Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 13, 2022 Melike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-lust, fantasy, ya

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

LOVED, loved, loved this book. Perfect storytelling, interesting characters, timeless romance and a beautiful setting in one of my favorite cities, Prague. I can't wait to read Book 2. ...more

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

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

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: awesome-narration, reviewed, audiobook, 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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Sep 15, 2013 Barbara ★ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: christian-religious, read-2015, paranormal-magic, fantasy, paranormal-angels, zzz1-punctuation-in-title, x-set-in-europe, zzz-cover-body-part, paranormal-demons, young-adult

This was definitely not what I was expecting. I have a love/hate relationship with YA books and I dithered for months on whether to read this one or not. I'm so glad I did. It's completely different from any other YA that I've read. Ms. Taylor's characters are truly unique and both interesting and frightening.

I loved the idea of chimaeras and the combinations Ms. Taylor came up with were brilliant. I could actually picture every single one and was impressed with her imagination.

I loved Karou. ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Marla rated it liked it

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

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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Dec 04, 2011 Chris rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-paranormal, fiction, youth, europe, series, middle-grades, young-adult

I started off liking this very much and then my enthusiasm waned somewhat. Not sure why. The writing is good. I liked the premise of two groups, the seraphim (angels) and the chimaera (devils), fighting a war for so long they seem to have forgtten what they're fighting over. I liked the main characters of Karou and Akiva and the way their stories are revealed. The other characters are well done also. Karou is a seemingly human teenager raised by monsters - yes, literally monsters. Now that she's ...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Annika rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really loved this. It swept me up and I was fully engrossed in Carou's story. ...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Soelo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, lovedfantasy, srchallenge, series2010s, nortonaward, locusaward

Wow, this was good. I need to take a break before I start the second book though.

I started listening to the audiobook and was annoyed by the nearly constant sarcasm in the narrator's voice. I picked up reading where I stopped listening and enjoyed it a lot more. ...more

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