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amiascah's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Too many emotions, thoughts and feelings for this book, not sure how I'll sum it up.
'Daughter of Smoke & Bone' is Laini Taylor's first book in her series of the same name. In the first part of the book we follow Karou, a regular art student in Prague. That is if regular is someone who grew up the ward of a 'wishmonger', runs odd errands for him, including collecting teeth, has blue hair that grows out of her head, speaks more languages than can count, including some non human ones. Life is what it is for her until one day some winged person is burning black hand prints on doorways. When Karou meets Akvia we are transported to another tale, another person and another world. In Akvia's past we meet Madrigal. From her we learn of good vs evil, angels vs demons and the truth about Karou.
spoilers
I have no idea where to start. I listened to the audiobook, it was slow to start but then you get invested in Karou and her life is interesting, you want to know more about Brimstone, what's with the teeth. Then it got confusing, did I miss something? Suddenly theres an angel running around, and the mysterious tattoos she's always had on her hands hurt him so obviously they have to be enemies. right? When we switch to Madrigal's point of view I found it confusing because the time line didnt stay linear. There was too much bouncing around for me. And I found some of them lacking in entertainment. There was a bit too much internal talking, explaining and not enough doing and seeing as Madrigal for me. And then theres the insta-love, with bitter enemies they have been raised to hate, I didnt feel plausible to me. Then once they meet and with zero reason they have to be together and start doing things no one does. The dance scene that Akavi sneaks into, that he would have been murdered if he was found out. I felt kinda checked out from it, it lost my interest.
I will probably listen to book two to see if it was me and not the book that was off.
'Daughter of Smoke & Bone' is Laini Taylor's first book in her series of the same name. In the first part of the book we follow Karou, a regular art student in Prague. That is if regular is someone who grew up the ward of a 'wishmonger', runs odd errands for him, including collecting teeth, has blue hair that grows out of her head, speaks more languages than can count, including some non human ones. Life is what it is for her until one day some winged person is burning black hand prints on doorways. When Karou meets Akvia we are transported to another tale, another person and another world. In Akvia's past we meet Madrigal. From her we learn of good vs evil, angels vs demons and the truth about Karou.
spoilers
I have no idea where to start. I listened to the audiobook, it was slow to start but then you get invested in Karou and her life is interesting, you want to know more about Brimstone, what's with the teeth. Then it got confusing, did I miss something? Suddenly theres an angel running around, and the mysterious tattoos she's always had on her hands hurt him so obviously they have to be enemies. right? When we switch to Madrigal's point of view I found it confusing because the time line didnt stay linear. There was too much bouncing around for me. And I found some of them lacking in entertainment. There was a bit too much internal talking, explaining and not enough doing and seeing as Madrigal for me. And then theres the insta-love, with bitter enemies they have been raised to hate, I didnt feel plausible to me. Then once they meet and with zero reason they have to be together and start doing things no one does. The dance scene that Akavi sneaks into, that he would have been murdered if he was found out. I felt kinda checked out from it, it lost my interest.
I will probably listen to book two to see if it was me and not the book that was off.
absbia777's review against another edition
2.0
So much hype from this book. Everyone recommends it, but I just didn't get it. This had the potential to be a totally cool story about Karou's mysterious past and the angel aspect, but it had to be all about the romance. I was not at all interested in Akiva and was very quickly bored. Sorry Laini Taylor, I'm sure you're a great writer. I just don't like your book.
kittyparade's review against another edition
4.0
Totally drags you into a new and exciting world without losing sight of reality. The main character, Karou is super fun and relatable. All of the supporting characters have different personalities that come together in a good way. This book will give you so many emotions without making you feel overloaded! I loved it.
walshml's review against another edition
4.0
Totally drags you into a new and exciting world without losing sight of reality. The main character, Karou is super fun and relatable. All of the supporting characters have different personalities that come together in a good way. This book will give you so many emotions without making you feel overloaded! I loved it.
dreamy_reader99's review against another edition
4.0
My rating is a 3.5. Honestly I didn't hate but I also didn't love it, it was goodish. The characters were good and the imagination behind the book was incredible! After awhile I was just bored with the book and it was kind of predictable. This isn't a "I can read this over and over again" book but I am willing to try the next book. I can hope it gets better.
yugen_moxie's review against another edition
5.0
The reveries for once stole my heart.
The rich prose. the world building is complex & astonishing. Bittersweet & I loved the gravitas of it all. It's so refreshing to read fantasy that has intelligence.
The rich prose. the world building is complex & astonishing. Bittersweet & I loved the gravitas of it all. It's so refreshing to read fantasy that has intelligence.
readwithmesashamarie's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! I'm not sure what I was expecting when I began reading it but holy crap it was nothing like what I expected. It was so much more fantasy based then what I've been reading lately that I felt so relaxed reading it: all my real world cares just drifted away. I also kept coming back to the beginning of the novel, how we meet our protagonist, and how freaking much she changes throughout! Holy character development batman! It was a really inventive and creative story and I'm currently searching for a way to purchase the next two books in this series. Also, it feels great to finally understand the cover art!
briipearl's review against another edition
4.0
Uhm, where exactly have I been? Good grief. So sad I missed this bandwagon the first time it came through town but glad I got ahold of it when I did. I'm giving it a solid 4 stars - even with a few minor upsets - it was still so freakin' fun to read. And had moments of really beautiful, understated prose. Excuse me while I make my way to the sequel...
ominousraven's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! I've put this book off for so long. I'm hating myself for it. Such a beautiful written story, and the characters have so much depth! I love every twist and turn. This book keep me on the edge of the seat and I enjoyed every minute of it.