Daughter of Smoke and Bone

ASTONISHING

I listened to this on audiobook courtesy of my beautiful monthly membership to Audible. It was astonishingly good. The prose was colourful, imaginative and sophisticated. There were moments when I found my brain chewing over a dazzlingly brilliant metaphor or simile that just left me reeling in a post-literary glow. I don't even care how dodgy that sounds.
I am in love not only with Taylor (who has very pink hair, by the way), but with her wonderful protagonist, the tattooed, blue-haired Karou. She was a girl who lived between worlds and who knew just how to sharpen the pointy-end of a witty one liner. I am in love with all of Taylor's characters. Akiva (a swoon-worthy Seraph) was a fairly typical male interest who was rather predictable. Nonetheless, he was a literary hottie. Karou's best buddy, a tiny Czech girl by the name of Zusana kept me giggling throughout.
The characters were beautifully drawn, the setting made me want to hop on the next plane to Prague and Taylor's writing made me want to keep chipping away at the dense old block that is my skill at crafting words. I don;t want to write too much about the plot here as I wouldn't want to give the game away. I will, however, say that the structure of Taylor's narrative was, if not a breath of fresh air, then a good old spritz of Fabreeze to the somewhat stale and tattily-woven fabric of some YA reads.
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A rare 5 stars for this and a whole lot of bated breath for the sequel!Lx

24 of 24 people found this review helpful

A well crafted piece of fantasy

First: I really enjoyed this book. I actually fell asleep listening (not 'cos it was boring but because it was late) and this gave the whole experience a definitely dreamlike quality. Re-listening awake, its still good, even for a not so young adult. Of course seen in context of the fantasy genre as a whole, this ticks all the well known boxes, another world on the the side of a door (CS Lewis, Pullman), angels (Pullman again) so the underlying ideas aren't really new. But this need not matter as it is beautifully, lyrically written and read (even if in a US accent). And it takes the ideas and adds romance, which is certainly lacking in all the other versions. So I'm on tenter hooks for the next instalment.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Who, or what, is Karu?

If you could sum up Daughter of Smoke and Bone in three words, what would they be?

This book starts in a deceptively simple way, with a girl acting as a carrier for her family. Albeit this is a rather unusual family of mixed creatures. Karu herself lives in Prague, and has a fairly normal school life, but one day she sees something she shouldnt, gets very hurt, and makes the reader start to wonder just what is behind the doors, and why is she collecting teeth?!

This is an interesting story, where you are kept guessing as to who exactly is good or bad, and it doesnt get any easier as the protagonists history is revealed. Easily one of the best of the current paranormal slew of angel based books, and one suitable for older children, but not younger ones due to some of the fights and deaths, none of which are in great detail, and well justified in the storyline.

Gave it four stars, as I hate books ending on deliberate cliff hangers, why cant they at least write a partial ending, and be a good enough read anyway for me to buy the next book? That said, a lot of ends were tied up, so wouldnt be too frustrating to read alone.

So, in 3, engaging, exciting, and immersive.

What other book might you compare Daughter of Smoke and Bone to, and why?

I would compare this to wicked lovely, another book that keeps you guessing without making too much of this as a plot device.

What about Khristine Hvam’s performance did you like?

I liked most of her voices, she makes it really easy to keep track of who is speaking.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Does addiction to the storyline count??

Any additional comments?

Does need a bit of concentration at times, so not the best book for driving to, but a good bedtime or sunbathing book.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Brilliant

This is a wonderful book. The style is quite modern but it is beautifully written. I absolutely loved the narration as well and have been looking for more more more from the writer and narrator both. MUST get this if you love fantasy. So good.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Normally a big YA fan but, meh...

I love reading and listening to YA literature. Most good stories can be enjoyed by people of all ages. But this book just did t do it for me. I'm quitting before the end. The characters are childishly gruesome and the story is predictable. The narrator doesn't help. She has an overly bubbly tone and the accents are pretty terrible. Pick a better story, like The Red Queen.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

First audiobook I ever stopped listening to

I'm sorry to say that this is the first audiobook I ever stopped listening to. I listened exactly halfway through and when it did not pick up I decided to just drop it and wait for my next credit.

What I should say is that this is not terrible, but also not very good. I think the mistake I made was listening to this as an adult, because I do think I would have enjoyed this as a teenager. If you like the Twilight films chances are you will love this book, and if so don't let this review put you off.

The story in itself isn't so bad and after a few hours I even thought the book did show some promise, but as is made painfully clear it turns into a love story and not a very good one. Slow, sleazy and a serious amount of words describing two people looking at each other. Again and again. Other 'side'-parts of the book, mostly when Karou, the hero, hung out with her friend Suzana made me cringe. Tried to be funny but didn't work.

I'm really making this sound worse than it is, as said before I probably would have liked this fifteen years ago. Overall, don't bother if you don't like Twilight and books/shows similar to that.

13 of 16 people found this review helpful

Not for me

The story has some interesting ideas and notions but its way too soppy and cheesy. I suppose it would be a good book for mid-late teens. I did listen to it to the end, partly because I hoped it would get better, partly because I spent 1/2 a credit on it. The author did end the book in a cliffhanger which does make me entertain the idea of reading a review of the next book at least.

The performance wasn't bad but I think it made the story even more soppy. I did cringe every time there was a male voice represented. Please improve on this.

Note to Laini Taylor- I would have appreciated less use of the word ''beautiful''.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Definitely YA

I listen to a wide range of books and quite like Young Adults fiction & fantasy.unfortunately, this one is a bit too much bad ass woman power and weeping angel for my liking. My daughter (13) will love it and it's perfect if you are looking for a modern/fantasy/slightly soppy Romeo and Juliet Superwoman story...but hopefully with a happy ending, never made it that far...saying that, it might develop over time seeing that it is a series, but not for me...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Could have been excellent...

I enjoyed most of this book, but for two things. the author needs to concentrate on her action and ease up on the endless relationship/so called love scenes... which go on and on and on and on... I ended up forwarding many minutes and not missing anything. The narrator had a voice I found frustrating with miss pronunciations e.g. stalking sounded like stocking. Not sure I'll get book 2.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

teenage soap opera

Just another teenage soap opera... too much drama for my taste. strong female main character.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful