Daughter of Smoke & Bone (series)

Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight
By: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Books 1 & 2)

 "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 grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly 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 actuallygrows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery 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?

My Rating:

3 Bows

My Thoughts:

Let's start with honesty, shall we?  I REALLY wanted to love this book series, and have heard amazing things about it.  I mean, there are angels involved which usually means I'm intrigued.  However, I should have been more cautious because sometimes angel books can be done very well or I am left with disappointment (it's usually the latter option for me).  

The first half of the book was amazing.  I loved the mystery that surrounded not knowing what exactly was going on, the wishes, and the mysterious world Karou found herself in.  Zuzana was also my favorite character between the two books.  She's just so witty and fun, but so loyal even when I'm not sure she should have been.

However, as you can tell by my rating, that I ended up not liking the second half so much.  As soon as she meets Akiva, everything starts going down hill for me.  Maybe it was the fact that I understood where their romance was heading and saw the twist.  Now I didn't know the full dimension of the twist, but I had guessed the basic principal which makes reading it not so much fun because you're just like "get there already".  It could also be the inst-romance going on between Karou and Akiva.  I guess it makes sense, but I just didn't like it.  Where was the conflict, the angst?  Those are the things I like reading about in the romance department of books, and I found none there.

With the final twist I did not guess ahead of time I was left wondering what happened next, but not sure if I did want to continue the series. I was confused more than anything about what my feelings were after the first book, so I decided to pick up the second book to give the series another fair shot hoping for more action, world building, and angst.

I got some of what I was hoping for, but also more disappointment.  There was definitely more plot building and we got to see more into the world Karou belongs in, but the angst still was not there for me.  Under the circumstances there should have been more, but I think I personally could not relate to Karou in this manner because I thought she was being hypocritical of the situation (I'm trying to explain without giving too much away to those who have not read).

There was definitely more action and a bigger plot forming within the pages of the second book, but I was not feeling the romance.  I know I keep focusing on that point and that it might not be a big deal to others.  However, I feel like the book is supposed to emulate the Romeo/Juliet forbidden love and it just doesn't make me feel that way at all.  I could care less if they ended up together at all leaving me disappointed.

After reading the first two books, I do not think I am going to read the final book in the series.  However, let me know if you agree or disagree with my comments!  I love to hear what others think, even if it's the opposite of what I think.  Not everyone can love everything!