Search results for: daughter of smoke and bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – Review
Audiobook reviews , Book Reviews / September 25, 2013

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor tells the story of Karou, a young woman with a double life.  By day she is a student in modern day Prague, but at night she runs errands for her chimaera foster father, usually involving collecting teeth.  It also tells of her love for an angel, Akiva, and of the war between angels and chimaera.   What I liked Romeo and Juliet.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone borrows a lot from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  We have the star-crossed lovers on either side of opposing factions, betrayal, discovery, faked death and its fallout.  Hey, I don’t mind – there’s a reason why Shakespeare and his themes have lasted so long – the idea of star-crossed lovers torn apart by war and death still resonates. Multiple threads woven together.  We see the story from multiple points of view.  At first, I found this confusing – who is Madrigal and why am I hearing from her when I want to hear from Karou? However as the book went on, these multiple points of view came together beautifully to create a wonderful story. The humour.  Karou and her friend Zuzanna are just so funny together…

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – Review
Audiobook reviews , Book Reviews / September 25, 2013

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor tells the story of Karou, a young woman with a double life.  By day she is a student in modern day Prague, but at night she runs errands for her chimaera foster father, usually involving collecting teeth.  It also tells of her love for an angel, Akiva, and of the war between angels and chimaera.   What I liked Romeo and Juliet.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone borrows a lot from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  We have the star-crossed lovers on either side of opposing factions, betrayal, discovery, faked death and its fallout.  Hey, I don’t mind – there’s a reason why Shakespeare and his themes have lasted so long – the idea of star-crossed lovers torn apart by war and death still resonates. Multiple threads woven together.  We see the story from multiple points of view.  At first, I found this confusing – who is Madrigal and why am I hearing from her when I want to hear from Karou? However as the book went on, these multiple points of view came together beautifully to create a wonderful story. The humour.  Karou and her friend Zuzanna are just so funny together…

Reading roundup – July 6th 2015
Reading Roundup / July 6, 2015

First of all, may I just say isn’t this the most gorgeous cover art?  I’m not certain who created them, but all three covers (four if you include the novella) in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series are simply stunning. Days of Blood and Starlight is the second in Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy which is a contemporary fantasy based on the themes of Romeo and Juliet.  We have the star-crossed lovers from different and opposing sides, faked death, boyfriend goes off the rails.  This second instalment is based on the premise of “what if Juliet woke up from her fake death and found, not that Romeo had taken his own life, but that he’d killed all her family and friends?”   What I liked The world.  The world that Taylor has created is wonderfully rich and detailed.  I loved reading about the chimaera and seraphim.  We learn more about their world in this book.   The themes.  The idea of star-crossed lovers is a timeless one.  There is a reason that Romeo and Juliet is a classic, and Taylor has done a great job of interpreting that into modern fantasy.  Add into this the theme…

Reading Roundup – 28th March 2014
Book Reviews / March 28, 2014

This week I suffered every bookworm’s worst nightmare; I have a TBR list of over 100 books (some of which I have been offered free to review) and I could not interest myself in any of them.  This is because the book I really, REALLY wanted to read – AKA Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige – has not been released yet.  I’m sure you avid readers can empathise with my dilemma.  I flicked through several different books and just couldn’t get into any of them.  In the end I managed to break out of my reading slump by picking up a book that is completely out of my normal genre – I’m currently reading The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, a historical fiction set in Russia in the time of Catherine the Great.  So far I’m really enjoying it.  A full review will come soon. [book-info title=”Attack the Geek” author=”Michael R. Underwood”] One book I did manage to read this week was Attack the Geek by Michael R Underwood, which I received free to review from Netgalley.  This is a novella in the Geekomancy series which had been on my radar for some time.  I was intrigued by the…

Reading Roundup – 28th March 2014
Book Reviews / March 28, 2014

This week I suffered every bookworm’s worst nightmare; I have a TBR list of over 100 books (some of which I have been offered free to review) and I could not interest myself in any of them.  This is because the book I really, REALLY wanted to read – AKA Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige – has not been released yet.  I’m sure you avid readers can empathise with my dilemma.  I flicked through several different books and just couldn’t get into any of them.  In the end I managed to break out of my reading slump by picking up a book that is completely out of my normal genre – I’m currently reading The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, a historical fiction set in Russia in the time of Catherine the Great.  So far I’m really enjoying it.  A full review will come soon. [book-info title=”Attack the Geek” author=”Michael R. Underwood”] One book I did manage to read this week was Attack the Geek by Michael R Underwood, which I received free to review from Netgalley.  This is a novella in the Geekomancy series which had been on my radar for some time.  I was intrigued by the…

