On Wishes: A Review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I spent all of last night finishing Daughter of Smoke and Bone, because I felt it was really time to be done with it. And, as far as 5 hour reading marathons go, it was pretty enjoyable.

The protagonist of Daughter of Smoke and Bone is Karou, a seventeen year old girl living a double life. In the "normal" part of her life, she is an art student in Prague. In the more extraordinary part of her life, she runs errands for the creatures--chimaera--who raised her. Brimstone, her foster father, runs a shop that trades wishes for teeth. Karou has no idea what the teeth are for, but obediently travels all over the world to retrieve them from hunters, grave robbers, and murderers. Then suddenly, all over the world, black hand prints begin to appear on the doors leading to Brimstone's shop. Soon, the doors are cut off, and Karou is unable to reach her foster family. At the same time, an angel appears to be following Karou, and he has answers to all of Karou's questions.

Positive Comments

The mythology is less convoluted than it sounds. Once you get used to it, it becomes easy to buy into a world full of spliced together animal creatures (goat-lion-man and the like), which is essentially what the chimaera are. The world building has a style that's completely unique.

I've seen other reviewers that say they didn't care for the romance, but I found that I liked it. Karou is drawn to Akiva (the angel), for reasons she can't explain. Akiva is drawn to Karou because she vaguely reminds him of his long lost love...But it's not like it's insta-love. They do talk and share some moments before they're feelings really come out. And given their back stories, it definitely worked for me.

I liked a lot of the messages that this novel was trying to convey. It delves into the idea of wishes and magic, but argues that these are less important than hope and emotional resilience. That's a lesson that's hard to learn for a seventeen year old girl, but I think Karou learns it well.

Critical Comments

This was the least page-turning, but not boring, book that I've ever read. I could pick it up and get immersed pretty easily, but at the same time I had no problem setting it aside to do other things. It just doesn't have any suspense to it. A lot of the big reveals are things that I had figured out way in advance. Almost nothing surprised me. The only way I could make progress with this book was to sit down and force myself to read.

I didn't like where and how it ended. The first half of the book seems to be building up to a rescue/action type climax that doesn't happen. Instead, the climax is the revealing of Karou's back story. And, to be fair, she has a really cool back story. But in the end I felt a bit hollow because so much of the present story went untold. So whether it's a pacing issue, or whether the author spent too much time on the wrong things, this novel does not feel complete.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, absolutely, you should read this book. It has some great fantasy world building layered over deep, thoughtful themes. But, had I known how it would end, I would have probably waited until the sequel was out, or at least closer to the release day. So, if you're a reader who is impatient with cliffhangers/non-endings, hold off on this one. 4 stars.

Miscellaneous Mondays: Bored Penguin Edition

I'm not the sort of person who likes to give up on books. Just like I'm not a person who walks out on movies or turns off the TV in the middle of a show--I really like to finish what I've started. That's why it's so very hard for me to NOT finish a book.

Last year I noticed that my ALWAYS FINISH rule was really holding me back. If a book is boring me to tears, it takes twice as long for me to finish it. That just isn't ok anymore. For one thing, I'm supposed to be a reviewer now, so I need to get books read and reviews posted on a regular basis. For another, reading is supposed to be something I do for fun. If it feels like torture, something is wrong.

Now I've come up with an out-clause to my ALWAYS FINISH rule. I can stop if the book is really boring, or really stupid, or horribly offensive in some way. Usually it will be because of boredom, because I'm not that easily offended. This is a major concession to myself, but I'm hoping that it's made me a better, more efficient reader.

This gives rise to a new issue, which was the topic of this past week's poll--should I still write a review, even if I didn't finish? Even if I'm explicitly honest about how much of the book I read, it still feels a tad unfair to cast judgement on the whole book based on the slice that I read. More importantly, are DNF reviews actually helpful to potential readers? 60% of our voters said that they sometimes find DNF reviews helpful, and NO ONE said that they never find DNF reviews helpful. I guess the general message is: Yes, I should be writing DNF reviews.

What about you? Do you ALWAYS finish books, or do you let yourself give up if you want to? Do you write DNF reviews? I know we've all been bored by a book at some point! Share your experiences in the comments!

This week's poll question asks: Where do you get your books? Take a second to vote on the right side of your screen! Multiple answers are allowed!

