Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Audiobook Review

By: Laini Taylor

Narrated by:  Khristine Hvam

Published by: Hachette Audio 09/2011

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Warm

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series # 1
12hrs and 32 mins

Sample

 

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages - not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers - beautiful, haunted Akiva - fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

 Reviewed by Terra Lyne

Love, love, love the characters in this ultra-unique story.  The settings are breathtaking.  Her world building does not bore.  It is fantastical and many times, I found myself wishing to be there (all I’d have to do is sacrifice a few teeth, right?! ).  Karou, our artistic heroine, is fresh and witty and confident.  She opens our hearts and minds to a world ripe with angels and monsters; love and despair; humor and sacrifice….and hope.  Always hope.   Akiva, a beyond beautiful Seraphim soldier, is tormented by a love lost.   He is drawn to Karou for reasons he cannot fathom.  They meet and sparks fly…quite literally.  I was completely enthralled with the collision of Akiva’s and Karou’s magic…which she doesn’t even know she posseses.   Laini Taylor does an amazing job of keeping what could be a heavy downer of a story light and fun and intriguing.  She brings in secondary characters that are fantastic.   I found myself craving scenes where her friend, Zuzana, played a role.  

As for the story…as much as I loved the beginning, somewhere in the middle, Ms. Taylor lost me for a stretch.  Things shifted and normally I would be on the edge of my seat wondering where we would be going next.  But then it shifted again….and then again and I felt disconnected from the characters.   As I have mentioned before, audiobooks can make it difficult for me to skim through uninteresting parts.  I was NOT super excited when I realized I had nearly 4 hours to go until I could mark it “finished”.  But…I forged on and I’m glad I stuck with it.  Things started to fall into place and I came back full circle.  I began enjoying it again and I love ending a book that way!  I am fully aware that my tendency toward ADD (or as my husband lovingly refers to it: ADDAWAT… aka: Attention Deficit Does Anybody Want A Taco), makes me more sensitive to lulls in a storyline.   As a result, I can be a tad less tolerant.   But, please don’t let that to deter you from diving into this wonderful story.

  4.40  ·  rating details  ·  2,458 ratings  ·  1,014 reviews on Goodreads

Khristine Hvam’s narration of this book is excellent.  She is a “new-to-me” narrator but I felt as if I had listened to her before.  That, in my opinion, is always a good sign.  It means her character portrayals are spot-on.  Her transitions were seamless.  I loved her depiction of Zuzana!  The sarcasm and wit came through on a grand scale (and I speak fluent sarcasm so impressing me on this front is quite an accomplishment!).  This story is packed with otherworldly characters and much of it is set in Europe so the accents are plentiful and Ms. Hvam breezes through.  I hope to have a chance to listen to more of her.  As a matter of fact, I’m going to do an Audible search right now.

The Author

 Voices behind the books
Christine Hvam