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

Laini Taylor

Start date: December 11, 2011

Finish date: December 30, 2011

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What Members Thought

Jul 15, 2014 Ronyell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-2014, creepy-ending, fairy-tale-romance, fantasy, my-blog-reviews, strong-heroine, sexy-bad-boy-hero, young-adult-teen-books, read-in-2014, fairy-tales-folktales

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.”

And judging by this quote, we pretty much know how the tone of this book will turn out.

Now, I have been hearing so many good things about Laini Taylor’s highly acclaimed “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” series and even though it took me forever to just check this series out because I was reading so many other books at the time it was released, I finally got around to reading the first book in the series and I was absolut ...more

18 likes · Like · see review

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

6 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2012 Trisha rated it it was amazing

I must admit, just based on the premise I didn't think I'd like this book.
but I LOVED IT!
The writing style is just wonderful - like adding a beach and sunshine to my reading spot. It's just so easy to read and enjoy.
And the characters - I loved them. Snarky but fun and loving. The conversations- even when they were sappy or should have been awkward - were seamless and enjoyable.

And the world is alive and real even if it's unusual and not ours. It's just like slipping into a world with friends ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2014 Rebekah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fantasy, genre-young-adult, genre-romance, genre-fantasy-paranormal, genre-fantasy-urban-fantasy, genre-fantasy-supernatural, series, genre-fantasy-magic, nbrc-bom-br, mmpbotb

This book started off really strong and promising. I enjoyed the settings of Prague and Morocco and thought the author really brought these places to life. I also liked the main YA female protagonist. Karou was strong, smart, and talented. An art-student who did not know a lot about her past and was living between two worlds. The mythology and world-building was good and interesting and different from others YA books I have read, with religious undertones. Then... the cliched Romeo-and-Juliet st ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2012 Jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, young-adult, urban-fantasy

Nothing makes me more upset than a book that started out promising, only to take a nose-dive in the last half. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one such novel for me.

In the beginning I loved the story of Kaoru, a blue haired art student living in Prague (my favorite city!) She runs gruesome errands for her adoptive father, a chimera, while trying to lead an ordinary life at the same time. This premise showed great promise - I wanted to find out more about her childhood, and I was interested to se Nothing makes me more upset than a book that started out promising, only to take a nose-dive in the last half. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one such novel for me.

In the beginning I loved the story of Kaoru, a blue haired art student living in Prague (my favorite city!) She runs gruesome errands for her adoptive father, a chimera, while trying to lead an ordinary life at the same time. This premise showed great promise - I wanted to find out more about her childhood, and I was interested to see her struggle, caught between two worlds.

Unfortunately, halfway through she meets her love interest, Akira, and things take a sharp nosedive. Akira is, to be blunt, a dull character. He's perfect physically, which we are told ad nauseum by the MC and her friends. Oh, but he's also sad and brooding! Basically he's a checklist of YA fiction cliches. Karou, naturally, is irresistibly drawn to him. The minute she meets him, she stops being an awesome kick-ass female character, and instead turns into a clingy, lovesick bore. Yes, there is insta-love. Lots of it.

At this point I was willing to give the novel three stars, but then we got to the end. (view spoiler)

In the end the book feels like a long setup for the series, and ends on a cliffhanger. I'm used to this, I suppose, but I wish authors would't do it. I like books to have endings, even if you are beginning a series (see: Harry Potter for a good example.)

On the plus side, the prose in the book was well written. The Chimera were interesting creatures, and I would have liked more about them, less about romance. A real fantasy novel set in their war would be really interesting. I just don't care about romance, at least not romance that eats the entire book. I can't recommend this one. ...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Jules rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal

3.5 stars. Possibly 4. I need to digest what I've read.

At no point did I have any strong clue what was going to happen next. The plot was intricate and unexpected, and now my son's collection of sea creature teeth is really freaking me out. ...more

Like · see review