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A review by nuv
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
4.0
I struggled really hard with how I should rate this book, and I went back and forth between giving it a 3.75 or 4 stars. I ultimately settled on 4 stars.
The writing is so incredibly lush, the world building is beautiful, and despite it being a relatively short(er) YA fantasy book, the characterization was done really well... except for the romance. And that is exactly where I took off the 1 star. During the middle of the book, I found myself in a *slight* slump. After doing a bit of a self-evaluation, I can safely say it was the romance. Without delving too much into spoilers, it makes sense why Akiva and Karou's relationship evolved the way it did. However, that doesn't mean I'm a huge fan of insta-love/lust.
Back to the positives – I loved the side characters, Zuzana, Brimstone, Issa – they were written so incredibly well. Some of the most touching moments in the book were when we saw glimpses of Karou's childhood or her interaction with Brimstone + the gang. The subtly in the interactions, the way the dialogue was written, and prose all painted a beautiful picture of Karou's life.
I loved the world building! Again, it was a relatively short book in comparison to other fantasy novels, but no extra pages were needed to paint a vivid picture of how Eretz and Earth's superimposed worlds existed to form Karou's reality. It was the perfect amount of show vs. tell, with key world building information given at the right time. Honestly I don't think I've been this satisfied with world-building in a YA fantasy in a long time.
If you had asked me 50% into the book, what I would've rated it, it probably would've been a 3 star read (which is still good in my books). But the last 25% really shone, both with Laini Taylor's writing and the plot exposition.
I def will be reading the next book <3
The writing is so incredibly lush, the world building is beautiful, and despite it being a relatively short(er) YA fantasy book, the characterization was done really well... except for the romance. And that is exactly where I took off the 1 star. During the middle of the book, I found myself in a *slight* slump. After doing a bit of a self-evaluation, I can safely say it was the romance. Without delving too much into spoilers, it makes sense why Akiva and Karou's relationship evolved the way it did. However, that doesn't mean I'm a huge fan of insta-love/lust.
Back to the positives – I loved the side characters, Zuzana, Brimstone, Issa – they were written so incredibly well. Some of the most touching moments in the book were when we saw glimpses of Karou's childhood or her interaction with Brimstone + the gang. The subtly in the interactions, the way the dialogue was written, and prose all painted a beautiful picture of Karou's life.
I loved the world building! Again, it was a relatively short book in comparison to other fantasy novels, but no extra pages were needed to paint a vivid picture of how Eretz and Earth's superimposed worlds existed to form Karou's reality. It was the perfect amount of show vs. tell, with key world building information given at the right time. Honestly I don't think I've been this satisfied with world-building in a YA fantasy in a long time.
If you had asked me 50% into the book, what I would've rated it, it probably would've been a 3 star read (which is still good in my books). But the last 25% really shone, both with Laini Taylor's writing and the plot exposition.
I def will be reading the next book <3