Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Jan 12, 2013 Skip rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fantasy

Inside cover: "From master storyteller and National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor comes a sweeping and grogeously written modern fantasy about a forbidden love, an ancient and epic battle, and hope for a world remade." I was waffling about a four or five, but the message of hope in this book carried the day.

Lonely Karou is a human girl, attending university in Prague, studying art; however, she is drawn away by the four chimera, who raised her, to run errands for her foster father, Brimstone. ...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Renee added it

Okay, that was totally awesome! BUT...I have so many questions still! I just want more answers!

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Oct 20, 2011 Ezmirelda rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, angels, demons, original, okay

The Daughter of Smoke and Bones had two major flaws for me. One was the slow-pacing and the other was the prose. The book was slightly dragging in the beginning and towards the middle I had put it down several times and attempted to pick it up again later. I get it that Karou's lonely, and I get it that her ex boyfriend was a psycho, but why spend the whole entire beginning on just that? And then there's the prose. Sometimes I'd read a sentence of description and by the end of the sentence I'd f The Daughter of Smoke and Bones had two major flaws for me. One was the slow-pacing and the other was the prose. The book was slightly dragging in the beginning and towards the middle I had put it down several times and attempted to pick it up again later. I get it that Karou's lonely, and I get it that her ex boyfriend was a psycho, but why spend the whole entire beginning on just that? And then there's the prose. Sometimes I'd read a sentence of description and by the end of the sentence I'd forget what it was describing. I usually have no problem with prose at all. In fact, it's one of those things that makes a story far more enjoyable for me. But it just didn’t work for me in this book.

So what did I love? Where do I start? The setting of Prague was just beautiful. And Karou—I loved her! She's strong, beautiful, has blue hair and an amazing talent when it comes to drawing. And on top of all that she's not portrayed as a perfect person. She has flaws, she has weaknesses, and she craves love. There's something about her loneliness that makes me ache for her for most of the book. When she said she was lonely I truly believed that she was. Karou and Zuzana—a delightful duo that I enjoyed. Akiva—a delicious swoon-worthy angel with a tortured past. I was fascinated by Karou's family of chimaeras, who gave us small insight into the other world called Elsewhere. And of course the world-building. Wow! The world building. I loved it to bits even though it’s one of the things that kind of slowed down the pace of the story.

I felt like all the elements of a story that I love are in this book and yet something is lacking. Maybe it's due to the high expectations I had prior to reading this book. Maybe it's because I wasn't quite connected with some of the characters. Maybe it's because of the prose that had me re-reading whole paragraphs to find out what it was about. Or maybe it's due to the slow pacing of the text. I mean, I literally sat with bated breath waiting for the huge turning points to take place and.....nothing happened for a really long time. The wait was far longer than I had anticipated: thus the reason why I had put if down a couple times.

Overall I really liked The Daughter of Smoke and Bones but didn't love it like I expected I would. Would I recommend it? Definitely! Despite its flaws it was, to say the least, a magical and fascinating read. Not your everyday read from the YA genre.

3.5 Stars ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Zey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, kick-ass-heroine, i-did-not-see-that-coming, action-packed, fantasy, paranormal, i-like-it, romance, supernatural, can-t-get-over-it

This is a weird book. Weird in a good way, but weird, nonetheless.

I've heard so many good things about this book so I decided to give it a try. It's a good thing because this book did not disappoint. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is everything a YA book should be. The writing is simple but descriptive. The pacing is perfect, and the characters are all three-dimensional. The setting's descriptions(Prague, Morocco, Paris, Loramendi, Eretz) are quite spectacular. It made me feel that I was walking a This is a weird book. Weird in a good way, but weird, nonetheless.

I've heard so many good things about this book so I decided to give it a try. It's a good thing because this book did not disappoint. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is everything a YA book should be. The writing is simple but descriptive. The pacing is perfect, and the characters are all three-dimensional. The setting's descriptions(Prague, Morocco, Paris, Loramendi, Eretz) are quite spectacular. It made me feel that I was walking along side the characters.

