Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Amazon's Top 20 Books of the Year (#6)Amazon's Best Young Adult List (#1)2011 New York Times Notable Children's BookHuffington Post Top 10 YA Books of 20112011 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year2011 Kirkus Best Books for TeensAmazon's Top 20 Books of the Year (#6)Amazon's Best Young Adult List (#1)2011 New York Times Notable Children's BookHuffington Post Top 10 YA Books of 20112011 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year2011 Kirkus Best Books for TeensAnd there has never been a better place to say this:BELIEVE THE HYPE, PEOPLE. I can't do Daughter of Smoke and Bone justice, no matter what I write.It's going to be legen-wait for it-NO LOVE TRIANGLE! Yet another book with no love triangles! Laini Taylor writes about starcrossed insta-love and still manages to make me fall in love with her words. I take my hat off to her. (This review will sing praises of her. You've been warned.) She is a true story teller, like Homer. I think she can literally breathe life into letters on a page, like Silvertongue from [b:Inkheart 28194 Inkheart (Inkheart, #1) Cornelia Funke http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328866790s/28194.jpg 2628323]. Her lyrical prose! She writes pure magic. This woman is a abstract daydream of the writer I want to be one day. STORY:Daughter of Smoke and Bone is about, among other things: doorways to another world and wishes made out of teeth. Yes, you read that right. There is a violent war raging between the Seraphim and the Chimera as I write this, and a mysterious, seventeen-year-old girl from Prague is caught in between. KAROU: “Skip meeting him? The butterflies, the pounding heart, the blushing? The part where you enter each other's magnetic fields for the first time, and it's like invisble lines of energy are drawing you together-“ Karou, our artist and the heroine of this novel, is the daughter of smoke and bone. She collects languages and teeth. She has long (bona fide) azure hair and she lives with monsters. She isn't annoying at all, at odds with most other teen heroines. AKIVA: “By the time he was sent back to his regiment at Morwen Bay, he could have used a little more time to perfect his Chimaera accent, but he thought he was basically ready for what came next, in all its bright and shining madness.” Akiva is nothing more than gorgeous eye candy to begin with. Just one more tortured soul, I thought. Except he was a warrior. But then he changed. I fell in love with him about the time he began to fall in love with Madrigal. From DREAM-LOST and BLOOD WILL OUT, where he tells us about how he fell in love with her, I fell for him HARD. So, yes, I do end up liking Akiva a whole lot more than I should by the end.And then there's Zuzana and Brimstone, the two who made this story so much better for me.ZUZANA: The perfect best friend.BRIMSTONE: Need I say more?All I can say is, if “Hope is the real magic” . . . can I hope [b:Days of Blood and Starlight 12812550 Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #2) Laini Taylor http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337964452s/12812550.jpg 17961723] into existence sooner then?

Laini Taylor has such a magical writing style and Khristine Hvam's narration brought Laini's world to life. I “read” this book after I read “Strange the Dreamer” and the sequel. Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares are in my all time favorites list, but Daughter of Smoke and Bone is definitely up there too. What a brilliant story, full of love, whimsy, complexity, magic and pain...Laini knows how to weave so many elements together artfully and beautifully. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Found this in the library of the old-fashioned hot springs resort I was at for a family reunion (Capon Springs, WV! Can't recommend it enough!). Interesting to read a pretty early precursor to the current rash of romantasy (of which I've read plenty). I liked the world-building, found the plot propulsive, and was an overall fan. I don't love "we connected in past life/past versions of ourselves" trope particularly, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I'm not rushing to finish the trilogy, but am at least curious about the sequel eventually.

AAAAAAAAA HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOLY FUCKING SHITTTTT

Ahem.

Now, A Few Things:
- wow.
- this was just...
- wow.
- i want to dye my hair blue now.
- i can't dye my hair blue because it's against my school's dress code and my mother would probably have a stroke.
- one of my teachers looked at my book and asked if Karou was a kangaroo. then asked if Karou was short for kangaroo.
- everything was just written so masterfully beautiful like how??
- angels? ANGELS??? YESSSSSSS!!!!!- the title of chapter 47 is my favorite band (Evanescence) ayyye- but I still didn't really understand the story until i was about 75% done and then i was like ohhhh... OMFG WHAT- there's a character named Kaz in this book (

Então:
A construção de mundo e a sua mitologia é muito boa. Foi o que gostei mais, apesar de sermos largados naquele mundo assim de repente e sem grandes explicações. Lá mais para o meio há muita exposição o que torna a coisa um pouco assoberbante, mas aguenta-se.

