nitzan_schwarz
Written on Jan 28, 2014
DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is a book unbounded by genre but located at a magical crossroads where THE PASSAGE meets PHILIP PULLMAN and TWILIGHT meets PAN'S LABYRINTH.
Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.
The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things.
When Brimstone called, she always came.
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.
'Remarkable and beautifully written . . . The opening volume of a truly original trilogy.' GUARDIAN
- ISBN10 1444722646
- ISBN13 9781444722642
- Publish Date 29 September 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher John Murray Press
- Imprint Two Roads
- Edition Digital original
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 448
- Language English
Reviews
Ashley
Written on Jan 27, 2014
2.5 Stars-ish
I'm so torn on Daughters of Smoke & Bone. I didn't hate it, but I never loved it the way everyone else seems to.
What I Liked
I loved the setting of Prague. There was something so great about finally reading a book that doesn't take place in America. I loved imagining the city, and the other places Karou traveled to.
Karou was an awesome character. I loved her humour, her badassness, and the hilarious way she tried to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend. He signed up to be a nude model in her art class, and to get revenge, Karou wished that he'd get really itchy in... certain places... so he did... Hahaha, epic.
There's no doubt that Laini Taylor has created a brilliant world in this story. The politics, races, and wars were all really interesting and original. Daughter of Smoke & Bone is probably like no other paranormal book you've read, and for that, I really applaud Laini Taylor!
I don't exactly fawn over writing style, and for that reason, I didn't necessarily love this book because it had great writing. But, I feel like I need to give credit where it's due. There's no denying that Daughter of Smoke & Bone is beautifully written. Laini Taylor really did an excellent job. It's just that writing style isn't a super high priority for me (plot, story, and characters rank higher), so the writing style couldn't really sway me to give this book a higher rating.
I'm honestly not sure whether to put the romance in this section or the "didn't like" section. I feel like it had pros and cons. I did like Karou and Akiva together. I loved the "soul mates"/fate part of their relationship. Maybe it was cheesy, but it was really sweet. I just loved the idea of how they could always find each other, even when pulled apart.
But on the other hand, the relationship did feel like insta-love at first. Akiva is drawn to Karou for some reason he can't explain. Karou is equally drawn to Akiva for the same reason. So there is no actual "sit down, talk, and fall in love" thing going on, it's just pure "I love you for some reason, but I have no idea what that reason is"... and that's practically the definition of insta-love. Of course this is kind of explained when we learn that Karou is actually Madrigal, Akiva's old "girlfriend". So then I guess the attraction makes sense.
What I Didn't Like
The first two thirds of this book were slow. My interest kept going up and down. I'd get excited about Prague or Karou or a particular plot element, but after that died down, my interest would completely plummet. There are just massive periods of time where it feels like the plot is going nowhere because we're told ZERO information. We don't know who Karou is, Karou doesn't know who she is, we don't know what's going on with these monsters/demons, and Karou doesn't know either. The lack of information just gets really old.. especially by like page 300, when we still know almost nothing.
Then I felt like there were big periods of information dumping. We'd suddenly get an entire history lesson all in one go. This in particular happens towards the end when we find out that Karou is actually Madrigal. It feels like the book suddenly shifts to tell us aaaall about Madrigal and her history. It was almost like a completely different story (just because of the way it was presented). Ultimately I just felt like I was reading a history text book at times. And at other times, I felt like different stories were battling for my attention at the same time.
Little desire to continue the series
Again, I didn't hate Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I just wasn't wowed by it like seemingly everyone else was. The end left me with little desire to continue the rest of the series. Even when we got the "big reveal", I wasn't floored or left desperate for more. Mostly I was just glad that the book was finally ending.
ibeforem
Written on Oct 1, 2013
KitsuneBae
Written on Sep 28, 2013
This review first appeared on my blog at Thoughts and Pens.
It is scary to be writing a 3-star review for a book so loved. It is even scarier to think that there is something wrong with me for not enjoying a book adored by many. As a reader, I am so easy to please and I am generous with my 4 and 5 stars. Giving Daughter of Smoke and Bone a 3.5 star rating felt like I am perhaps losing myself.