And for those of you bored with your current read, have an adorable penguin video. Happy Reading, everyone!

On the End of Days: A Review of Angelfall by Susan Ee

I wish I could remember which reviewer first recommended this book to me, because I owe her a big thank you. Despite some minor flaws, which I'll address later, this was a pretty fantastic novel.

Angelfall takes place in a version of our world after it has undergone an apocalypse at the hands of the angels. That's right, the angels in this one are the bad guys. Penryn is a teenage girl struggling to survive in the now broken world, while taking care of her disabled sister, Paige, and their schizophrenic mother. When Paige is kidnapped by a group of angels, Penryn considers it her responsibility to rescue her at all costs. Even if it means forming an alliance with Raffe, a wingless angel of unknown loyalties.

Positive Comments

I loved the plot. It reminded me, a bit, of seasons four and five of Supernatural. You've got angels, demons, an arguably non-exist or uncaring God, and the humans caught in the crossfire. You can feel Penryn's motivation as she storms headlong into danger to rescue Paige. It's an excellent story of survival and heart.

I loved the characters and their relationships with one another. Penryn is supposed to be 16 or 17, but her maturity level makes her seem older, so she's a character that I could connect with. Penryn's mother has no grip on reality, and is arguably quite abusive. You can feel the pain that this causes Penryn, but at the same time you can understand her loyalty and the love she has for her mother. Of course, there's also Raffe, the ostensible love interest. Is his relationship with Penryn glowingly romantic? No, not at all. In fact, he keeps her at arms length for most of the book. But, they save each others lives, take care of one another, and begin to form an emotional connection despite themselves. I prefer reluctant love over insta-love any day.

Critical Comments

Just one, really. I hate cliffhangers. Oh God, do I hate cliffhangers. I could see this one coming, too. A lot of crap was not resolved, and my Kindle was telling me I was at the 98% mark, and I was ready to throw the damn thing because I knew I was getting cliffhanged (cliffhung?). So I'm sorry, Susan Ee, I love your book, but this cliffhanger cost it half a star.

Needless to say, I do recommend this book. It has a lot of action, a lot of horror and gore, all of the things that you expect in a post-apocalyptic novel. 4.5 stars.

On Elements: A Review of Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn

My familiarity with Sharon Shinn's work goes way back. I was about 12 or 13 when I read Summers at Castle Auburn, which I dearly loved. I believe it's continued to shape my reading choices over the years.


Troubled Waters is set it's own fantasy world in which people have a special connection to elements. Specifically, each person is born to a heritage of sorts that effects their personalities and talents--water, air, wood, fire, and earth. Zoe, a young woman with an affinity for water, has spent most of her life in isolation with her father. When her father dies, she loses herself to grief. So, when one of the King's servants comes to collect her, claiming that she is to become the King's fifth wife, she hasn't the will to object. Upon reaching the city, however, Zoe impulsively flees--choosing to hide out with the homeless population by the riverfront. Thus begins Zoe's journey to finding herself, and discovering power stronger than anything she imagined.

Positive Comments

This book is not for everyone, for one simple reason: it's slow. Normally, that would be a complaint for me. In this case, I liked the meandering pace of the plot. It allowed Zoe to think and feel, gradually growing into her power and her place in life. It also gives the reader a chance to understand the culture of the world Shinn has created.

The world is interesting and easy to immerse yourself in. I liked learning about the elements, and the various traits that supposedly coincide with them. I enjoyed the idea of the Random Blessings--coins that people pick out of large barrels that more or less tell their fortune. I liked that the country seemed to be in it's industrial revolution, with steam powered vehicles just having been developed. Or perhaps this was meant as a steampunkish touch. Either way, I preferred the more civilized feel of the world, compared to the very Medieval feel that you see in a lot of high fantasy.

I like Zoe. She was a character who desperately needed to develop and rediscover herself in order to survive, and she did so beautifully. Zoe gets a chance at romance with Darien, the king's adviser. The romance helps to make Zoe's emotional journey even more palatable. While it's not the main focus of the novel, I enjoyed it.

Critical Comments

As I said above, it is a slow story. The conflict is driven by politics more than anything else. There was far less action and magic than I initially expected. The plot is simply unimpressive. The characters are great, the world is great, but nothing happens on a large enough scale to give it that final boost into Epic Story territory.