O insta-love que acontece a meio do livro é explicado no fim, mas ainda assim podia ter sido trabalhado de outra maneira. Podia ser mais subtil.

Up to the next :)

via GIPHY

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

“Karou desejava ser o tipo de garota completa em si mesma, que se sente bem com a solidão, serena.”

Karou vive em Praga, tem cabelos azuis e cursa Arte. Tem um ex-namorado chato e uma melhor amiga companheira e engraçada. Até aí entramos numa personagem normal de livros que estamos acostumados a ler. Entretanto, o verdadeiro lar de Karou é a loja de Brimstone, um demônio quimera que realiza desejos. E seu cabelo azul? É natural.

Karou não conhece os pais e desde que se lembra foi criada na loja com Brimstone e outras quimeras, mas não sabe nada de sua história e nem porque Brimstone precisa dos dentes que ela e várias pessoas levam à sua loja. Sua vida é bem corrida, pulando entre um dia normal na faculdade e amigos para uma caçada em vários países, correndo vários períodos por dentes de várias espécies.

A loja de Brimstone tem portas espalhadas pelo mundo todo e começam a aparecer misteriosas marcas de mãos queimadas nelas, e as quimeras se tornam mais tristes e nervosas. Ao mesmo tempo, Karou tenta lidar com problemas no mundo humano, e com seus desafios interiores. Karou se divide entre os dois mundos, e sente o tempo todo como se devesse estar em outro lugar, fazendo outra coisa. Depois de uma semana especialmente trabalhosa, Karou se depara com um ser que ela não sabia que existisse, um anjo, Akira. E sua vida muda totalmente.

A sinopse me deixou extremamente curiosa. Apesar de ser bem mais curta do que a divagação acima, é intrigante. Comecei a ler e fiquei desesperada para terminar. A história é muito intensa e movimentada. Karou é uma personagem misteriosa e independente, mas que tem um toque de confusão que faz com que se torne apaixonante. E existe um grande mistério por trás de sua história que nos obriga a descobrir qual é.

Ri, chorei, torci, fiquei com raiva. Passei por inúmeras emoções durante a leitura. E tem continuação. E não foi traduzida. A pior coisa para um leitor. E pior que continuação. Trilogia. E agora caio na mesma situação de sempre: esperar. Vou lendo outras coisas enquanto isso, tentando distrair, e imaginando o que houve com os personagens até lá.

Muito boa a leitura. Um dos livros que me prendeu bastante e me fez ficar perdida na história. Karou, Akira, as quimeras, são personagens muito complexos e interessantes, e existe um enredo por trás desse que nos faz querer saber mais. Tenho certeza que a espera pela continuação será recompensada.

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/04/feita-de-fumaca-e-osso.html

Provo sentimenti contrastanti riguardo a questo libro. Non so se dargli tre o quattro stelle, quindi vada per un 3.5 stelle.
Cosa mi è piaciuto di questo libro:
- lo stile dell'autrice che nonostante i difetti è riuscito a catturarmi e a tenermi incollata al libro per sapere cosa c'era dietro al mondo che aveva creato
- le dinamiche che legano i rapporti tra le creature e i mondi
- e anche la storia, dai. non mi ha fatto impazzire, però tutto sommato mi è piaciuta.