You see, angel stories have already burned me in the past but it didn’t stop me to continue searching for the one that would erase all the bad memories. I thought Daughter of Smoke and Bone would fulfill that journey. Alas, I was in for another disappointment. All throughout the story, I expected to be mind blown, to be unseated, to be weakened from the mixture of emotions, to suffer from a weeklong hangover…etc. I felt empty as my emotions simply refused to yield as the story developed. I can only think of one reason why I suddenly became an unfeeling twit. The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta.
I realized now that it is a wrong strategy to be diving into another book when one is still suffering from a book hangover. Emotions are still entropic and every emotional molecule would defy the pull of the new book. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was the third book that I’ve read after Quintana of Charyn. If you have read the latter, you might understand why this book failed to ensnare me in a fashion that would reduce me to my knees just to read it.
Sure, Prague is beautiful. But it became more than that with Laini’s manner of writing. In Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini was able to haul me in a world of magnificent buildings, nostalgic streets and breathtaking bridges. It’s definitely a world that I would love to live in… a perfect setting for Karou’s story to unfold. Although world building is one of the strongest points of this book, I must admit that it also became its downfall. Here and there, I encountered long winded descriptions of the Prague streets, the bridge, and building structures. It can be tiring you know. Sometimes, I just wanna move on.
While I liked the characters of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I still couldn’t get rid of the feeling that I am just seeing them on the surface. Karou’s badass, I get that. She’s loyal, a romantic junkie, a good friend, a good daughter but she lacked the X-factor. What I mean is, if she’s going to an audition for a heroine movie role and she’s alongside Katniss, Hermione, Isaboe, Quintana, Rose H., Karou will definitely be eliminated in the preliminary round.
And then there’s the love interest in the person of Akiva. At some point, I am irked by his woes. And how he chased Karou, forgetting all Angelic dignity and heavenly soldier discipline. Don’t get me wrong though. I still liked him but it’s like love and hate relationship. It didn’t stop me from feeling his pains especially when he witnessed Karou’s execution or his dilemma to put aside his race and be with Karou.
This might sound strange to you but there were three characters in this book who really made their presence felt. And I liked them more than our two leads. First, there’s Brimstone. I immediately adored him at first sight. I love his life philosophies. I love the workings of his mind. I just love him and he’s the only character that made me cry. I hope that he’s not really dead because there’s no one to root for in the second book. :\
Aside from Brimstone, my attention was also caught by our two villains namely, Thiago and Chiro. Their stint in the story might be short but hell, they gave me the creeps and the feeling of revulsion. I am really thankful to Chiro because after knowing her treachery, I felt a significant surge in my emotions. Stupid, conniving little bitch.
I would have really cared about this book if the plot wasn’t too driven by a decade long romance. And the attempt at introducing twists was greatly foiled by the back stories. The back stories were not impressively done that the only mindblowing thing left in this book is the teeth. They really grossed me out. If you must know, the teeth play an important role in Philippine superstition. According to the elders, if you dream about your teeth all falling out or getting knocked out for no apparent reason, it means that someone in your family will die. If only for that, Daughter of Smoke and Bone really made a disturbing read.
Okay. Enough of the teeth or I’ll be endangering myself of getting teethish nightmares. Let’s talk about the romance. Since this book is more about romance than epic battles between chimaera and seraphim, I expected that I would be carried away to swoon world. But no. It was instalove. How could it not be? When Karou was still Madrigal and Akiva was still capable of emotions, they immediately made love at the first meeting. Although Akiva was already inlove with Madrigal for two years, it still couldn’t be counted because they only met once during the Bullfinch battle. And two years have passed before they met again and they immediately danced the tango. And the fact that they both belong to different races that loathed each other, it was unbelievable. Then came the present. Karou was reborn and they met again. I imagined that their current romance would grow with more care. But after they almost killed each other, the two of them were already behaving like lovesick puppies. I didn’t hate the instalove that went in this book though. It’s just that Laini could have done a better job in crafting Akiva and Karou’s love story.
