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Review
'WOW. I wish I had written this book.'
(Patrick Rothfuss )'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is that rare beast: a novel that takes the familiar and makes it appear startling and new. Taylor has embraced the mythology of angels and reworked it in an extraordinary form, so that by the end of this lyrical, haunting book, I wanted to believe in the existence of these violent, tormented beings. I can hardly wait for the next installment.' (John Connolly )
'Remarkable and beautifully written . . . The opening volume of a truly original trilogy.' (Guardian)
'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is a magical and engrossing book that is still going through my mind days later. Laini Taylor has created something different and exciting and I predict that it's going to be HUGE. It certainly deserves to be. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is easily the best book I've read all year and I'm sure it will remain a favourite for years to come.' (jessheartsbooks.blogspot.com )
'The writing in this book is exceptional. The language is evocative and beautifully done. The scenes are gorgeously realised . . . I was swept away by DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. It was compelling, addictive and utterly superb. I expect nothing in your diaries on the 29th September, except to buy a copy of this book.' (vulpeslibris.wordpress.com )
'I absolutely adored every second of it!' (deadbookdarling.blogspot.com )
'The world created in this book is so uniquely strange and, whilst uncomparable, if I were to compare it I would point at Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials . . . Definitely one of the best books I have read this year . . . keeps you hooked from page one.' (overflowinglibrary.com )
'Easily the best book I have read since I first picked up Harry Potter years ago . . . Laini Taylor's writing is phenomenal and even the most mundane of sentences felt magical.' (yabookreads.com )
'I LOVED it so so much . . . it is going to be HUGE.' (thecrookedshelf.blogspot.com )
'The fantastic storytelling, amazing world building and original story is bound to captivate readers and have them begging for more, just like it did me.' (inkscratchers.blogspot.com )
'A masterful mix of reality and fantasy with cross-genre appeal. Exquisitely written and beautifully paced.' --(Publishers Weekly Starred Review )
Review
'WOW. I wish I had written this book.'
(Patrick Rothfuss )'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is that rare beast: a novel that takes the familiar and makes it appear startling and new. Taylor has embraced the mythology of angels and reworked it in an extraordinary form, so that by the end of this lyrical, haunting book, I wanted to believe in the existence of these violent, tormented beings. I can hardly wait for the next installment.' (John Connolly )
'Remarkable and beautifully written . . . The opening volume of a truly original trilogy.' (Guardian )
'Trust us, it's brilliant' (Heat )
'For once the frenzy over a teen novel is justified. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor is one of those books that blots out reality, so consumed do you become in its fantasy world of chimeras and angels . . . inevitably there is an epic romance but Taylor is a talented writer; this is aeons apart from the usual angels and werewolves dross.' (Sunday Telegraph )
'You don't want this book to end . . . it's cancelling-weekend-plans, stay-up-all-night addictive.' (Easy Living )
'Big things are expected of this, the first in a new fantasy trilogy, and we can see why . . . Imaginative and sexy, we couldn't put this down.' (Bella )
'Northern Lights and Pan's Labyrinth in one.' (Stylist )
'A pacy and inventive tale of a girl with an unknown past and supernatural friends . . . Mesmerising.' (Marie Claire )
'Laini Taylor's imagination is vivid.' (Financial Times )
'A beautifully written novel, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman . . . It is a wonderfully realised world, with fantastic but completely believable characters . . . It is sure to be a huge, and deserved, success.' (We Love This Book )
'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is a magical and engrossing book that is still going through my mind days later. Laini Taylor has created something different and exciting and I predict that it's going to be HUGE. It certainly deserves to be. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is easily the best book I've read all year and I'm sure it will remain a favourite for years to come.' (jessheartsbooks.blogspot.com )
'The writing in this book is exceptional. The language is evocative and beautifully done. The scenes are gorgeously realised . . . I was swept away by DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. It was compelling, addictive and utterly superb. I expect nothing in your diaries on the 29th September, except to buy a copy of this book.' (vulpeslibris.wordpress.com )
'I absolutely adored every second of it!' (deadbookdarling.blogspot.com )
'The world created in this book is so uniquely strange and, whilst uncomparable, if I were to compare it I would point at Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials . . . Definitely one of the best books I have read this year . . . keeps you hooked from page one.' (overflowinglibrary.com )
'Easily the best book I have read since I first picked up Harry Potter years ago . . . Laini Taylor's writing is phenomenal and even the most mundane of sentences felt magical.' (yabookreads.com )
'I LOVED it so so much . . . it is going to be HUGE.' (thecrookedshelf.blogspot.com )
'The fantastic storytelling, amazing world building and original story is bound to captivate readers and have them begging for more, just like it did me.' (inkscratchers.blogspot.com )
