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Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)

Laini Taylor

Start date: February 2, 2016

Finish date: February 15, 2016

Discussion: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone

* First Impressions (NO SPOILERS)
By Kylee · 9 posts · 18 views

last updated Feb 07, 2016 03:20PM

Overall Enjoyment (SPOILERS)
By Kylee · 6 posts · 15 views

last updated Feb 28, 2016 01:55PM

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What Members Thought

Mar 22, 2015 Lina added it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

I'm not sure how to rate this yet! ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 29, 2014 Amber Bartley rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

So lately I've been falling into reading slumps. They usually don't last long, but they are getting more frequent. I think a big part of it is that I'm not finding a lot of books that I love. I'm still learning what I love reading about and I'm teetering on the edge of YA and Adult.

YA books lately have just been falling flat for me. I enjoy most books that I read, but they just don't have the wow factor that I'm looking for. A lot of them tend to have similar plot lines and whiny characters, an So lately I've been falling into reading slumps. They usually don't last long, but they are getting more frequent. I think a big part of it is that I'm not finding a lot of books that I love. I'm still learning what I love reading about and I'm teetering on the edge of YA and Adult.

YA books lately have just been falling flat for me. I enjoy most books that I read, but they just don't have the wow factor that I'm looking for. A lot of them tend to have similar plot lines and whiny characters, and I think I'm just growing out of it. So I've been checking out more adult books from the library. And I'm sitting there trying to decide what to read. And I spot this book. It has been sitting on my shelf for probably about a year. I've hesitated reading it for so long because it was so hyped up. Hyped up books and I never work well together.

After picking up 5 other books, I decide to try this one, and before I know it, I'm 80 pages in. The world in this is so intriguing. All I wanted to do was continue to learn about it, and I found myself reading every free moment I had. Needless to say, it yanked me out of my slump.

Her writing is so beautiful, unique, and complicated. It did take me a while to grasp onto it, but when I did, I fell in love with it. Her descriptions were amazing without being over the top. Nothing irritates me more than an author overdoing it with descriptions, but hers were perfect. I could see everything as she described it, but they weren't so drawn out that I would get bored and zone out.

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*

The characters were fantastic. I absolutely loved Karou. She was strong but clueless. Smart but naive. She's probably one of my favorite characters I've read in a while. And Akiva. Just wow. He isn't the typical swoon worthy male that we all fall in love with. His love for her was breathtaking. This isn't the typical boy meets girl, they fall in love, the end. I felt his tortured soul when she described the pain he was in from losing her. While this may be a bit over dramatic, her writing makes you fall into this world and feel everything as if you were really there. And the ending, whyyyyy! What a cliffhanger. It's perfect. It makes me want to read the next book without being so irritated with how she left it.

Now after reading this, you are probably thinking, "Why 4 stars when your review shows your love for this book?" The entirety of the first half of the book was definitely 5 star worthy, but there are 2 reasons why I couldn't rate it that way. And a third reason that annoyed me.

Once the story switched back to Madrigal, I found myself lost at times. It was switching between Karou to Madrigal to folklore. I was having trouble keeping up, and I felt the book lost some of its magic. I couldn't focus long enough to get lost in reading anymore because I kept trying to figure out what was going on. I see what she was trying to do, and it was a great concept, but it just didn't work for me.

The second reason, although had this been my only problem I wouldn't have rated it 4 stars, was the beginning of this book. Maybe I missed something, but what was the point of the first several chapters being about Kaz? I found him annoying and pointless to the story. I see the parts where he played important roles, but he was such an irritating character that had the story not switched over and gotten past him, I would have put the book down.

And the thing that irritated me, which didn't affect the rating, was when Akiva finally realized who she was, and then I had to read like a hundred pages to find out. I like suspense and mystery, but at that point, I was dying to know what made him fall to his knees that I was so irritated reading the whole backstory and couldn't enjoy it. The backstory in itself was beautiful, but all I could think the whole time was, CAN YOU JUST TELL HER? I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

I usually can predict endings in books, but I never saw his confession at the end coming. My heart dropped. She finds out the truth about herself and why Brimstone was the way he was with her and Akiva tells her that! WHAT IN THE F....!

I will definitely be continuing on with this trilogy soon because I'm dying to see what the next 2 books hold. A solid 4 stars :) ...more

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May 29, 2017 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Interesting start!