And then, just when you’re wishing for something better to happen, the story ended abruptly. I was like, “there’s no way that this book has ended.” And I scrolled my reader for fear that I am missing some pages. It was too cliffhangery for my taste.
Even though Daughter of Smoke and Bone is flawed, I would still read the next installment. Despite the odds, I was still able to grasp some enjoyment from this book. I just have to tell myself over and over again that Laini is just preparing the stage in this book and the next one will be one hell of a ride.
girlinthepages
Written on Jul 22, 2013
This book outperformed pretty much every YA fictional novel I have ever read in terms of sophistication and readability. Taylor's writing is more sophisticated than I've found a lot of contemporary adult fiction to be, and it did not feel at all like the author was "talking down" to the audience for being a younger audience. Her descriptions are beautiful, if sometimes a bit excessive and overdone. The world she builds is beautiful, sinister, unsettling, and magical all at the same time, and Prague is such a different location for a YA book to be set in.
Now the fantasy aspect of the book had my inner religious studies major jumping up and down for joy and screaming praise from the rooftops. Mythology! Creationism! Paganism molded with Western monotheism! The beginning of the book was like soup for the fantasy-lover's soul. Taylor's take on the angels-and-demons genre (which, if you've been reading this blog, you know I'm a sucker for) is completely, and I mean COMPLETELY, unique. She turns the heaven-hell dichotomy on it's head, and introduces races of angels and chimera in a centuries long war that has become so brutal and bloodied it has become a way of life, rather than a means to an end, to peace. There's a fabulous interplay of religion and magic, and the surrounding environments that Taylor sets these multiple worlds in, whether a gritty sun-soaked market in North Africa, a secret restaurant that has coffins for tables in the winter of Prague, or the creepy comfort of Brimstone's shop where teeth are traded for wishes at an unbelievable cost, I was literally floating from the giddiness of encountering so much originality, that truly made me feel like I was there.
As far as characters go, Taylor mostly hits the nail on the head. The protagonist, Karou, is supposed to be a whimsical, intelligent, curious, humbly talented late teenaged art student in Prague, which turns out to be EXACTLY WHAT SHE FEELS LIKE TO THE READER. (As in, we are not fooled into thinking some nitwit teenage girl is a plausible heroine like in so many other novels). Even though most of the novel follows Karou (in one form or another) she still retains an aura of mystery even to the reader, like she's clever and not laying all of her emotional cards out onto the table within the first three chapters of the book. Taylor similarly writes the typical sassy-best-friend in a refreshing fashion, one who is not annoying or predictable, and who manages to gather her bearings quickly and go along with her best-friend's crazy supernatural world with amazing grace (Zuzanna may have easily been my favorite character in the book, and her broken marionette performance may have been my favorite scene, AND it wasn't even essential to the plot). Brimstone, Issa, even Thiago...all the characters had such a presence that you felt such a connection and realism to them.
And then there's the love story. Although it's part in the plot became much more clear and essential later in the book, I personally was not impressed by it. It wasn't the reason I would pick up this book again, you know? It was just something I had to go along with to enjoy the rest of the amazing Taylor created. I was a little disappointed in many other reviews I read which mainly consist of five stars and a bunch of drooling over Akiva, AKA sexy-angel-warrior-tortured-soul-dude and the love interest. His character just seemed really flat, even when he was more fully developed later on in the book. And while I did enjoy learning about his past with Madrigal, he just really never captivated me in the way that all of the other characters, even the villians, did. If anything, he seemed to be the character that was most like a carbon-copy from other YA books. In my (undoubtedly unpopular) opinion, I wish this book hadn't been a love story, because the mythology and action and characters are so intricately interwoven that I feel like the book could've held up on it's on without having to place a romance in the middle of the plot to connect everything. I would've loved to see Karou, and Madrigal, have their own journeys of self-discovery not based on a great love, because honestly this book was so strong and so compelling that it didn't really need it.
