This is actually a review upon my re-reading it - some of my opinions have changed slightly since the first time I read it, which was August 2013 
 There are so many beautiful things about Daughter of Smoke and Bone. No one could deny the beauty of the writing. Laini Taylor has a way with words that makes me so insanely jealous. There's something so fragile and beautiful and descriptive about her writing. Her talent also lies in the fact that no matter how descriptive she is, it's never pretentious. It's not unnecessary. 
 There's also something so ultimately beautiful about two people from warring species that fall in love. Star-crossed lovers isn't anything new, but it doesn't stop being moving or ferociously beautiful - I am always touched by the idea that people can love amidst so much hate. The love in this novel is all-consuming and fierce, and it makes these characters better. Of course, they are still themselves, but they are their best selves, when they are in love. Their wish for a different life, a better life, is really quite human and really amazing. There's something about it that gets to me - the idea that both sides are trapped in the same war, in the same horrible life of fighting, for a reason long forgotten and long insignificant, but that these two people dream of the end of it, of something different and better. 
 I found Akiva's character especially interesting; 'Everything he had done since, it had been because he had loved Madrigal, and lost her, and lost himself.' He loved with such intensity, and the glimpse of him before her loss was like seeing another person. I thought his character arc was believable and well-written, and heartbreaking, too. 
 Karou was interesting and witty and I was enchanted by her feeling of 'lostness'. That missing part of her that she felt so strongly, was described so well. I actually that she was made 'whole' too easily by the revelation of who she was, and I hope that theme of lostness is present in the next novel. I don't want it to be that easy. 
 Though I could rave about this novel quite a bit, there were also some parts I wasn't necessarily enthralled with. Though I thought Madrigal's and Akiva's romance was touching, I felt that Karou and Akiva's progressed too quickly; it was too intense after such a short time. I know what Taylor was going for, but I would've liked a slower progression of their relationship. I wanted to see them really get to know each other; I think it would've made the ending so much more poignant. 
 I also felt Madrigal's story, which took up about the last 100 pages of the novel or so, really disrupted the pacing. I won't go so far as to say I didn't find it interesting, because that's not true, but I certainly found it harder to read - at least the first couple of chapters of it. Though her story is integral to the plot, and to Karou, I felt that it really slowed the pace right down and the novel started to drag. I didn't feel like it sustained itself very well. Maybe it's just me? I think it's because it takes you so abruptly out of the present moment; a lot of the novel had been concerned with Karou reuniting with Brimstone, and to be dragged so suddenly out of that, and into a more contained story with a different motive, was too disconcerting. As it was the 'past' I felt it was less urgent than what was happening to Karou, if that makes any sense. I also wonder whether it was a slightly too easy device to answer a lot of the questions from the rest of the novel. It felt a little exposition-y, if I'm honest. 
 The romance, and the execution at the end of this segment were incredibly moving though. 
 However, these problems don't stop me from saying that I found Daughter of Smoke and Bone a really very interesting read, and I shall definitely be continuing the series (in fact, the next one is sitting right next to me). I think the world Laini Taylor creates is gorgeous, and so much work has gone into the world-building that it shows. Ultimately, I didn't have issues believing the world or the events, and so often novels set in AUs tend to have significant plot holes, but I didn't find this. Taylor has an amazing talent - her writing is simply beautiful, and I encourage you to read this novel, I really do.