'A masterful mix of reality and fantasy with cross-genre appeal. Exquisitely written and beautifully paced.' (Publishers Weekly Starred Review )
'I was smitten from page one. Reading this book is like falling through the rabbit hole alongside Alice into Wonderland.' (serendipityreviews.co.uk )
'This was such a treat, I cannot believe the amount of imagination a person must have to write this kind of story.' (escapeinabook.blogspot.com )
'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE is a wonderful read and beautifully written . . . I look forward to more.' (bookpassionforlife.blogspot.com )
'Laini Taylor has created a world of magic and wonder, and I was so absorbed in it I almost felt as if I had fallen through the pages . . . Compelling - I could not put the book down . . . DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE . . . is a book that everyone needs to read. Pre-order it, borrow it, beg for it, whatever. Just read this book.' (planet-print.blogspot.com )
'Captures the imagination, more so than any supernatural novel I've read in a long time.' (thirstforfiction.com )
'It's the first in a trilogy and I can't wait for the next instalment.' (Sun )
'A beautifully written, compellingly powerful novel, one which draws you from page to page, chapter to chapter, with action and mystery and magic. Highly recommended.' (ASIF )
'A mesmerising novel on an epic scale.' (Glamour )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is an inventively plotted fantasy novel with a difference. Set initially in Prague, it's the story of teenage art student Karou. But the story quickly morphs from college classes and boyfriend troubles into something much stranger. What are the strange "errands" Karou must fulfil? Where does she go when she disappears from the city without warning? How can she speak so many languages? Why does her long, bright blue hair never seem to need dyeing?
We soon understand that this is a girl with a foot in two worlds; the everyday urban one populated by humans, and the place she calls "Elsewhere", where she was raised by chimaera - hybrid creatures much stranger than herself. But her secret world is under threat: deceptively beautiful interlopers are marking it for destruction, along with all it contains. And Karou's peculiar fate is to fall in love with one of them.
The plot shape of the novel has much in common with "Romeo and Juliet", just like the 'Twilight' cycle, but it's much more inventive and colourful than the vampire series. Closer in scope and intention to Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, it introduces a heroine as spirited as Lyra - and with an equally confused heritage to deal with. Karou's loyalties are divided, her path never clear. Should she trust the world that raised her and cared for her, or set herself adrift on a new river of discovery? Which kind of love is best - that of an adoptive father, or that of a murderous soulmate?
Daughter of Smoke And Bone is part supernatural romance, part epic fantasy. It starts small, but its world quickly opens out and reveals imaginative dimensions you simply don't envisage at the start. It only fault is that the main plot twist of this first book in the trilogy is a little to easy to predict; Karou's secret past isn't quite as much of a surprise to us as it evidently is to her. But this is a small complaint. Read and enjoy - I'll certainly be devouring the subsequent instalments when they appear.
We soon understand that this is a girl with a foot in two worlds; the everyday urban one populated by humans, and the place she calls "Elsewhere", where she was raised by chimaera - hybrid creatures much stranger than herself. But her secret world is under threat: deceptively beautiful interlopers are marking it for destruction, along with all it contains. And Karou's peculiar fate is to fall in love with one of them.
The plot shape of the novel has much in common with "Romeo and Juliet", just like the 'Twilight' cycle, but it's much more inventive and colourful than the vampire series. Closer in scope and intention to Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, it introduces a heroine as spirited as Lyra - and with an equally confused heritage to deal with. Karou's loyalties are divided, her path never clear. Should she trust the world that raised her and cared for her, or set herself adrift on a new river of discovery? Which kind of love is best - that of an adoptive father, or that of a murderous soulmate?
Daughter of Smoke And Bone is part supernatural romance, part epic fantasy. It starts small, but its world quickly opens out and reveals imaginative dimensions you simply don't envisage at the start. It only fault is that the main plot twist of this first book in the trilogy is a little to easy to predict; Karou's secret past isn't quite as much of a surprise to us as it evidently is to her. But this is a small complaint. Read and enjoy - I'll certainly be devouring the subsequent instalments when they appear.
39 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I'm not saying it's a bad book. It's fun. There is some great dialogue and subtle prose, lovely description and some unique concepts.
But it reads like a sugar rush, like devouring every single Young Adult teenage girl novel since 1990. YA has mostly moved on from the inevitable 'beautiful heroine, so beautiful everyone stares', with her supporting cast of equally beautiful friends and loves. The blue hair, tattoos, the karate, the flying, the magic, the more magic, and then throw in some angels/demons, throw in some war, throw in a masquerade ball, now we have a reincarnation subplot, now have a love story, oh wait - a forbidden love story, of course, and...