Reading Roundup – 17th January 2015
Reading Roundup / January 17, 2014

This week I have been reading not for fun.  My husband and I were recently given the date for our Canadian citizenship exam, so I have been working my way through  Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.  This is required reading for the exam, and the Government of Canada very helpfully offers it in hard copy, electronic format and as an audiobook. My husband, being a traditionalist, is working from our hard copy while I am following along on my Kindle Fire. I’ll be perfectly honest.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for an exam – probably at least 20 years or so now – and it’s hard.  While it’s interesting reading about my adopted homeland, it’s tough wondering what we will be asked and what I’ll need to remember.  It’s also been a while since I’ve had to actually retain information.  In the jobs I’ve had we’ve not been expected to know everything, but to be able to access resources to do our jobs. Any tips from those who’ve been through the process would be most welcome.  I took at look at the UK citizenship test – I would have failed that one!…

Reading Roundup – 17th January 2015
Reading Roundup / January 17, 2014

This week I have been reading not for fun.  My husband and I were recently given the date for our Canadian citizenship exam, so I have been working my way through  Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.  This is required reading for the exam, and the Government of Canada very helpfully offers it in hard copy, electronic format and as an audiobook. My husband, being a traditionalist, is working from our hard copy while I am following along on my Kindle Fire. I’ll be perfectly honest.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for an exam – probably at least 20 years or so now – and it’s hard.  While it’s interesting reading about my adopted homeland, it’s tough wondering what we will be asked and what I’ll need to remember.  It’s also been a while since I’ve had to actually retain information.  In the jobs I’ve had we’ve not been expected to know everything, but to be able to access resources to do our jobs. Any tips from those who’ve been through the process would be most welcome.  I took at look at the UK citizenship test – I would have failed that one!…

Reading Roundup – Most anticipated books of 2014
Book Reviews , Reading Roundup / January 3, 2014

There are several books I’m really excited about for 2014.  In no particular order, here are the ones I’m most excited about. Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau This is the sequel to Charbonneau’s YA dystopian novel The Testing, in which protagonist Cia must survive a Hunger Games-like Testing in order to win a coveted place at her society’s university.  Charbonneau left Cia at a very interesting point and I am anxious to read how her tale continues. Independent Study will be released on the 7th of January 2014, and I have preordered it from Amazon.  The final book in the trilogy, Graduation Day, will be released on the 3rd of June 2014 and is also available for preorder from Amazon. Cress by Marissa Meyer This is the third in Meyer’s set of four YA fairytale/sci-fi blend, The Lunar Chronicles.  This one is based on the tale of Rapunzel, who in Meyer’s reimagining becomes a young hacker isolated on a remote satellite.  She teams up with Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf and Thorne from the preceding novels in order to bring down Queen Levana of Luna.  I adored the first two books and look forward to the continuation. Cress will be released on…

Reading Roundup – Most anticipated books of 2014
Book Reviews , Reading Roundup / January 3, 2014

There are several books I’m really excited about for 2014.  In no particular order, here are the ones I’m most excited about. Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau This is the sequel to Charbonneau’s YA dystopian novel The Testing, in which protagonist Cia must survive a Hunger Games-like Testing in order to win a coveted place at her society’s university.  Charbonneau left Cia at a very interesting point and I am anxious to read how her tale continues. Independent Study will be released on the 7th of January 2014, and I have preordered it from Amazon.  The final book in the trilogy, Graduation Day, will be released on the 3rd of June 2014 and is also available for preorder from Amazon. Cress by Marissa Meyer This is the third in Meyer’s set of four YA fairytale/sci-fi blend, The Lunar Chronicles.  This one is based on the tale of Rapunzel, who in Meyer’s reimagining becomes a young hacker isolated on a remote satellite.  She teams up with Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf and Thorne from the preceding novels in order to bring down Queen Levana of Luna.  I adored the first two books and look forward to the continuation. Cress will be released on…

My Eight Top Audible narrators
Miscellaneous / October 14, 2013

As many of you know, I am a big fan of audiobooks.  I find though that I am very sensitive to the quality of the narrator.  Much of the time I will choose whether to buy a book in Audible format or Kindle format based on the Audible sample.  A great narrator can bring a whole extra dimension to a book, and so I thought I’d share some of my favourite narrators with you. James Marsters Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files is narrated by James Marsters whose narrative style fits perfectly the jaded, harassed attitude of Chicago’s only consulting wizard.  He doesn’t do distinct character voices to the extent of some narrators, but when Marsters is narrating he IS Harry Dresden.  This is one series that is definitely best experienced in audio format.  Check out a sample here: Nathaniel Parker At the helm of the Artemis Fowl series is Nathaniel Parker.  I’ve grown quite fond of narrators who have different voices for the different characters and Parker is one of the very best.  I adore his Irish accent for Artemis and if memory serves he has even distinguished between an Australian and New Zealand accent.  You can find a sample here…