This review was originally posted on http://www.rubysreads.com. 
 Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a title I was initially excited about based solely on its location. I mean--Prague! Top of my list of places I would love to visit. I was pleased to receive a review copy, especially when the positive (dare I say glowing?) reviews started popping up on the blogosphere. Logan, for example, basically told me our friendship would definitely suffer if I didn't like it. You will, therefore, never hear me say such a thing. 
 However, Logan's threat aside, I really did enjoy The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. In fact, I loved it. It has it all--characterization, setting, plot, and romance. Swoon. Karou is a fantastic heroine. She's heroic, but not unbelievably so. She's not out to save the world, but she will fight to save those she loves. And as good as her intentions generally are, she's only 17, which means she has the tendency to be childish and immature. She doesn't always consider the consequences of her actions, but when they prove to be devastating, she doesn't shy from what she considers to be her responsibilities or to try to do what she can to make reparations. 
 Karou's romantic interest is just as alluring. Akiva is an angel, the Romeo to Karou's Juliet. I mean, seriously--talk about tall, dark and tortured. Also a bit stalkery. In the good, non-creepy way. At first, Akiva is genuinely confused about his feelings for Karou. He doesn't understand why he is so drawn to her. His confusion is endearing. But, then, I love heroes who think they have no feelings only to have the heroine show them how very wrong they are. 
 I knew I was going to love the setting of Daughter of Smoke and Bone even before I read it. If I wanted to visit Prague before I read this book, I can only say that the feeling has intensified tenfold. I love the cafe where Karou and her friend Zuzana hang out, and I love the old-world city that Taylor depicts. Other locations--Paris and London included--have sparks of charm, but in the end feel fairly modern. I'll be sad when the story really turns its back on Prague, which it essentially did at the end of the book. Still, I have enough faith in Taylor's world-building to believe that wherever she takes us next will be equally spectacular. 
 To say much about the plot of Daughter of Smoke and Bone would be to give it away. I think I can say that most of it revolves around the mystery of Karou's existence. She was raised by a chimaera named Brimstone, for whom she runs dangerous errands involving the retrieval of teeth. It's a story with lots of mysteries. What are the teeth for? Who were Karou's parents? And what's the deal with all of her tattoos, and the fact that her hair grows blue from the root? When you get the answers to these questions, you'll be shocked, delighted and horrified at the same time. I promise. More than anything, though, you'll be dying to read the next book in the series. Too bad it doesn't come out until September of 2012. Don't worry--together, we'll make it through. 
 5 Points: I would move in with this book.