Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 10, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, part-of-a-series, urban-fantasy, 1st-in-a-series, demons, young-adult, new-to-me-author, re-read, rrrc, you-want-me-to-read-what

Dec 13, 2018:
Just as good as the first time around.

I really liked this book, original and different. The second half dragged a little for me. But over all the story was great. REALLY looking forward to the next book.

Karou isn't a normal teenager, she is talent artist, speaks multiple languages and was raised by what we call "demons". She constantly feels like there is something missing and alone. Until she meets Akiva, a handsome yet deadly angel, a solider, and enemy. As the pieces fall into pl ...more

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Oct 31, 2011 D.G. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, audiobook, awesome-narration, fantasy, favorites

This book is the beginning of a journey…a journey through the essence of hope and pain, full of wonderful imagery and a seemingly whimsical combination of words that envelopes you strongly and doesn’t let you go. The story is almost epic in its scope, seemingly simple while slowly transforming into mistakes as old as time: enmity that evolves into a never-ending war. We’ve experienced this story so many times in the history of the World that it’s amazing how we keep doing it again and again. And This book is the beginning of a journey…a journey through the essence of hope and pain, full of wonderful imagery and a seemingly whimsical combination of words that envelopes you strongly and doesn’t let you go. The story is almost epic in its scope, seemingly simple while slowly transforming into mistakes as old as time: enmity that evolves into a never-ending war. We’ve experienced this story so many times in the history of the World that it’s amazing how we keep doing it again and again. And that’s why expecting that war will end and that we’ll learn to live amicably is such a forlorn hope…or is it?

You may have heard from other reviewers that there is a ‘shift’ in this book where the book seemingly takes a different turn. I saw it mostly as the set up of the bigger story arc, a before and after where the “after” was told at the beginning. I think it’s skillfully done and in my opinion didn’t detract from the story in particular but be aware that as I mentioned before, this book is the beginning.

While I read this book, I bookmarked a lot of passages like:

Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.

Love is an element. An element. Like air to breath, earth to stand on.

Never repent of your goodness. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength.

If I would have heard those passages on their own, I would have thought they were naïve and even maudlin, great sentiments without substance. But when experienced within the story they are powerful and life-altering, and made me realize that I’ve had a big cache of hope that I’ve left untapped. And isn’t that a shame!

I don’t want to talk about specific plot points because I don’t want to give spoilers but I need to give big thanks to Ms. Taylor for two things:

-- Zuzana. She is the BEST BFF I’ve read in YA. She was funny, strong, quirky, loyal and most importantly. She had her own life! Most of the time, BFFs in books are almost colorless people that are just there to serve as sounding boards to the main characters. Not in this case! Thanks for making the BFF a real person!

-- Prague as setting: It’s soo boring when every book is set in the same old locations…thanks for the different setting and for the marvelous job of its portrayal. Prague was almost a character on its own, full of charm and mystery.

I also want to give kudos to Khristine Hvam for her AMAZING narration. This is a wonderful story that can be enjoyed on its own but she definitively brought a certain joie de vivre that I don’t know I would have gotten on my own.

Overall, an marvelous story full of pain and sorrow, love and hope. I can’t wait for the sequel and see which side wins, although I hope, I firmly hope, that it’s the latter. ...more

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May 29, 2011 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-tour, fantasy, paranormal, young-adult

First impressions: There are some books that make their greatness known from the first sentence. This is one of those books.

Lasting impressions: I will never be able to do this book justice through my clumsy attempts at a review. Laini Taylor's work stands on its own, and this is definitely my favorite book of the year.

Conflicting impressions: Ha! It is absolutely laughable that I could even think of offering up a criticism of this phenomenal book.

Overall impressions: As I said on Twitter last n ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Marla rated it liked it

Shelves: series, girl-power, paranormal, young-adult, recommended-to-me, romance, fantasy, demons, angels, magic

3.5 stars. I wished that I could peruse Karou's sketchbooks so I could see pictures of Issy & Brimstone. I liked the world, but it was a slow read world building until the last 1/4.

Likes:
* Doors to other places
* Zuzana, Karou's human friend
* Great world building
* Great creatures
(view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Thenia rated it really liked it

Shelves: magic, reviewed, series, paranormal, 2012

A very complex story that is a sum of two stories blended. Weird creatures, intense feelings, original characters and an unexpected ending that leaves the reader anxious to read the next book.

The story has its ups and downs, at times dragging along and at others flying by. The mystery of Karou's identity was a little too stretched out with the sole purpose of drawing out the suspense and that was one of the points where I found myself restless for something to actually happen.

I will read the nex ...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Mark rated it it was amazing

Lush, strange and wholly inventive, Daughter of Smoke and Bone lives up to its epic hype. Karou is a lively interesting character and the worldbuilding is breathtaking.

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Nov 30, 2013 shalini rated it really liked it

Another fantasy fiction series explored and it didnt disappoint either!!
I loved the story line and the descriptions of Prague in winters with snow - yummy!! It was like reading poetry!

Looking forward to the second one in the trilogy!

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