Taylor, L. (2010). Daughter
of Smoke and Bone. Great Brittan: Hodder & Stoughton.
ISBN-13: 978-0316133999
Genre: Fantasy,
Romance, Chimera, Angels, War, Supernatural
Reading level/
interest age: 16+
Plot summary:
Karou never thought of herself as strange. Why would having
naturally blue hair and buying teeth for a chimera boss be odd? She has few
friends as most become fed up with her wild “stories” of portals and wishes.
Even partially alienated, Karou still loves her mostly carefree life of art
classes, teeth auctions, and eating at the Poison Café. Running errands for her
chimera family can be difficult but strangely rewarding. Little does Karou
know, the universe is changing around her.
Walking back from class one day, Karou is attacked by an
angel. She barely survives the encounter and is laughed at by her ex-boyfriend
upon hearing the story. Her chimera family find Karou’s tale less humorous but
still choose to send her away on another mission. However, when Karou returns,
she finds the portal home burned and unusable. Karou is forced to use all of
her cunning and wits to find a way back to her chimera family while dodging the
enemy angel.
Reader’s annotation:
Angels and chimera have been locked in battle for thousands
of years. Can a lover’s long lost dream bring the two races back together?
Information about the
author:
“Laini Taylor was born 1971 in Chico, California. She moved
around a lot growing up (Hawaii, Italy, Belgium, Virginia, California) and can
speak some French and Italian. She graduated from Fountain Valley High School
in Orange County CA in 1989 and then from UC Berkeley with a degree in English
in 1994.
“She has always wanted to be a writer and past jobs include
working as a travel book editor (Lonely Planet), a bookseller, a waitress, and
an illustrator/designer. She is married with a daughter”
(FantacyBookReview.com, 2014).
Curriculum ties: N/A
Booktalking ideas:
1.
If you had as many wishes as Karou does, what
would you spend them on?
2.
Would you be willing to pull out all of your
teeth for the wish of a lifetime?
Critical evaluation:
Daughter of Smoke and
Bone is hard to follow and difficult to read because of the numerous
strange characters and differences between worlds. This can be very discouraging
as the author seems to forget that the reader does not have any prior knowledge
of the fantasy world she has created. Once about half way through the book,
concepts begin sticking and the reader is transported into an amazing story
reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.
Daughter of Smoke and
Bone is the first book in the series and focuses quite a bit on Karou and
Akiva’s romance. The author also spends a lot of time developing Karou’s
friendships as the characters become more important in the later books. This is
an interesting novel because the descriptions are more in depth than is
traditional for the young adult genre. If not for the large amount of dialogue
and the first-person-perspective, Daughter
of Smoke and Bone could easily pass as adult fiction.
Challenge issues: N/A
Why included:
Daughter of Smoke and
Bone is an amazing fantasy story with many elements that should entertain
readers. It is also part of a trilogy which could entice readers to pick up the
other books in the series.
Reference:
FantacyBookReview.com. (2014). Laini Taylor biography. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from
http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Laini-Taylor/biography.html
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