That's the only down side to this book, but unfortunately, it's a big one. I liked this book, and I want to recommend it, but I'm compelled to throw in a word of caution as well. If you like your fantasy novels to be slow and character driven, read this book. If your looking for something with big action, big magic, impressive plot twists, stay away. 3.5 stars.

Follow Friday (18)

 

Q: Many readers/bloggers are also big music fans. Tell us about a few of your favorite bands/singers that we should listen to in 2012.

Well, this is going to make me sound lame but...I really don't have a favorite! My music tastes are even more eclectic than my reading choices. Depending on my mood, I'll listen to anything from jazz to heavy metal, and anything in between. This week I discovered The Islander by Nightwish, and I've had that on repeat a lot...Ask me again next week, and I'll tell you something different! This video is pretty cool anyway...

On Justice: A Review of Unraveled by Courtney Milan

With Unraveled, we come to the end of Courtney Milan's very enjoyable Turner trilogy. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If your a historical romance fan, you need to try these books.

The hero of Unraveled is Smite, the middle Turner brother. Smite is a magistrate (more or less a judge) who believes in justice above all things. When Miranda walks into his courtroom with the obvious intention of lying to him, Smite is naturally infuriated. Then, as circumstances force him to get to know her better, Smite realizes that he desires Miranda--both her body and her companionship--as he has never experienced before. Since Miranda is in dire financial straights and some trouble besides, Smite proposes an efficient solution--that she serve as his mistress for one month.

Positive Comments:

Milan has a talent for writing characters that are brilliantly unique, but still feel like real people. Everything about Smite, from his rough childhood to his self-isolating existence, became real to me as I read this book. I liked Miranda as well. While not quite as vivid a character, she still seemed like a person that I would want to be friends with. All of the Turners give that impression--they're just a little odd, they barely fit into society, but they're basically decent people. In fact, they're probably better people than most of the "regular" people around them.

The relationship between Miranda and Smite is very romantic, while still being grounded in grim reality. Their love doesn't fix everything. It doesn't, for example, heal Smite of all the darkness in his soul left over from living with an insane mother and then being homeless. He still has nightmares and things that trigger bad memories and panic attacks. Miranda accepts all of this and just goes with the flow. To me, that's beautiful.

I liked the way this book presented and explored the concepts of crime and justice. Those aren't themes that I'm used to seeing in an historical romance, so it was nice to visit some new ideas. You get the intellectual side of things--where Smite argues with himself about his duty and what it means to serve justice. You also get the practical, action driven side, which is the source of the book's climax. It's a good balance, and it definitely kept my brain engaged in the story.

Critical Comments

Anything negative that I can come up with about this book is going to sound like nitpicking, so forgive me. I'll keep it brief.

I was just a touch taken aback by how readily Miranda agreed to the mistress deal. But, to be fair, she had plenty of motivation to agree. Not only did she need Smite's money and assistance, she was also attracted to him in any case, and she admitted that she likes living on the edge. So it's not out of character. I just didn't expect it.

With Mark's book, I complained that Mark was almost too understanding of Jessica's flaws and mistakes. Same goes here, with Smite. Given his values, he was almost too ready to shrug off the many things Miranda had done to get by throughout her life.

Finally, the justice/vigilante portion of the plot is, perhaps, a little distracting. Again, I liked it. But, if you like your romance novels to be all about the romance, you might find this boring or annoying.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. Read it by itself, read it as part of the trilogy, it really doesn't matter. This is top quality historical romance. 4.5 stars.

Miscellaneous Monday: A Tale of an Internetless Penguin

Well, my winter break has come to an end. I divided my break time between Mom's place and my fiance's place, and left my apartment mostly abandoned. I finally returned home yesterday to find that my Internet is down--see how everything goes to hell when I'm not around for awhile? Anyway, the tech guys are coming tonight to figure out what the problem is. For now, I have to deal with being on a very slooow school computer. I hope you'll forgive the sparse nature of this week's Misc. Monday.

First of all, I saw Once Upon a Time last night. It was the first time I'd really watched ANY TV in about three weeks. It was a good episode. Not great, not my favorite, but certainly better than a lot of other crap I've sat through for other shows. I like that the show takes the time to give background stories--fairly sympathetic ones--to it's villains. I like the character driven nature of the show, and the fact that the story itself can move slowly without being boring.

