Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor | Audiobook Review

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MY THOUGHTS

Don’t want to read the whole review?  Click to jump to the Skinny Review.

I can’t believe that I am waaaaay behind on this series!  I have seen these around the blogosphere but I thought it wasn’t my thing.  I mean – angels, paranormal?  I’m not really a fan of those themes.  Luckily, I sort of ran out of books to listen (le gasp!) and I was browsing the online library catalog (like you do) and I decided to borrow this.  My was I BLOWN away!

Did you say it was AMAZING?

I mean, The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is mind blowing amazing!  Let’s start with the title, shall we?  How awesome can one title get?  Smoke? and BONE?  To be honest, it is a weird title but it works!  Unfortunately, you will only get the title when you read the book.  But please, let’s not talk about the cover kay?  It’s not one of my favorites, let me tell you.

Why did I say it’s mind blowing?  Well, it’s because I haven’t read anything like this before.  The themes are more new adult, though but nothing explicit.

Did you say, Chimera?

So, the chimera. Apparently, they are creatures composed of parts from different animals and originate in Greek mythology.  Had to Google that, but whatever.  Basically, this story is the chimera-angel Romeo and Juliet and it is executed masterfully.  I have to give props to Laini Taylor because AMAZING.  I was left speechless in some parts that I had to pause the audio so I could process it.

BFF Love

Another aspect I loved about this book is Karou and Zuzana’s friendship.  Not only does this book focus on the romance, it also focuses on friendship.  Plus, Zuzana and Karou’s friendship is an important aspect of the story.

Ka- what?

Before I move on, I would also like to say that the names of the characters are a little unusual.  Okay, very unusual.  we have the heroine Karou, the hero Akiva, the chimera Madrigal [spoiler]Karou used to be Madrigal. Karou and Madrigal are one and the same![/spoiler], Zuzana, Brimstone, Thiago.  You get it.  Weird.  But it works.  I honestly didn’t have any issues in following the story nor was I distracted by the weird names (I normally am).

Maybe it’s the narrator!

This was narrated by Khristine Hvam and she was amazing!  I think ti is because of her that I wasn;t even bothered by the unusual names.  Plus, she even voiced characters in Pokemon!  That aside, she really brought the story in another level.  The accents that she used were spot on and it wasn’t annoying at all!

Recommendations

If you really love angel books, you should read Unearthly, Hallowed, & Boundless by Cynthia Hand,  Fallen by Lauren Kate.

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