Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By: Laini Taylor

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

In a nation on the brink of war, a young art student's star-crossed love begins to bloom in the first book of the New York Times best-selling epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Laini Taylor.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

©2011 Laini Taylor (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Lush writing & fabulous narration

Review originally posted at YA Love

Audiobook Review:

It took me some time to get into this book both physically (my first attempt at reading it) and aurally. I’m so thankful I kept with the audio because it is one of my favorite audiobooks. To put it simply, the narration is wonderful. Khristine Hvam used a believable accent and differentiated between each character so well that I was never questioning which character was speaking. I love listening to audiobooks when I’m getting ready for work, driving to and from work, and getting chores/cooking done. I know I really love an audiobook when I find myself making excuses to drive somewhere or to get more cleaning done, which is what I did while listening to Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Book Review:

The first thing I want to say about Daughter of Smoke and Bone is that I love Laini Taylor’s beautiful use of vocabulary. Her writing is lush and vibrant. I don’t know if I would have appreciated it as much if I wasn’t listening to the audio, but it’s seriously wonderful. I’ve never read a book that uses vocabulary and description to the degree that Taylor does, at least not recently.

The story itself is layered and engrossing. I love Karou and the incredible life she leads. She’s feisty, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but she’s vulnerable as well. I was a little lost during the Akiva back story, but when everything came together I was so impressed and excited. I’ll admit that the back story was beginning to bother me since I didn’t know where it was going, but it did make me love Akiva that much more.

I’m not sure if any movie rights for Daughter of Smoke and Bone have been purchased, but I would love to see this story come to life on the big screen. I know a movie wouldn’t do it justice (they rarely do), but I think I’d still enjoy it just the same.

If you decide to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which I hope you, make sure you have a copy of Days of Blood & Starlight handy because you’ll want to start reading it as soon as you can!

Breathtaking!

What made the experience of listening to Daughter of Smoke and Bone the most enjoyable?

The last time a book has taken my imagination on such a flight of fancy, a boy had just stepped onto platform 9 & 3/4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a beautifully written fairy tale that drew me in form the first chapter. Can't wait for part 2!!

Strong start, weak finish...

At first, this book was great. It started out with beautiful prose, unique characters, and an uncommon setting. Just about every book these days is about vampires, witches, zombies, etc. set in New York or LA with dialogue that you've almost always heard before. The first few hours of this book promised something truly original with a female lead that suggested mystery, vulnerability, and a hint of romance that rivaled the early seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, as the the mystery got peeled away, the action seemed to slow down. The plot was nearly forgotten and substituted for overabundance of romance that, not only detracted from the main plot, but at times, didn't even seem to make sense for the writer. (Seriously, she is an EXTREMELY gifted writer, but a masquerade ball at that particular moment in the story? Even the writer seemed to grow sheepish trying to explain that one.)

The characters and writing are such that I was drawn into the story right away. I quickly grew attachment to the characters and the story. I guess that's why when it all started to grow a little stale, I felt sad. The characters and the writer were so much better than where the story wound up.

As for the performance, I've got no complaints. The narrator was top notch and I hope to find more books with her involved. Her voice was perfect for the youthful optimism of the female lead, which was a teenager. But she was also adept at capturing the cynical and sinister male characters as well. For the wide range of characters in this book, I commend the narrator for giving each one their own voice and style.

This book ended at a continuation point so I'm sure a sequel is already in the works. Hopefully, the rest of this story will return to it's great beginnings. If that's rumored to be the case I might give the series another shot...But I'll be more cautious and wait for more reviews next time.

Can't stop listening...Can't wait for more!

Would you listen to Daughter of Smoke and Bone again? Why?

Yes, I've listened to it three times already. Taylor tells an incredible story that listeners will fall in love with. You can't help but listen to hear what happens to the characters. Plus, it's full of twists and turns.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and setting are exceptional.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Khristine Hvam?

Sure. She was a great narrator.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

An impossible love, made possible by truth.

Any additional comments?

I can not wait for the 2nd book!!!

This book was a wonderful surprise.

I am not a "Twilight Teen" and I enjoyed this audiobook. It is well written and shows the authors extraordinary imagination. I wished there were more when it ended.

There be Demons and Angels--but which is which?

When I first listened to this series, some of the plot points and relationship arcs felt a little trite--but as the images and language--and the world that Ms Taylor created has lived in my mind and memory, I find that I think often of this trilogy and its startling, sometimes genuinely tragic juxtaposition of gentleness and violence, of the ordinary and the extraordinary. I unconditionally recommend this series to anyone enamored of the fantasy genre!

Wonderful series. A new favorite.

Beautiful, rich characters. Fully engaging and magical story. So good, I started dreading the final "The End" before I had finished the first book.

Original cosmology, good characters, fascinating m

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This really caught me by surprise -- great world-building and cosmology (angels and demons are quite different from any way we've thought of them before), I felt my self pulled along by the sense of destiny and by wealth of mysteries surrounding the main character. A little disappointed to find it was the first in a trilogy, meaning that it ended before all the interesting questions and challenges have been resolved, but I wasn't disappointed with the book itself or having read it, and I will definitely continue on to see where things are going.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like the best friend, just because she has a sort of wry Eastern European outlook ( a sort of black humor) that seemed very real, quite amusing.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration is so good that the characters feel almost like friends -- she doesn't just do voices, but really builds characters, with inflection and weightiness that give each a physicality. No sense of how that would come through in reading, but there's plenty of flippancy and humor to leaven most of the earnest and larger-than-life elements plenty well, so I suspect that the tone and feel would be similar. Really recommend considering this one for a listen though.

Any additional comments?

One caveat: I would say that the romantic yearning is a bit hard to listen to in the audiobook, just because it goes on for so long in a couple of places, but would probably not have bothered me were I reading it in print. It has the feel of something I would have reveled in as a 12-year-old girl (lots of abstract yearning, and focused admiration of each other's beauty, and wishing to touch, etc.) but was honestly a little impatient with as a middle-ager. But reviews indicate a bit less of that in book 2, so it's worth putting up with a few spots to get the fascinating story

Not really my thing

Any additional comments?

This was a really wonderful idea. Both worlds and characters were well thought out and interesting. I would have loved spending more time learning about all of them. Unfortunatly this book is first and foremost a love story. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not my thing. I think there is a huge segment of people who would love it for just that reason. I'd love if there was another book which mainly took place in the other world. I suppose maybe the second book does that.

Strange story

Wasn't too sure about the book but Ms Hvam is one of my few Favorite Narrator make it even better something different