Cosa non mi è piaciuto:
- chimere e serafini sono due figure mitologiche che, a parer mio, cozzano un po' tra loro. O fai angeli e demoni, o chimere e qualcos'altro.
- trama: misera. Più che un romanzo, io lo definirei una storia, una di quelle storie da papà castoro raccontate prima di andare a dormire, che, ripeto, comunque è riuscita a catturarmi. La trama è pressoché assente, poiché in questo primo volume la domanda a cui vuole rispondere è “chi è Karou”. Per farlo l'autrice torna indietro nel tempo, quindi quasi metà libro è un flashback e perché la trama si muova dobbiamo aspettare, suppongo e spero, il secondo volume.
- troppo romance: la seconda metà del libro tratta della storia d'amore tra i protagonisti. Ci sta, è anche carina, ma è come se fermasse il fiume della storyline che invece necessitava di andare avanti. mi spiego meglio...
- buco nella trama: SPOILER ALERT
...
...
...
Karou ritorna a Marrakesh alla ricerca di Razgut e insieme stanno per andare a un portale nel cielo. Tant'è che Karou dice testuali parole: “Sì. andiamo adesso”. Fine del capitolo, ma in quello successivo lei è a Praga dalla sua amica. I mean, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!
Dopodichè c'è tutto il flirt con Akiva e si torna a questo punto nell'epilogo dove lei va solo con Razgut perché ha mollato Akiva. NO! non si fa così!

FINE DELLO SPOILER

Concludendo, leggerò anche il seguito per sapere come continua la storia. Lo consiglio? Sni. A voi la palla, per così dire ;)

I really question why it has taken me so long to start this trilogy. I absolutely LOVE Laini Taylor's writing! The rich, lyrical descriptions just suck me in and create an atmosphere I want to drown in. Her magical worlds are places I want to visit. Whether it was her Faeries of Dreamdark books, which are probably my favourite books about faeries ever, or the magical treasure that is Strange the Dreamer, Laini manages to craft stories that I'm enchanted by.
I think some early reviews that said the love story was a bit too in the ‘love at first sight' category made me hesitate, as I too don't particularly care for that trope, but I shouldn't have listened to that and gone with my gut! I have literally had these books on my shelf for YEARS and I regret it!
With that quibble aside, Laini Taylor creates a mysterious and mythical world that caught me in its snare immediately. Again, her lyrical writing just oozes atmospheric magic. Prague felt like an entrancing character all its own. I wanted to get on a plane and go there to walk the streets and wrap myself in the history, culture and character of the city. And that's just the real Prague we know, then there are other worlds you only glimpse at during the story. Worlds of supernatural creatures, magic and enigmatic secrets. I was definitely a fan of the world-building.
I also found the main character Karou to be a pleasant surprise. I liked her quite a lot. She wasn't moody, sullen or a Mary-Sue. She has quirkiness, passion and spunk and it was so refreshing and honestly a bit inspiring to have a more upbeat lead character. She also has a big heart and values friendship, which I felt drawn too.
Okay, now the loaded love story part. It honestly didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It niggles, I won't lie, but I suppose when your story is about star-crossed lovers it's almost a given that there will be an almost unbelievable connection between the two and falling in love immediately seems par for the course. I think the ending saves it a bit, but I can't give that away, so you'll have to decide for yourself. If you're dead against that type of love story, steer clear, however, if you can even have a sliver of suspended belief on that part, I think you'll be well rewarded with the rest of story and still on board for the love story part.
Lastly, the ending is a banger. It came so hard and fast with so many little pieces falling into place that all I wanted to do was speed read through it, while also appreciating how much backstory the whole thing was leading up to. Ending on a cliff-hanger was a groaner (in a good way), but I guess the positive side of waiting so long to read this means I can go straight into Book 2. And I am SO ready for the next book!
Overall highly recommended. Best YA fantasy I've read in a LONG time. I'm sorry Laini Taylor for waiting so long to read this book. I won't wait next time, I promise.

2.5 Stars.

So... This book has A LOT of great reviews. I think part of why I was so disappointed with this book was because of the 200K reviews and such a high rating. First off, I thought the book started out great. At about 25% I started getting bored. Then, when Karou and Akiva meet and have all their drama, I was like OH GOD IS THIS OVER YET. I was not impressed with Madrigal at all. There was a lot of love at first sight feeling here for me. I did love the way the chimaera and their world. It was rich and vivid and beautiful. But the romance aspect just did not work at all for me. And ending the book on a total cliff hanger, I always, always HATE when that is done. If your book is good enough to make me want to read the next one, is a cliff hanger necessary? I don't need the bait, and it almost encourages me NOT to read the next book.

I am petty like that.