Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By: Laini Taylor

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Well thoughtout story,great scifi that keeps inter

What did you love best about Daughter of Smoke and Bone?

In the end all of the questions came together. That was great to have all of the answers. It was well thought out.

Which character – as performed by Khristine Hvam – was your favorite?

She did excellent on so many characters. Brimstone was perfect, Zuzana was perfect, Razgut was perfect, Issa was perfect..... She did an excellent job on all of the characters.

Beautifully written story and stunning performance

Absolutely loved this book! The narrator adds so much life and perfectly captures the essence of the characters. I was hooked from page one!

Lack of Direction and Thought Process

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a refreshing change from the "angel" genre. It was an entirely different story altogether. As much as I enjoyed having something unique to listen to, the author had given a review at the conclusion of the book. The doubt and lack of confidence Laini Taylor admits to in her difficulties of writing gives ME doubt to continue the series. Looking back on the story after hearing this, I realized the lack of direction and thought process in the storyline. I sill enjoyed the book but do not recommend using a credit.

Love. Love, Loved this story!

Any additional comments?

I loved this book! Not at all what I was expecting and the description, cover and title doesn't do it justice! I adored Laini's writing and found it poetic and peaceful, though the plot was anything but.

I try try to never make my reviews like a blurb on the book, just the nitty gritty 411 on the book, so with that being said, READ THIS.
The main character is easy to follow and she has the perfect amount of strength and vulnerability to make her the perfect heroin, but my favorite character is her best friend Zuzana. All the characters were amazing though and the love story was perfect, and the ending, omg can you say cliff hanger! So glad I had the second one ready to go :)

This is a story filled with everything, all emotions. You want a fun read with plenty of laugh out loud moments? Then read this! You want a book with a little morbidity and plenty of action and adventure? Then read this! You want a book filled with poetic descriptions that read like silk? Then READ THE BOOK! Seriously just try it!

A warning the first couple chapters you feel like you are missing parts or a previous book, but just stick with it everything unfolds perfectly!

READ THIS BOOK! LOVE IT!!

So Unique, SO well-read!!!

The uniqueness of the characters was the main attractor for me. I also like the storyline a fair amount, too, simply because really weird stuff happens - out of the ordinary. However, my enthusiasm dwindled a bit near the last 25% - possibly because we get most of the backstory in snippets of flashback and retrospection at that point. Still, it was all good and necessary content - but it just felt a little disjointed as we moved from various timelines and storylines. Still, it was the inevitable culmination of the previous actions - so, it was all appropriate...just a little slow.
Oh, and I experienced this story via the audiobook version, and the narrator (Khristine Hvam) was freaking AMAZING! Her intonations of the various voices - male and female AND "other creatures" - were fabulous! She really added emphasis and excitement to this story. I'll almost certainly move forward with the rest of the trilogy - and most likely do this via audiobook, as well.

Great story...leaves you wanting more!

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

came across this book on accident, gave it a try, Happily Suprised! Great story with characters that you really cared about!

it's a teenager book

Any additional comments?

this book would probably appeal to teenagers, but too much starstruck, but wrong boy love.

amazing and lovely

an amazing story. keeps trapping your attention chapter after chapter. I loved it so much.

Free audiobook!!!

I loved this book. So this was the first audiobook I have never listen to and I can see why many people love audiobooks. I decided to listen to audiobooks on my way to work. My work, which is about 45 minutes from my home. I figure instead of listen to music I could “read” a book. And honestly this has been on my wish list for ages. Plus this was free so....

First off, I honestly did have high hopes for this book. I mean I’m 23 years old and have grown out of the teen fiction bracket and the character makes an idiotic decision making age. And I now tried of book who pull over used and classic stereotypes in their stories. This book was not that or at least not entirely.

Second off, this book was surprisingly well constructed and well written. There were a few words here or there were the author sort throw it at you but via context you can pretty much figure it out. I do like that not everything is explain right way and that there is a slow build to the mystery of the main character and her background.

Cliff Notes- a shortened version of what I have already written above because we all know it’s the meat of a review you want to read.

Pros: interesting story, solid characterization, the rules of the world hold true throughout the book, great characters and great motivation for each character, great use of description for settings however not used to it best ability, many unexpected twist

Cons: basic a mystery story with fantastically elements and characters (you could rewrite it without any of the fantasy elements and still have a descent story), there to me seemed to have too many flashback/ memory stories, or they could have been done it a different way to improve the story, history of the that reader is introduced to in this book lacks history through it is part of the mystery of the story it self, personally thought the ending was a bit abrupt

Would I buy a paper copy? Yes, I plan to for my next book haul. Along with the rest of the series.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I love listening to the audiobook because the reader put a lot of care in making the character feel real. And I can’t wait to start listen to the next one.

Great story

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. While not the best writing/prose, the story was interesting and fun. Well read too. Overall I would highly recommend if you are looking for an entertaining story