This is my first Laini Taylor book and I am really impressed. I'm sure a lot of other reviews included the synopsis of the book so I won't include it here in my review anymore. I just like to point out some of the things that made this book a cut above the rest:

*The Angels here are unlike those biblical ones. Basically, Angels here are just another species or creature living in another dimension. They have nothing to do with God or other religious things. The same with the Chimaeras , there is nothing evil about them and they have nothing to do with the big bad guy: Satan or Lucifer. These two species are caught up in a war in which God or the Devil have no participation whatsoever. And as with so many wars, there is really no such thing as the good or bad side. Both have their own faults and both have suffered losses and pain. I am really hoping this story will end up with peace.

Human are very much aware of the abnormal things happenning . This is one of the things I love about this book. In this book, humans actually notice that something weird is really going on. In other books, we humans are portrayed as brain-less creatures who don't have any idea what's happening in our world. But here, the Angels don't really care if people see them. I mean, they're angels, they're beautiful, and they can fly. What's there not to brag about?

The story has depth. This is not just a story about starcrossed lovers. This is a book that pulls on your heart strings and make you think really hard. I want to add the fact that the main protagonists: Karou and the love interest Akiva are both wonderful characters. They are both brave, smart, and flawed in a good way.

Despite the wonderful things about this book, I only gave it 4 star because I the second part of the book (The part about Madrigal ) is weak. Maybe because the mystery is finally revealed. I don't know, I just didn't expect that, and it's really weird. I think I have to stop now or else I'll drop a major spoiler.

That's it for now. ...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Nicole rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, signed-by-the-author, angels-nephilim, past-lives

You can check out this review and many others on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5

I really REALLY liked this one, but as always I set myself up for something that overshadows anything I've ever read. This time, I was only barely slightly minutely disappointed. Laini Taylor is an absolute genius and I can't wait to meet her this month. Sometimes I wonder how they come up with these ideas and what's going on in their lives at the time. I feel an ache to interview this author in particular. Taylor You can check out this review and many others on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5

I really REALLY liked this one, but as always I set myself up for something that overshadows anything I've ever read. This time, I was only barely slightly minutely disappointed. Laini Taylor is an absolute genius and I can't wait to meet her this month. Sometimes I wonder how they come up with these ideas and what's going on in their lives at the time. I feel an ache to interview this author in particular. Taylor creates such a rich world that it was almost too hard to keep up. Almost.

Karou was an interesting character. We don't really know he she is, and evidently even she has no clue as to who she is! That creates for quite a mystery. The beginning was a little long, though as an author I understand character development. It makes me wonder what roles Karou's friends are going to play in the next one, or if they'll be there at all.

There's so much I want to say, but I don't want to spoil anything. This is one of those books where things are better left unsaid if you haven't read it. If you have, you know what I'm talking about. I'll give you a clue: this book involves Seraph and Chimaera. They're at war with each other, but when their worlds intertwine, it's disastrous. And Karou is in the middle of it.

Akiva isn't one of those love interests you swoon over. It's made clear that he's beyond gorgeous and he spills a few things about himself and is obviously very loyal to Karou. But I don't feel myself falling for him. Maybe he'll become more real in the next one, but despite a few scenes and their undeniable connection, I wasn't all that attracted to him.

This one was so hard for me to review. There was a point where we get to see into the past for a good chunk of the book, and I honestly had to put it down. I was so caught up in the moment with Akiva and Karou, and then we're thrust into the past for over a hundred pages. It's not that the past wasn't interesting. In fact, it was the best part of the book. But i was so caught up in one story and then I got flung into another. It was all interconnected, but it killed the mood for me for a couple hours.

Definitely HIGHLY recommended! I haven't ever seen story-weaving like this (although I'm expecting some crazy interwoven plots in Cassandra Clare's books) and Laini is a magnificent writer. It's worth every penny, my lovelies! ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Kirstyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy

I have read a lot of books this summer, but the Daughter of Smoke&Bone is by far one of my favorite reads. Karou, the main character, is so snarky and sarcastic-I loved reading about her life and her struggles with discovering who she really is. In fact, all of the characters in this novel are fantastic. I love Akiva; his scenes were heart-breaking. Zuze was great too; so glad she supported Karou. I love books that have characters you can relate to and understand.

The plot was crazy. I mean, sepa ...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Georgia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, holy-blonde-cheerleader-batman

The fact that I sat there today on my bed in 45 DEGREE HEAT just because I simply couldn't bear the thought of putting this down is the first clue as to how much I loved it. The pain was without a doubt worth it, it is now one of my all time favorites. Stupid Australia. Stupid heat. Amaze-balls book. ...more

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