuals, reap rewards not only of money, but also wishes. Taylor builds a thoroughly tangible fantasy world wherein a complex parallel universe competes with far-flung geographic locales for gorgeously evoked images. Karou herself is a well-rendered character with convincing motivations: artistic and secretive, she longs for emotional connection and a sense of completeness. Her good friend Zuzana goes some way toward mitigating Karou's solitude, but a sour breakup with beautiful bad boy Kaz has left her feeling somewhat bereft. Taylor leads readers from this deceptively familiar trope into a turbulent battle between supernatural species: angel-beings seek the destruction of demonlike chimera in revenge for the burning of the archive of the seraph magi. The more Karou discovers about the battle, however, the less simple good and evil appear; the angels are not divine, the chimera are not evil, and genocide is apparently acceptable to both sides in this otherworldly war. Initially, the weakest part of the story appears to be the love story between Karou and Akiva, an angel of "shocking beauty"; there is little to support their instant bond until their true connection is disclosed. The suspense builds inexorably, and the philosophical as well as physical battles will hold action-oriented readers. The unfolding of character, place, and plot is smoothly intricate, and the conclusion is a beckoning door to the next volume.—Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

[Page 140]. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Taylor, L. (2011). Daughter of Smoke & Bone . Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Taylor, Laini. 2011. Daughter of Smoke & Bone. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke & Bone Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Taylor, L. (2011). Daughter of smoke & bone. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke & Bone Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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