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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor. Fabulous, engaging, creative, and well-written fantasy. Click through for full review. Via Diamonds in the Library.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)by Laini Taylor

This book is: an enthralling, beautifully written story.
Other elements: hope, magic, art, sexy angels, creation myths, a star-crossed-lovers romance, blue hair.
Read it: if you appreciate wonderful writing, vivid description, creative storylines, magic, Prague, art, or romance between people who are very different.
Overall rating: 9.75/10

I loved this book. A friend (a fellow book-nerd whose taste I trust implicitly) recommended it to me. Before I got my hands on it, several more people recommended it to me. The day I finally started reading it, I began telling another book-nerd friend what I was reading and she burst in, “no way! I’m reading that too!”

The universe that Taylor creates in this novel is stunning. It’s original, intricate, and fascinating. The characters live in our world, but there’s magic in it and other worlds that are reachable through it. The other worlds have their own culture, their own mythology, their own wars and prejudices. It is the intersection of these worlds and tensions that lead to what happens in Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Every character in this book – even the ones you only meet for a second – is a detailed, multi-faceted individual. If someone is trying to hurt someone else, you understand why. And the answer is never just “because that guy is evil.” The central plot is a conflict of misunderstandings, secrets discovered too late, and prejudices not seen through in time.

This book also wins my strong-heroine stamp of feminist approval. Karou rocks. She can kick ass physically but it’s also easy to identify with her: she has a creepy ex-boyfriend, gets annoyed when her family asks her to do things, gets in trouble with her friends when she blows them off, and can’t resist using a bit of magic to try dying her hair.

Also: this is less important than the other things I’m raving about (and may deprive me of any gender-equality points I earned in my last paragraph) there are sexy men in this book. They’re not all human, but I enjoyed reading about them and I wouldn’t complain about meeting them.

Speaking of which, this book has some great love scenes. The explicit parts are implied, rather than shown, but it’s very romantic and there are kisses, caresses, sexual tension, and longing.

This is far from a comedic book, but I still found myself chucking a few times a things the characters said. There’s a great quote about essential vs inessential penises that I won’t spoil for you. You’ll know it when you read it.

The sequel to this book came out last week, and you can bet I’m already working on getting my hands on it.

Book review roundup #1

This week, instead of a book review, I’m giving you a recap of every book I’ve reviewed so far, along with their ratings and links to the reviews. You can also always consult my virtual library, the Index of Book Reviews. You wouldn’t want to miss anything, now would you?

Tuesday is normally a single-post day, but I decided to treat us all with a bonus post this afternoon. Stay tuned for some really pretty things to appear around 2 pm.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

This book is: Awesome.
Other elements: Humor. Being a woman, being yourself. Life.
Read it: If you admire smart, sane women who have smart, sane things to say about life.
Overall rating: 9.5/10

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This book is: a well-written, totally insane psycho/mystery/love/crime story.
Other elements: Lies. Marriage. Public opinion. Love.
Read it: If you enjoy crime shows. If you like having your mind blown.
Overall rating: 8/10

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
This book is: A story told from the point of view of a 15-year old boy with Asperger’s or autism.

Other elements: Pets, parenting a special needs child, math.

Read it: If you’re interested in psychology, if you appreciate excellent first-person perspective.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

This book is: A YA fantasy novel, the first in a series, about a girl with a supernatural gift for killing.
Other elements: Right vs wrong, romance, friendship.
Read it: If you like YA fantasy, if you enjoy ass-kicking women, if you liked The Hunger Games.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
This book is: silly.
Other elements: urban fantasy, magic, adventure, saving-the-world, conspiracy theories, humor.
Read it: if you have the right sense of humor (do you enjoy Terry Pratchett? Monty Python?).
Overall rating: 7.25/10

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.

This book is: A book about college and relationships.
Other elements: Some degree of bildungsroman, life with manic depression/life with a manic depressive, how your parents affect who you are, the role of religion in a modern world, unrequited love.
Read it: If you are interested in early prescription treatments for manic depression, if you miss college, if you sympathize with characters having religious crises.
Overall rating: 7.2/10
This book is: about a boy who suddenly finds out that myths are real and he’s related to one. Adventure ensues.
Other elements: Parent/child relationships, Greek mythology, learning disabilities.
Read it: If you like YA fantasy, if you enjoy Greek myths, if you are 10 years old.
Overall rating: 6.9/10

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.
This book is: A gritty crime novel set in a rural town.

Other elements: Class issues, race issues, nature of friendship.

Read it: If you like crime shows, don’t mind dialect, and aren’t easily depressed.

Overall rating: 6/10

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.
This book is: Historical fiction about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife.

Other elements: Women not standing up for themselves, adultery, dependence on men, emotional abuse, alcoholism, polyamorous relationships, bullfighting.

Read it: If you are fascinated by Hemingway, if you like Lifetime movies, if you don’t mind weak female characters, you’re stranded somewhere with absolutely nothing else to do and have run out of thoughts.

Overall rating: 2/10

An Escapade and An Engagement by Annie Burrows.

This book is: a romance novel about a horrible woman and a horrible man who have an unconvincing relationship.
Other elements: Sex. Patriarchy. Golden ringlets.
Read it: If your only alternative is death.

Overall rating: 0.01/10
I gave some harsh reviews in this first 10. I guess that’s what happens when you try to read only the books that come for free on your Kindle. I promise that next week I’ll review a book that I loved.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan.

This book is: about a boy who suddenly finds out that myths are real and he’s related to one. Adventure ensues.
Other elements: Parent/child relationships, Greek mythology, learning disabilities.
Read it: If you like YA fantasy, if you enjoy Greek myths, if you are 10 years old.
Overall rating: 6.9/10

This is a bright, fun, clever little YA fantasy novel. It’s the first in a series, and it was rather popular a few years ago, if I remember correctly. I ran into it at the library and decided to give it a try.

Most of the YA fantasy I read feels like it’s aimed at young teenagers. This reads like it’s aimed at 10-year-olds. The voices in this book are occasionally a little too childlike for me to fully lose myself in the story. It really feels like I’m not the target audience. But you know what? I’m not. So I really can’t hold that against it.

I enjoyed this book. I’ve always loved Greek myths, and the idea of what happens to the Greek gods and their children in the modern world is unique and interesting. The characters are engaging, although one of them – the satyr – was slightly irritating in a slapstick, Jar Jar Binks, unnecessary sidekick kind of way. Still, the characters are creative and they have to use their brains as well as their swords to get themselves out of trouble.

Something I thought was really great was the author’s detail that most children of Greek gods have learning disabilities – ADD, dyslexia, etc. In the book, the reason given is that their brains are hard-wired for ancient Greek. So their disabilities are basically a side effect of their superpowers. I loved that. I don’t imagine that children struggling with learning disabilities are often given such a creative and positive way to think about themselves.

The main female character, a plucky, intelligent, resourceful daughter of Athena, feels a bit like Hermione Granger…but I love Hermione Granger, so rock on.  The more bookish heroines we have out there, the better.

I probably won’t be rereading this or buying it for my own collection, but I would totally read it to my theoretical future child or recommend it for someone else’s child.

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