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

Laini Taylor

Start date: January 19, 2016

Finish date: February 29, 2016

Discussion: [January & February 2016]

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[January & February 2016]

* {The 5th Wave} MOVIE DISCUSSION
By Elisabeth · 2 posts · 22 views

last updated Jan 22, 2016 07:47AM

* {The 5th Wave} Chapters 1 - 30
By Elisabeth · 4 posts · 50 views

last updated Jan 23, 2016 09:17AM

What Members Thought

Nov 11, 2018 Lacey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The writing style was so beautiful, but I had to take a star off for all that over the top insta-lovey-ness. I can’t wait to continue on!

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Mar 09, 2014 Christa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-read

I'm just going to be honest here. Through 60-70% of the novel I did not understand anything. At one point I didn't even know why I was still reading it because the novel didn't go anywhere in plot. I was completely confused through most of the reading and normally I'm really good at guessing where it will go, but I was a loss. I would've given this book a 2 or 3 star rating because of it. HOWEVER, the last 30-40% of the novel answered most, if not all of my questions. It also gave me a plot and I'm just going to be honest here. Through 60-70% of the novel I did not understand anything. At one point I didn't even know why I was still reading it because the novel didn't go anywhere in plot. I was completely confused through most of the reading and normally I'm really good at guessing where it will go, but I was a loss. I would've given this book a 2 or 3 star rating because of it. HOWEVER, the last 30-40% of the novel answered most, if not all of my questions. It also gave me a plot and just everything. I really can't find words because this novel is one of those books where you really shouldn't know anything. It would have been a five star rating if it wasn't so frustrating at times.

I did like the characters in the book. They were 3-dimensional right off the get go. Each character had unique physical characteristics that I thought was weird at first, but gradually I liked that they were unique. It was a little hard though to imagine them, but after a while I was able to visualize them no problem. I loved that each character had layers. They were not strictly "uptight" or "rough". Later on I was able to see why they were the way they were, how they became "rough" or "uptight" or whatever. I also liked that they spoke different languages, it was easy to see where they came from and how they intertwined with the story because of that.

The world was really crazy. It was very creepy (at least in my opinion, but I'm a chicken so you can judge for yourself). It was so unique and different and very imaginative. We only got a glimpse of the world, but I really liked it's features and complexities. It's very dark. It honestly reminded me of Les Miserables in the beginning, I know that's a really strange comparison, but if you read and have seen or read Les Miserables then you'll understand what I mean (hopefully). I'm really interested to see where the world goes from here.

Laini Taylor's writing is hauntingly beautiful and poetic. It almost reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe's poem of Annabel Lee. That romantic elegance that's also dark and twisted. She beautifully crafted the world and descriptions. I could clearly see what was happening, even if it was a tad disturbing at times. It makes me interested to see how her writing compares in the sequels, and it definitely makes me interested in her other works.

This book did have some flaws, but I think it was mostly because of I didn't know what was going on. I hated the insta-love in the book. It bothered me so much that the 3 stars would have been dropped to a 2 star. HOWEVER, it's not what it seems and the ending made everything make more sense. I did like Zuzana, but I wished she was in the novel more, maybe she's in the others (I don't know yet obviously). I just felt like she could've been made useful. Because she was not in the story very often, it felt out of place when she was in it. I also didn't like the pacing of the story. I felt like things should have been happening a lot quicker in the novel. It was slow, and I understood why at times, but I wished it could have picked up the pace a little. Overall at times I felt like nothing happened in the story. I just kind of waited for the story to actually happen. There's a lot of set up in this book, though, so I have to give Laini Taylor that. She really set the stage for the next books in the series.

I give this book 3.5/4 stars mainly due to the ending. VERY interested in how it will go. ...more

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