Reddit mentions of Daughter of Smoke & Bone

I highly recommend Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011). It had me at "cheek-chew of bitterness." I still say that in my head. What I would do to come up with stuff like that!

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) by Laini Taylor http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QX076Y/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_lKjrtb1QR0S0B

This book is so good. It is part of a trilogy and I'm currently on the final book and it's just as awesome as the first two. The writing is amazing and the story is original and enthralling. The characters are well done and the story had me emotionally invested all the way through.

Thanks for the contest!

A couple ape examples off the top of my head: the librarian orangutan in The Color of Magic and the various chimeras in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And Planet of the Apes, of course.

If you're going to use nonhumans, I would much rather see them acting like nonhumans. If you want a quick read to pick up some ape behaviors, check out the graphic novel Primates (science, not fantasy).

"He was a baboon" totally makes sense, but you could also twist it so that characters were calling him that when he's another species and they're just calling attention to whatever stereotypical traits they think baboons have.

Try:

• Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
  
• Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
  
• Others series by Anne Bishop, only one book out but it was really good
  
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor