bestmessever
Written on Jan 25, 2016
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 1444722654
- ISBN13 9781444722659
- Publish Date 5 July 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 3 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Imprint Hodder Paperback
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 448
- Language English
Reviews
leahrosereads
Written on Jan 20, 2016
My review below would change just slightly, because I'm not completely in love with this story like I was the first time around. It was still great, and I'm glad that I read it to refresh my memory. Planning on finishing this trilogy this month.
I cannot wait to see where this story goes, and I still highly recommend this book.
Original rating: 5 Stars
It’s not a rarity for me to fall in love with a book. It’s why I read after all. If an author can weave a tale so thoroughly that it keeps me entranced from the beginning to the very end of the story, they’ve succeeded. And in my opinion, not only did Laini Taylor accomplish this, she did it with such pretty, pretty words.
A Daughter of Smoke & Bone was fantastic. The characters were detailed, and although I thought Karou had a bit of a Mary Sue thing going on, she ended up being beautifully fleshed out by Taylor, and Karou easily became a heroine that I admired.
The novel does have a lot of world building in it, but I don’t think it took away from the story (90% of the time, anyway). My only issue was around the 75% mark on my Kindle (where we meet and hear the story of Madrigal and Akiva). I understand why it was there, and why it was necessary to flesh out the plot in this novel, and, I’m sure to shape the future novels in the trilogy, but it had an awkward forced feel about it, and it threw me out of the story for a little while.
Other than that though, I absolutely enjoyed A Daughter of Smoke & Bone, and I’m looking forward to making time for the other novels in the trilogy.
Also definitely looking forward to reading other work by Laini Taylor. If she always writes like what I read in A Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I think she’ll become one of my favorite authors.
Loved this, and I would recommend it not only to those who enjoy YA, but anyone who’d like to escape to another world for a few days.
jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Oct 8, 2015
I'm in love with this series already. If I could, I would start the next installment immediately. This is unlike anything I can remember reading. I am so tired of reading about angels, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Although there are angels in this series, they are done very uniquely and are only half of the fantastical species this trilogy focuses on. There is a slight case of what appears to be "insta-love", but all is made up for in good time. In short: No werewolves. No vampires. No witches. And best of all, no love triangle. The writing is beautiful. This is fantasy done right and it definitely lives up to the hype. I just hope the next two installments are as this one!
By the way, the narrator of this audiobook (Khristine Hvam) has instantly made it onto my favorites list. ♣︎
Berls
Written on Oct 4, 2015
Joséphine
Written on Jun 1, 2015
Kelly
Written on Apr 29, 2015
And yes Kristy, I've upgraded my rating.
No need for violence.
nannah
Written on Apr 13, 2015
Second half: 2 to 2.5 stars . . .
What happened? I think what summarizes the first half best is, in the book's own words, "Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters. But angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone." Sounds fascinating, right? It is. Ohh, it is.
Karou is an art student with one foot in Prague and one foot in a monster's workshop. She balances art classes with errands for Brimstone, the chimaera who raised her--mainly, gathering teeth of all kinds from around the world. This lifestyle continues until seared handprints start to appear on the portals to Brimstone's world, laid by angels, the chimaeras' enemies.
Creative, tense, and with great prose. Then the second half introduces the angel Akiva, who falls in love with Karou. Not exactly a spoiler, since it's something anyone could have predicted. But this happens at a part when Karou has her mind set on something. The plot revolves around her determination, and then . . . it standstills?
Instead of getting things done, Akiva and Karou get breakfast, watch the sun rise, etc. etc. etc. When things should be building up to a climax, it backtracks and spends the entire second half in backstory, explaining, creating no tension, and dropping all the tension the amazing first half created. The story finally goes back into real-time three chapters from the end, only to return to backstory (and have its climax there, which makes me feel robbed of something somehow?).
It could be that I'm just not such a fan of this type of storytelling, but I wanted things to happen, not have things explained for me.
Stephanie
Written on Mar 14, 2015
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is one of those books that everyone claims is one of the best books in the universe. And it is. What they don't tell you is that it takes time to appreciate it. What they don't tell you is that it is so confusing until all of a sudden it's not anymore.
Karou is living the life that most older teenage girls would love. She's got her own apartment, attends art school, has an amazing best friend, and an endless supply of small wishes. I really don't want to get into too much of the plot because I think it's more valuable for you to discover it all for yourself.
What I do want to discuss is Taylor's amazing skill as a wordsmith. She blends reality and fantasy so well, not only do you truly want to believe it, if you close your eyes, you can almost hear Brimstone's deep voice. You can certainly feel all of the emotions running through Karou and Akiva. I've never had more clear visions of a foreign country than I have Prague. It sounds beautiful!
I am very much excited to continue reading this series!
Stephanie
Written on Apr 30, 2014
Chelsea
Written on Mar 9, 2014
I was pleasantly surprised at how different this book was. Even at the start I was hooked on this new idea. I love it. First of all, I noticed that the book takes place in Prague, which not a lot of books do. That was just the beginning at all the surprises though. I was slightly skeptical because I know that this book has fantastic reviews and I didn't want my expectations too high.
My New Best Friend
Karou, the main character, was my favourite. I'm an artist too and I liked reading about someone like me. Also, I loved how she didn't care that she was different. She knew she was and just accepted it. I just couldn't handle how awesome she was. She was so good at balancing her two lives. I wanted to be in the story right there with her saying I understand.She was so smart and not at all annoying that I instantly feel in love with her. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see her friend Zuzana as much as I wanted. She could have been my new best friend if we'd seen her more. Plus she was hilarious.
My Crush
Oh my gosh Akima. Why did she have to create such a perfect character? Why? He's so sad when we first see him. He's just trying to do his part for his people and then he sees Karou and isn't sure why but he's drawn to her. I was a little worried that it was going to be an instant fall in love kind of thing but it wasn't. When their past is revealed and all the pieces feel together it all made sense and it made me love him more. Their romance was so cute and subtle and DIFFERENT! I can't believe someone finally wrote a different kind of romance. It was seriously beautiful. So is Akima.
Writing Style
I loved almost everything about this book. There was just a little thing about it that bugged me. The start was really well done. The whole book was well written actually. But then you get into the middle. It starts off ok and then the author starts writing these flash back moments and I hated it. I just wanted to continue on with the story but I had to stop and wait for her to finish a flashback. That was the only thing that bothered me about this book. The ending was great as well, it left me needing to read the next book.
Closing Thoughts
First of all, shout out to Brimstone because even though he was technically the bad guy, he was pretty awesome. The world that the author created in this book was amazing. I've never read anything like it. She's a great story teller, one of the best I think. My review can't even come close to doing this book justice. Just read it and you'll see why. I'm just completely blown away by how different and unique it was. That's what really got me hooked. This book lived up to all the hype.
Bonus
I now want to visit Prague because of the amazing descriptions the author gave me.