Daughter of Smoke and Bone Triology by Laini Taylor
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Review of Books I & II:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone &
Days of Blood and Starlight
While reading one of my magazine subscriptions (Inc., Wired, or Fast Co.), and article about ebook longevity suggested "The Daughter of Smoke and Bone" was setting up to be the next Twilight craze.
So, naturally, I bought it just to see. That's the "indie" peaking out, wanting to be ahead of the curve. Ha!
Unfortunately, my local independent bookstore didn't have it and couldn't order it (I don't understand the specifics. Something about being a foreign publishing company.) But I did find it easily enough on Amazon and used the purchase as an excuse to fill up my cart with a few other books I had been eyeballing.
Once I finally got my hands on it, I was pleasantly surprised.
Though straddling the YA category, this novel is a bit too "erotic" for the preteen set. I offered it to a friend for story time with her 12 year old. She did a pre-read and just wasn't comfortable with the level of heat in the pages, and didn't want to explain feeling "hot and bothered" to her daughter.
I, on the other hand, always want YA to take that last step into the "act". But this story was full enough with plot and character development that the strain of absent sex didn't chafe as much as usual.
There are many fairytale elements in this story of monsters and angels: blue hair, necklaces full of wishes, high school in Prague. But shadows darken the edges with mysterious and dangerous errands, secrets, and possible death.
Once enamored with the characters, I moved on to the second book "Days of Blood and Starlight" which throws off the sparkle of fairytales and embraces the dark reality of greed, vengeance, and war.
Friends become enemies and enemies pretend to be friends. I had difficulty in the middle of the book, screaming at the protagonist to see the lies! It wore me down a bit, that she had no clue. But there are plenty other levels of suspense to keep you engaged.
Including waiting for the final book in the trilogy to be released! "The expected pub date is April, 2014."
I give the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy a thumbs up!
1 comments:
Hmm.... I might have to try this series. Thanks for the heads up.
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Thanks so much for delving into my head. It's scary in here sometimes, so it is nice to have company! Don't step on the zephyr...