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2014 Brooke ♥booklife4life♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: compeleted-series, boy-and-girl-pov, tons-of-povs, read-in-2014, 2-pov, angels

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1)

Author: Laini Taylor

Format: Hardback, 418 pages

Time to Read: 7 days

My Review: Wow. this was a crazy book, crazy in a very good way! i was pulled in and thrown around and loved every minute of it!!!!

Karou is a crazy kissa$$ girl and i loved her! Akiva is an angel with a huge heart!

The background stories Laini writes in this are amazing, so well detailed and thought out.

I just finished this and i want to start Days of Blood & Starligh ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2015 Darkgy rated it really liked it

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2015 Ambs ❤❤ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible-all, 2015-challenges, owned

This story is not . . .

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What this story is about is a . . .

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This story was so well written and beautifully elaborate. I was immediately drawn into this world created by Laini Taylor. I could feel the passion, the attraction, the heat, the intense feelings Karou and Akiva felt for one another.

This is what I expect when I read a love story. Something that doesn't come easy but is inevitable nonetheless. Couple that with high fantasy, a hint of folklore, teen misunderstanding, and a war as old as ti ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2015 Jordan (Forever Lost in Literature) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, favorites

I loved this book. I really, truly did.

The backstory (skip if uninterested): I first heard about it a couple of years ago when it first came out, thought it sounded interesting... but then quickly forgot about it and moved on. I don't think it particularly stuck out to me at the time. Then, as the years progressed, I kept seeing and hearing more and more about this book, and I added it back to my "to read soon" shelf. I finally picked it up (and bypicked it up, I mean checked it out from an onli I loved this book. I really, truly did.

The backstory (skip if uninterested): I first heard about it a couple of years ago when it first came out, thought it sounded interesting... but then quickly forgot about it and moved on. I don't think it particularly stuck out to me at the time. Then, as the years progressed, I kept seeing and hearing more and more about this book, and I added it back to my "to read soon" shelf. I finally picked it up (and bypicked it up, I mean checked it out from an online library - heck yeah, love those things) on my Kindle. I don't really like reading on my Kindle, but I had absolutely no problem making it through this one.

However, I find it necessary to clarify: just because one may love a book, it does not mean that there were not elements that I did not enjoy. Okay, clarification over.

The review:

Laini Taylor is a serious master wordsmith. Her writing is a lyrical, flowing masterpiece. She knows exactly how to craft her sentences and words to create a perfect scene or emotion. With Taylor, simple says a lot. I can honestly say that her writing did not appear cliche'd in any manner, and truly seemed unique. It really helped with the creation of the world she has created, a world that is truly entertaining and remarkable. Taylor has also been able to incorporate some truly marvelous humour into her narrative that really brings color and life into the story.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed about this book was the characters. Taylor has created an extremely vibrant cast, each with their own distinct personality. They really have depth, as well, which, sadly, I have not been able to find lately in a lot of books. It was so entertaining to read the banter that went back and forth between the various characters. I also really liked the fact that her characters were so real. By that I mean that they weren't perfect. They make mistakes, they say and do stupid things, and they have realistic personalities ad reactions.

The only thing that I wasn't a huge fan of was the shifting perspectives and storylines. I tend to get confused fairly easily with books when they do this, and to be honest it just annoys me, so this bothered me a bit. However, I will say that it did not negatively impede the story or flow, and as you can see, I was still able to really enjoy the story.

I realize that this review has been slightly vague, lacking details about specific characters and such, but I really feel that this is a book that you should go into knowing the basic plot of, but not knowing too much about (not that it's bad if you know a lot). I honestly did not know much, and it just seemed to make it much more enjoyable for me.

So if you, like me, have been putting this book off for a while, don't do it any longer. Pick it up as soon as you can and just allow yourself to get sucked into this truly remarkable world. I've been in a little bit of a reading rut lately, and it's been hard for me to lose myself in a book like I used to. With this book, however, it was so easy. Go grab a copy, and don't put it down. ...more

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Jun 15, 2014 kenzie rose rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book was okay, I'm only saying that because I really couldn't grasp it and sometimes I felt lost through out the book. Some parts were really interesting and I liked those parts. I'm hoping the next book is interesting and grasp worthy. I want to like this series and I hope it comes to fruition!! ...more

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