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sustainably_lucia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.75
The writing was beautiful and engaging. The story took some unexpected twists and turns and I enjoyed the ride. I enjoyed the slow world-building and how it was woven into the character and plot development (although the long flashback chapters took me out of the main story).
The setting made me eager to go back to Prague (which will be happening later this year).
The setting made me eager to go back to Prague (which will be happening later this year).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Classism, Murder, and Toxic relationship
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
If you’ve spoken to me in the last couple weeks, you’ve probably heard me screaming about how much I love this series! I think it’s an absolute CRIME more people aren’t talking about it. I also had the absolute best time buddy reading these with my fave feral five (sorry for imploding the buddy read when I just couldn’t stop reading, whoops).
Mini reviews for each book are below, but the main takeaway: READ THESE BOOKS!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (4.5 stars): The world building was incredible and the characters pulled me in! Also the ending absolutely BROKE ME into a million pieces.
Days of Blood and Starlight (5 stars): Possibly a hot take but this was my favorite of the series! I absolutely loved it, start to finish, and literally could not put it down.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters (4 stars): An amazing conclusion to an incredible trilogy! It wasn’t my favorite ending and I could probably nitpick a lot of things, but overall SO emotional and captivating!
Night of Cakes and Puppets (5 stars): An absolute DELIGHT of a novella spotlighting Zuzana and Mik, who might be two of my all time favorite secondary characters.
Mini reviews for each book are below, but the main takeaway: READ THESE BOOKS!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (4.5 stars): The world building was incredible and the characters pulled me in! Also the ending absolutely BROKE ME into a million pieces.
Days of Blood and Starlight (5 stars): Possibly a hot take but this was my favorite of the series! I absolutely loved it, start to finish, and literally could not put it down.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters (4 stars): An amazing conclusion to an incredible trilogy! It wasn’t my favorite ending and I could probably nitpick a lot of things, but overall SO emotional and captivating!
Night of Cakes and Puppets (5 stars): An absolute DELIGHT of a novella spotlighting Zuzana and Mik, who might be two of my all time favorite secondary characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment
marzreadz2's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: War, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Torture
jla's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This was YA with closed door sex. It didn't bother me because the world building and storyline kept me interested. I sped through the first 60-70%. It was super obvious from early in the book that Karou was Madrigal reincarnated. There were 50-60 pages in the middle that were slow and could have been skipped to go straight to the reveal.
The use of the teeth was so cool once it was revealed. Brimstone and his colleagues were my favorite parts of the book. I wish Karou had been a little older. Even college would have been better than 17. The cliffhanger was annoying. </ spoiler>
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Murder
scarlett_f's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Toxic friendship, War, and Sexual content
kayelina's review
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Blood, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, and Violence
le3713's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Unevenly paced story that nevertheless pulled me into an imaginative and richly described world. The last section left me needing more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Murder
Moderate: Torture and Slavery
kirstenf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Infidelity, and Confinement
lisa_m's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've wanted to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone for such a long time now, but when I wanted to start reading it, I was surprised to see that I didn't actually own a copy of the book?
So I got the eBook and started reading it before going to bed. I just wanted to read a few chapters, but I couldn't put it down. I read one and on for multiple hours straight and I only got myself to stop after about 250 pages, because I was so invested in the story. And the only reason I did stop, was because I had to go to uni early the next day.
I finished the book today and it was amazing. The ending hurt me but I'm so excited to see what's coming next! I absolutely hate Thago and I assume we're going to see more of him in the next book, but I really don't want to.
All the twists and reveals where pretty good (at least to me). I mean, I guess I could have assumed some things, but I didn't have the time to think about it, because I was so mentally caught up in the story.
I prefered the chapters in the currently time over the ones in the past though. I feel like the backstory was all just bulked together and even though it was interesting to learn about, I just wanted to go back to the current time because we left off in such a crucial place.
I loved the setting of Prague, the art school and all the weird and amazing 'human' people (Zuzana). Karou was a very likeable protagonist in my opinion, even though she could be quite rash and stupid at times. But even though I was sometimes a bit annoyed by her and felt like she was doing things for absolutely no reason besides to further the plot (like going through the forbidden door.. ), I still liked her in the end. She is relatable in a way and also so far removed from anything at all relatable to normal humans.
Also the relationship between Karou and Akiva reminded me so so much of Hunt and Bryce? Like the whole soldier angel thing.. idk I constantly thought of them. Might be why I liked them so much even though we didn't get a lot of explanation and it was pretty instalovey (which is not normally my favourite..)
Also I really liked all the discussions of the war and perspectives of the different sides. I am very interested to see how the story continues and what more I'll get to learn about this world and its truths.
All in all I would highly recommend this book. I wish I had read it when I was a bit younger though, because I feel like that would have made me enjoy it even more. In my head I just imagine the protagonist being my age (19) instead of 17.
Laini Taylor is an author I kind of always expected to really enjoy reading from, but I never did. I really like the blurbs of her books but tbh I just didn't like the covers so that might have put me off a bit. I did really like her writing style though. It's so immersive! And the worldbuilding felt so real and thorough.
This is just a really good fantasy book and exactly what I wanted to read right now, so I guess it's also a 'right book - right time' kind of thing. :)
So I got the eBook and started reading it before going to bed. I just wanted to read a few chapters, but I couldn't put it down. I read one and on for multiple hours straight and I only got myself to stop after about 250 pages, because I was so invested in the story. And the only reason I did stop, was because I had to go to uni early the next day.
I finished the book today and it was amazing. The ending hurt me but I'm so excited to see what's coming next! I absolutely hate Thago and I assume we're going to see more of him in the next book, but I really don't want to.
All the twists and reveals where pretty good (at least to me). I mean, I guess I could have assumed some things, but I didn't have the time to think about it, because I was so mentally caught up in the story.
I prefered the chapters in the currently time over the ones in the past though. I feel like the backstory was all just bulked together and even though it was interesting to learn about, I just wanted to go back to the current time because we left off in such a crucial place.
I loved the setting of Prague, the art school and all the weird and amazing 'human' people (Zuzana). Karou was a very likeable protagonist in my opinion, even though she could be quite rash and stupid at times. But even though I was sometimes a bit annoyed by her and felt like she was doing things for absolutely no reason besides to further the plot (like going through the forbidden door.. ), I still liked her in the end. She is relatable in a way and also so far removed from anything at all relatable to normal humans.
Also the relationship between Karou and Akiva reminded me so so much of Hunt and Bryce? Like the whole soldier angel thing.. idk I constantly thought of them. Might be why I liked them so much even though we didn't get a lot of explanation and it was pretty instalovey (which is not normally my favourite..)
Also I really liked all the discussions of the war and perspectives of the different sides. I am very interested to see how the story continues and what more I'll get to learn about this world and its truths.
All in all I would highly recommend this book. I wish I had read it when I was a bit younger though, because I feel like that would have made me enjoy it even more. In my head I just imagine the protagonist being my age (19) instead of 17.
Laini Taylor is an author I kind of always expected to really enjoy reading from, but I never did. I really like the blurbs of her books but tbh I just didn't like the covers so that might have put me off a bit. I did really like her writing style though. It's so immersive! And the worldbuilding felt so real and thorough.
This is just a really good fantasy book and exactly what I wanted to read right now, so I guess it's also a 'right book - right time' kind of thing. :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, War, Xenophobia, Slavery, Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Colonisation, and Genocide
ran_sophia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Genocide, Torture, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content and Murder