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

Jul 09, 2015 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, romance

I sat up until well after midnight last night to finish this book, as it really did leave me breathless. Of course, I was taken completely by the worlds and the seraphim and chimaera, but what was so brilliant was the slow revealing of the secret of Karou's existence, Akiva's behaviour and everything that had happened in the beginning of the book. I am pleased to say, I never even guessed at what was going on, but it was so logical and fantastic. And for once, I wasn't annoyed that the book was ...more

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Oct 14, 2016 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5stars, ya, read-in-2016

4.5 stars

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Oct 26, 2012 Thenia rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, magic, paranormal, series, 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 21, 2015 Katherine Tomlinson rated it really liked it

Laini Taylor's writing is incredibly lush. Her descriptions of Prague make me want to book a flight there tonight. Just gorgeous writing. I also like the inventive and original mythology surrounding the wishes and the teeth. It feels like she's stumbled across an old legend found in a crumbling crypt somewhere. Excellent characters too, and the relationship between Karue and her best friend feels real. I have some quibbles about the plot--it seems like all Karue has to do is "wish" for things an ...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Jesslyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-sample, cat-epic-fantasy, cat-series-completed, audiobook-whispersync-companion, z2014-kindle-reads, cat-no-diversity

Wow. This was incredibly good. Moving onto the next one and really, really happy that the last book in the trilogy is due shortly.

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Dec 14, 2016 Carolynn (Molly.Groot) Evans rated it really liked it

Being new to Laini Taylor's writing, for me Daughter of Smoke and Bone evokes the magic of--though very different to the meat of--Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles in its lyrical nature. The world has one foot firmly in a darkly romanticized reality as well as having a slowing emerging Elsewhere unfolding around main character Karou.

Karou hops off through magical portals, meeting mundane people and mythical creatures alike, making diabolic deals and crazy wishes--all this “hither Being new to Laini Taylor's writing, for me Daughter of Smoke and Bone evokes the magic of--though very different to the meat of--Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles in its lyrical nature. The world has one foot firmly in a darkly romanticized reality as well as having a slowing emerging Elsewhere unfolding around main character Karou.

Karou hops off through magical portals, meeting mundane people and mythical creatures alike, making diabolic deals and crazy wishes--all this “hither and thithering” while trying to lead the full, normal life of an art student in Prague. The storied history unfolds a little too tantalizingly. It creates a bit of impatience.

Grammatically, she paints a dramatic portrait. Creative and vividly real, by turns lovely and horrific, the words chosen by this authoress are clearly deliberate as to not only evoke a scene and a view but intense emotions. Taylor's heavy use of similes and analogies ought to be annoying, but instead she uses them so deftly as to make the weave in the lore between our world and theirs more complete.

What is frustrating with this first book in the series is that it feels very fractional. It begins in one place, in one way, and ends in a completely different world--for Karou as well--leaving the other behind. One is left with many, many questions and a feeling of utter frustration, devastation, wondering not only what just happened, but where’d the characters we'd grown attached to in Prague get to? In juxtaposition, the itch to pick up book two is very strong--which is, perhaps, the very goal. That tactic not to end a story is rather overused in the book world these days, however, and sometimes we just want a good, solid, satisfying ending. Best friends can't simply be abandoned no matter the fancy boy or horrific battles! We may simply have to stage a readerly riot between the pages. All things considered, the book is as endearing as it is frustrating, as are many firsts in a series. Taylor's flair with words tips the scale in her favor, however, and makes this one largely a good’n.

The experience of reviewing the audio book for Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of the more pleasurable ones. The narrator, Khristine Hvam, doesn't "do" voices, quite to the degree as many readers offer--though she certainly can. Instead, she brings the tale itself to life. The story itself is the character, as she voices it. This makes it rather intriguing, unique. Her voice is easy to listen to, without mispronunciations (thank goodness!) to draw the listener out, and she offers wonderful accents when she does do them, like Karou's best friend in Prague is worth a laugh every time she is voiced.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone winds up reading like a mysterious, curious, compelling snow globe that one wants to shake it one way, turn it, twist it up again, and read from all sides. Honor. Betrayal. War. Fate. Secrets. Idealism. Racism. Magic. Vengeance. And hope. Always that: imperfect, broken, impressionable... Magical Hope.
Carolynn Evans/2016 for curled up with a good kid's book ...more

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