And it all just gets too much, like it was a checklist of popular ideas rolled into one. The unique idea of the Wishmonger is lost amongst the rest, which is a shame because I loved the system of scuppies and shings (though Gavriels just made me think of Guy Gavriel Kay). The decision to set it in Prague is completely lost as the dialogue is still extremely American, with American slang, humour and reference (example: Czechs do not take the North American brand known as Tylenol. They take Paralen there.) It is tiring to read of the heroine's unstopping perfection and her ability to wish her appearance, linguistic skill and flying ability takes away any sense of risk from the book.
I'd have probably liked this a lot more when I was 12 or 13, and I admired Dee's martial arts in The Forbidden Game, and Jennifer's subtle beauty, and Audrey's Euro-sophistication - but that was various qualities spread out over a cast, not lumped all over one heroine who, for all her flashy skills, fashion descriptions and beauty, we still don't really know as a person.
It is enjoyable, like candy floss is enjoyable even though everyone's now moved onto health foods. But you still wish that the Wishmonger plot developed into something fresh and new, and not just the old magical-beautiful-girl-with-forbidden-angelic-lover again.
But it reads like a sugar rush, like devouring every single Young Adult teenage girl novel since 1990. YA has mostly moved on from the inevitable 'beautiful heroine, so beautiful everyone stares', with her supporting cast of equally beautiful friends and loves. The blue hair, tattoos, the karate, the flying, the magic, the more magic, and then throw in some angels/demons, throw in some war, throw in a masquerade ball, now we have a reincarnation subplot, now have a love story, oh wait - a forbidden love story, of course, and...
And it all just gets too much, like it was a checklist of popular ideas rolled into one. The unique idea of the Wishmonger is lost amongst the rest, which is a shame because I loved the system of scuppies and shings (though Gavriels just made me think of Guy Gavriel Kay). The decision to set it in Prague is completely lost as the dialogue is still extremely American, with American slang, humour and reference (example: Czechs do not take the North American brand known as Tylenol. They take Paralen there.) It is tiring to read of the heroine's unstopping perfection and her ability to wish her appearance, linguistic skill and flying ability takes away any sense of risk from the book.
I'd have probably liked this a lot more when I was 12 or 13, and I admired Dee's martial arts in The Forbidden Game, and Jennifer's subtle beauty, and Audrey's Euro-sophistication - but that was various qualities spread out over a cast, not lumped all over one heroine who, for all her flashy skills, fashion descriptions and beauty, we still don't really know as a person.
It is enjoyable, like candy floss is enjoyable even though everyone's now moved onto health foods. But you still wish that the Wishmonger plot developed into something fresh and new, and not just the old magical-beautiful-girl-with-forbidden-angelic-lover again.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
One word for you: Wow! Seriously. I thought this book sounded good when I read the blurb, but I never expected to find what I did within it's pages. And all I can say is wow!
What I find really awesome is how Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a mix of urban fantasy and high fantasy - and perhaps sci-fi? Beings that are not human in a world that is not our own? Karou works for Brimstone, a chimaera - a being that can have the body parts of humans and various different animals - and wishmonger. An orphan, Karou has been with Brimstone for as long as she can remember, and works as his errand girl, trading teeth and wishes across the world for reasons she doesn't know of. Why does Brimstone want these teeth? She travels through the door in Brimstone's shop that will lead to anywhere on Earth he wants at any given time. For Brimstone's shop isn't here, it's Elsewhere. A door that will only open into the shop when Brimstone wants. Brimstone and the people who work with him are the only family Karou has, if she is on the other side of the door and it won't open for her, she will be completely alone. So when the angels arrive, marking every door around the world that will open into Brimstone's shop with a black handprint, well, things get a little worrying.
To be honest, I can't really say much more than that about the plot. It sounds like a lot, but I'm barely skimming the surface. You find out a whole lot more about this in just the first few chapters. There's the rest of the book to read, and it is epic. It's so much more than I imagined it could be. I am simply amazed at the imagination of Laini Taylor to come up with such a full and awe-inspiring world (worlds?) and story! It's just fantastic.
But wait, there's more. Move over Patch and Nora, Edward and Bella, and Daniel and Luce. Who are they, anyway? Hello Akiva and Karou! The love that sparks, kindles and burns in these pages will have you melting into your chair. Really. Beautiful, beautiful Akiva who's soul was practically dead, and art student Karou who constantly feels like something in her is missing, when they meet, it's electric, even if it's not in the best of circumstances. When they're apart, it feels wrong. This is not obsession or addiction, this is physical, this is a need that goes far beyond anything I've ever read before. And when they are together, well, they burn hotter than a bonfire. Just so you don't confuse my meaning, I am not talking sex here, I'm talking simply of the depth of their feelings, their love for each other. It is that big. And they will take your breath away.
