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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

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

Interesting start!

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2015 Mrs. Kristin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy

I just....I don't know. I feel like giving this book only 3 stars is mis-leading because I did rather enjoy this book. I just didn't swoon over it like most people. Honestly, I don't think I was in the "mood" to read this book, but it's been hanging over my head for many, many months so I begrudgingly read it. I'm glad I did because, for me at least, it was a refreshing genre-defying book that passed the time. I guess my expectations were high so I felt that it didn't live up to them by the time I just....I don't know. I feel like giving this book only 3 stars is mis-leading because I did rather enjoy this book. I just didn't swoon over it like most people. Honestly, I don't think I was in the "mood" to read this book, but it's been hanging over my head for many, many months so I begrudgingly read it. I'm glad I did because, for me at least, it was a refreshing genre-defying book that passed the time. I guess my expectations were high so I felt that it didn't live up to them by the time I read the words..."to be continued"

I did have some problems with the time line, in that it was hard for a reader to distinguish what was a flashback and what was the present time. I found the book took many deviations from its intended plot and ended up making the story mushy instead of fitting together nicely like a puzzle. For instance, there were times with her friend Zuzana that were in there which weren't needed or relevant to the overall plot. After reading the book, there were a few characters that had they not been in the book, not only would the plot have not changed, but it might have been better. Not to say I didn't necessarily like them, they just weren't needed.

Also, I don't like it when things are too neat and tidy in a book. Like (view spoiler) I also have a problem when a character sort of shrugs about how badass they are. Overall, Karou was an amazing heroine, but there were times when she'd go 'oh my crescent blades are back in China where I used to train to be a warrior...psh whatever'. But I never really did see her in the book show off these skills. This comment is made in passing and doesn't fit with the profile...or maybe it did, I just didn't care for it.

Ultimately, if I'm being honest, I think the romance did me in. It wasn't something I got invested in or really cared about. (view spoiler) I didn't get the emotion or the tension that the writing portrayed and again, it was just a little too simple.

I loved the overall setting of this book but the plot....ehhh. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2014 Jamie (Books and Ladders) rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, on-kobo, supernatural, romance, fantasy, series, magic, low-fantasy

Originally posted on Books and Ladders

I had heard such good things about this one and there was a lot of hype surrounding it. That can be a good thing or a bad thing in my experience, but I was excited to try it because an ancient war between angels and demons sounded amazing. Except I did not like this one. It was dry and boring and there was nothing I actually enjoyed except maybe the first 5% of the book where Karou made her ex boyfriend super itchy in inappropriate places. That was it.

I gott Originally posted on Books and Ladders

I had heard such good things about this one and there was a lot of hype surrounding it. That can be a good thing or a bad thing in my experience, but I was excited to try it because an ancient war between angels and demons sounded amazing. Except I did not like this one. It was dry and boring and there was nothing I actually enjoyed except maybe the first 5% of the book where Karou made her ex boyfriend super itchy in inappropriate places. That was it.

I gotta say: I wasn't too sure what the plot was while I was reading this. It was all pretty confusing and felt very fragmented without even using the actual breaking points that were written in. For example, Kaz. He was there in the beginning and seemed to play such a big role and then ... nothing. It felt like there were three stories in this: the beginning was one, the middle was one, and the end was one. And none of them had complete arcs just sort of dribbled out and were supposed to be connected. While they were "connected," it wasn't enough for the type of "a-ha" that I think the author was going for.

I wanted to like the angel war but there was nothing to even make it worth my while? There was maybe a couple mentions of it but nothing substantial to make me want to find out more about it. I feel like it was a back story and a reason for Karou and Akiva to meet. There was nothing spectacular about it. But I did love the lore that was used to describe how angels and demons both were created. And the two different stories for their creation were pretty awesome. Which is why my rating isn't 1 star.

Karou is an orphan who works for a bunch of chimera and doesn't question what they want with her or why they are making themselves present to her when it is clear they do not like to talk to humans. Then she just automatically trusts this random dude she meets that tries to kill her and completely lets her guard down around him. After like a day. And he admitted he was following her. Yeah, that seems like someone to trust.

I honestly thought Karou, for how much she claimed to think of Brimstone and co as family, she would have more urgency than sitting around doing nothing and chilling with Akiva. Their love was just not there for me. There was that hint of Romeo and Juliet and it made me want to stab myself.

Akiva was annoying. One minute he wants to kill Karou, then he decides that because he is thinking about her so much, he should just abandon his life and his siblings to find Karou one more time. WTF.

When we did get to the last third which was completely history and flashbacks, which annoyed the crap out of me, I was hoping we would get to know Akiva and Karou more but nope. It was all just insta-love a thousand times over. It was ridiculous. I was not impressed.

Overall: 2/5 stars. It just didn't interest me. It should have but it did not. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

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

Shelves: tons-of-povs, boy-and-girl-pov, read-in-2014, 2-pov, compeleted-series, 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: owned, audible-all, 2015-challenges

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: favorites, 2015

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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