I also saw the season premier of Downton Abbey. I got addicted to that show last year when I found it on Amazon. It's the story of a wealthy English family and their servants. Season one spans the time period between the sinking of the Titanic and the start of World War 1, and it seems like season two is very focused on the effect the war has on everyone. I love it! If you like historical dramas, you should check it out.

Finally, I'm making a sincere effort to amp up my reading--hence this past week's poll question. The most popular answer was 51-100 books in a year, which made me feel pretty good about myself. Last year, according to goodreads, I read 98 books. I'm sincerely impressed by anyone who makes time to read more than 100. I challenged myself to read 112 this year, and I have a feeling it's going to be a close call. Josh is always teasing me that I read slowly, and he's absolutely right. I argue that I read thoroughly, and thus retain more. But, given the monstrous size of my TBR pile and all of the books that I want to review, I think it's time that I stepped up my game a bit.

Speaking of reviews, this weeks poll question asks how you feel about DNF (did not finish) reviews. Do you want to see analyses of books that the reviewer failed to complete, or not? Does it depend on the situation? Don't forget to vote! Thanks, and Happy Reading!

On Fallen Angels: A Review of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I've read quite a few reviews of Hush, Hush, and the one thing I've noticed is how polarized the opinions are. People either love or loath this book--very few people are on the fence about it. Now, having read it, I completely understand why.

At sixteen, Nora Grey has no time for boys. She's busy trying to keep up her perfect GPA in hopes of someday landing a full scholarship to a top school. When she and Patch are paired as biology partners, she's certain it will spell disaster. Patch couldn't care less about school. Worse, he radiates a bad-boy charm that has Nora hopelessly attracted to him, and he's obviously attracted to her in turn. Then, Nora and her friend Vee are repeatedly harassed by a masked attacker, Nora begins to suspect that Patch is following her--and is more than what he seems.

Positive Comments


I hate to admit it, but I like Patch. In real life, guys like Patch--guys with bad boy attitudes, who come on very strong, but seem to care about nothing--turn out to be pure scum, every time. The fact that Patch does not turn out to be scum provides an odd kind of wish fulfillment. Because, let's be honest, who doesn't like bad boys?

I like the core conflict that Patch has to deal with. I can't get too specific without spoiling. He basically has to choose between a lifetime goal and Nora's life. Throughout the book, he bounces back and forth between these two choices. Not giving in to the darker side is a big sacrifice for him, and  I really enjoyed that aspect of the story.

I like the relationship between Patch and Nora--they have excellent chemistry. The book is at it's best when these two are alone together. Patch challenges Nora, putting her in touch with some darker sides of her personality. Nora brings out Patch's softer side. They're honestly good together, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more relationship development in future books.

Critical Comments

I hated Vee. She's dim-witted, she's flighty, she's useless; overall, I would have liked to see a lot less of her. It seems like she's there as a plot device, and her role in moving the plot forward is far more important than her character development. She runs headlong into trouble, her life is threatened, she has to be saved--all of the classic traits of a damsel in distress. In the end, she learns nothing. Did this book really need a damsel type character? No. Granted, she makes Nora look smarter by comparison, but I still would have been happier without her.

The masked stalker plot was only just passably entertaining. It was predictable. It served the purpose of forcing Patch to make his choices. But other than Patch, no one changes or learns anything from the entire experience. Furthermore, this plot had me questioning the intelligence of both Vee and Nora. During the entire climax, I kept wondering why no one was calling the cops. Lives are at stake, after all. But they're afraid that calling the cops would get Vee in trouble, so they handle in themselves. Seriously? Get your priorities straight!

As I said earlier, I understand why this book inspires such love and such hatred. The characters make bad decisions, the relationships aren't what I would call healthy, and the writing is only alright. On the other hand, the characters are all the more interesting for their imperfections (except Vee: I hope she dies in a fire), the relationships are complex and deliciously dangerous, and I was completely invested in the story the entire time. For me, this book was a guilty pleasure. There are a lot of problems with it, no question. Yes, some readers will hate this book. But if you're like me, and you enjoy YA fantasy with bad boy heroes, this is a good book for you. 4 stars.

Follow Friday (17)

 

Q: Go count the number of unread books sitting on your shelf. How many?

Yeesh! My TBR is in my apartment, and I am not there! I know it's between 80 and 90 physical books, plus the 16 unread ebooks on my Kindle.