So I suppose I'm taking one star off for the (in my opinion) unnecessary romance, and the fact that I started losing interest in the halfway point of the book (probably because it was focused on Karou and Akiva mooning over each other). It's dynamic beginning and ending, as well as it's originality in a genre often riddled with clichés, have me thanking that kind lady in the bookstore for placing this in my hands over anything else I may have picked that day.
Recommended for those who are searching for more out of your next YA fantasy read.
Jordon
Written on Feb 20, 2013
littleread1
Written on Jan 1, 2013
Angie
Written on Nov 17, 2012
Kelsenator
Written on Sep 16, 2012
Karou is a unique girl, aside from having natural blue hair. She is strong and was raised to fight if she needs to, she’s also intelligent and great at art. She was raised by Brimstone, a Chimera who lives in a little office working with teeth, and she often goes on errands to collect them for him even though she doesn’t know why he needs them. Even with her monster family, and her normal friends on the other side of the door, she always feels empty like a part of her is missing, and unsure of who she really is.
Karou does get to travel all over the world, and I loved hearing about all the different places. I thought it was also really cool that she could speak so many languages. The chapters and sections are divided up between Karou and Akiva, and I really liked being able to see his side of things as well, especially when it went into describing the tragedies of the past.
When Karou meets Akiva, she’s captivated by him, even when he tries to kill her at first. He’s a Seraphim, and he’s come here with two others to complete a certain duty. They of course meet again, and start to get attached to each other slowly. Akiva seems like the emotionless guy who could care less, but he’s actually hurting from past events, caring and sweet.
The story itself changes from just a girl doing errands and going to school, to so much more. There’s a war involved, other worlds and other stuff that’s awesome and that I can’t tell you much about it without spoiling anything.
The mentions of wishes versus hope was also interesting. The wishes themselves are a big part of the book, and the main currency that people receive when trading in teeth to Brimstone. There’s so many possibilities that can be done with a wish.
This book went past my expectations, and I can’t believe I waited to read it for so long. The only issue I had was the last part of the book. A lot of the chapters are past scenes only, and I had to wait forever to find out what was happening with Karou and what she was going to do next. I kind of wished that they cut back and forth a bit, but it was still fun to read. Definitely will be picking up the next book, and I highly recommend giving this a try!
boghunden
Written on Aug 14, 2012
Handlingen ved jeg virkelig ikke, hvad jeg skal sige til. Der blev rejst så mange spørgsmål og det var et fåtal af dem, der blev besvaret. Og så snart ét spørgsmål blev besvaret, rejste det bare to nye. Første bog i en trilogi skal selvfølgelig ikke besvare alle spørgsmål, men desværre synes jeg den svarer på alt for lidt. Der gik også lang tid, før man ligesom kunne få kædet de første 70 sider sammen med resten af bogen og det holder altså ikke helt. Ligeledes kommer der et langt afsnit, hvor vi stifter bekendtskab med andre personer, og det var jeg egentlig ikke særlig interesseret i, så det var bare en lang, kedelig passage jeg skulle igennem. Desværre var der intet nyt i denne handling, det føltes mest af alt bare som tomme ord. Heller ikke den cliffhanger bogen prøver at diske op med fungerer særlig godt.
Også persongalleriet skuffer lidt; der introduceres flere karakterer, som faktisk er relativt overflødige og dermed bare går hen og bliver til op mod 50 siders spild. Der var dog få karakterer, jeg godt kunne lide, bl.a. Zuzanne. Hun var som et friskt vindpust på en ellers vindstille dag.
Sproget er som vi kender det fra de fleste andre ungdomsbøger: let, flydende og ungdommeligt. I forhold til handlingen og den måde sproget flyder på, så er der brugt enkelte svære ord, der måske vil ødelægge lidt af forståelsen for de yngre læsere, men for mig var det ikke noget problem.
Jeg tror ikke, jeg vil læse videre i serien og det er ikke en bog, jeg direkte vil anbefale til andre, men den var udmærket at sidde og læse i toget og som lidt let godnatlæsning, men noget videre var den desværre ikke.