I am completely blown away by just how amazing this is! I absolutely love it! It's one of the best fantasties I've read for quite a while, combining what I love about all the sub-genres, and creating such a believable, wonderful, and exciting story! I absolutely cannot recommend this book enough. I can't even fathom why anyone wouldn't like it. It's perfect. Bring on book two!
What I find really awesome is how Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a mix of urban fantasy and high fantasy - and perhaps sci-fi? Beings that are not human in a world that is not our own? Karou works for Brimstone, a chimaera - a being that can have the body parts of humans and various different animals - and wishmonger. An orphan, Karou has been with Brimstone for as long as she can remember, and works as his errand girl, trading teeth and wishes across the world for reasons she doesn't know of. Why does Brimstone want these teeth? She travels through the door in Brimstone's shop that will lead to anywhere on Earth he wants at any given time. For Brimstone's shop isn't here, it's Elsewhere. A door that will only open into the shop when Brimstone wants. Brimstone and the people who work with him are the only family Karou has, if she is on the other side of the door and it won't open for her, she will be completely alone. So when the angels arrive, marking every door around the world that will open into Brimstone's shop with a black handprint, well, things get a little worrying.
To be honest, I can't really say much more than that about the plot. It sounds like a lot, but I'm barely skimming the surface. You find out a whole lot more about this in just the first few chapters. There's the rest of the book to read, and it is epic. It's so much more than I imagined it could be. I am simply amazed at the imagination of Laini Taylor to come up with such a full and awe-inspiring world (worlds?) and story! It's just fantastic.
But wait, there's more. Move over Patch and Nora, Edward and Bella, and Daniel and Luce. Who are they, anyway? Hello Akiva and Karou! The love that sparks, kindles and burns in these pages will have you melting into your chair. Really. Beautiful, beautiful Akiva who's soul was practically dead, and art student Karou who constantly feels like something in her is missing, when they meet, it's electric, even if it's not in the best of circumstances. When they're apart, it feels wrong. This is not obsession or addiction, this is physical, this is a need that goes far beyond anything I've ever read before. And when they are together, well, they burn hotter than a bonfire. Just so you don't confuse my meaning, I am not talking sex here, I'm talking simply of the depth of their feelings, their love for each other. It is that big. And they will take your breath away.
I am completely blown away by just how amazing this is! I absolutely love it! It's one of the best fantasties I've read for quite a while, combining what I love about all the sub-genres, and creating such a believable, wonderful, and exciting story! I absolutely cannot recommend this book enough. I can't even fathom why anyone wouldn't like it. It's perfect. Bring on book two!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Breathtakingly awesome!
This book 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... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Laura
Utterly gripping but surprisingly dark.
The first few chapters start beautifully but I felt the book soon changed direction from what I had expected and turned very dark and at times a little disturbing. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Cats Whiskers
Fantasy Romance
This book started really well with witty banter between friends and the great premise of a young protaganist who lives a double life; art student in Prague and messenger for a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lisa Redmond
Most enjoyable read I've had in ages!
My sister recommended this book and I couldn't put it down. I'm 37 & not really into 'teen books' but even if that is it's target audience I think anyone of any age would enjoy it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JR
interesting concept
It makes a change to review a book that is not about vampires or angels. The concept of the book is wonderfully different and I will definately buy the next installment, but I... Read more
Published 1 month ago by fo
Can't wait for the sequel!
I will admit, when I accepted this book for review I thought that I wouldn't like it. I read the synopsis and was only slightly interested. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bombarded With Books
Absolutely Perfect!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a rich, imaginative tale of magic and monsters, war and heartbreak. The world-building in this novel is breathtaking, the backstory a tapestry woven... Read more
Published 1 month ago by The_BookishType
Five Stars! This is a literary masterpiece. Do not miss this book!
This is the story of an extraordinary girl. A girl with aquamarine hair, who lives between two worlds; two distinct existences separated by magical doors. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Heidi
One of My Favorites!
Laini Taylor is a master storyteller. Daughter of Smoke and Bone has the most unique take I have ever heard of on the age old angel versus demon tale. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Brandi's Book Musings
Not Your Average YA Urban Fantasy!
Wow and double wow... If I could, I'd give this book six stars and still feel like I was under-rating it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michelle Scott
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