Tomorrow - over at BoB - Chime goes up against Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Now that the book I thought would go all the way has been kicked out, is it a little, um, self-pitying for me to pout and say I don't care which book wins? YES!! Yes, it is. I do have an opinion about this match.
Chime was the second most difficult book in this year's Battle for me to get into. (I still haven't finished
Life. I will. I promise.) Briony's stream of consciousness, anxiety-ridden narrative is so confusing. But I was so glad I persevered because none of her rambling is wasted.
On the other hand, I slipped into
Daughter of Smoke and Bone like I was sinking into a fragrant long-awaited bath. Ahhhh, what a lovely setting, ahhhh, what intriguing characters, ahhhh, blue hair. Isn't this indulgent? And then.... there was the battle-y part.
Very Short Digression: I am getting really really REALLY tired of battle-y parts.
Back to BoB; The battle-y part was followed by the heart-breaking romance part and the WHAT??!!! ending in
Daughter. That's a lot to pack into one book.
So, there you have it. Hard to get into but satisfying
Chime goes against seductive, action packed
Daughter of Smoke and Bone.I could toss a coin as one of our esteemed judges did. I could use my Chobani Oracle Cup and pull out the name. But this time, I think I will just predict that.... Oh, my, this is so hard.
I choose
Chime over
Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I think it was the battle-y part that pushed me over the edge. I suspect that excellent judge
e. lockhart, will have a more intelligent take on this match. And, as I say over and over, I will not be disappointed in either book moving on.
StoryFUSION!!! So much StoryFUSION prep work going on. If you don't hear much from me this week, that is why. Check the
Storytelling page for updates and schedules and stuff.
Reading Level: Young Adult
0 Comments on Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor as of 12/12/2011 6:57:00 AM
René Kirkpatrick has been a bookseller and book buyer, specializing in children's and teen literature, for many years.She has a degree in elementary education and reads widely across all genres. She is currently a buyer at
Third Place Books.
We're honored to have her here as part of the
rgz SALON, a feature where four of the top kidlit experts clue us in to the best YA novels they've read recently. Here's René, discussing
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor.
"
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fabulous fantasy filled with demons and angels, starlight and hell. The story focuses on blue-haired art student Karou who runs mysterious errands for a person who may not be human while she tries to get through school. When black handprints begin to appear on door lintels around the city, she becomes swept up in a war between winged beings and the only family she’s ever known.
"A big, thick book that guarantees hours of riveted reading,
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a great book for the teen (or older!) reader of fantasy. The story takes place in Prague and seems to be firmly anchored in the here and now with this other world just out of sight. I would read it again just to see what I missed the first time around." 14 and up. $18.99. Little Brown.
Sometimes I start a book happily, but midway something crops up - a character that jars, or an event that feels off-kilter, or a change of mood - that disappoints me. This year I decided to just put those books down. I don't have time to read books that bother me. There are too many books, so the t-shirt says, and increasingly, too little time.
Well, I am VERY happy that I did NOT put down Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Honestly, when the angel showed up I almost chucked it in. This book has shown up on several "Best of 2011" lists and I felt duty-bound to as least skim through to the end. So happy I did because OMG!!!
Taylor creates such an appealing teen character in Karou, and her family of misshapen beings is so loving that when that angel shows up, all angry and forbidding, the reader just knows he's wrong!!! Beautiful, yes! Stunning, of course! Sexy and irresistible? That goes without saying - but very very wrong.
The book's setting is Prague, the IT city for 2011, I think. The plot revolves around a centuries-old battle between magical peoples. The protagonist, a teen art student, is so much more than just a teen. Her "family" appears to be made up of genetic experiments or demons. Her guardian's business is collecting teeth, animal and human. When the sexy tortured angel shows up, all the questions about her past and her strange life are answered. OR are they?? The story is to be continued. And, sigh, as much as I hate to admit it, I have been drawn into this maelstrom of paranormal adventure and romance and I WILL want to find out what happens next. Thanks, Laini Taylor, for adding yet another series to my ever growing list of Books-I-Want-To-Read!
Last week frootjoos, friend Kate and I attended the Laini Taylor signing at Book Soup in Hollywood. Frootjoos and I are big fans of Laini's last book, Lips Touch Three Times and were excited to see that she was coming to town to promote her new book Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
There was a good crowd at the store. I'd say 30 - 40 people, though I am terrible at people counting so let me know if I am way off, frootjoos. Laini is sweet and funny and totally passionate about her work. She also has awesome pink hair. She talked about being a perfectionist and how it is hard for her to write the first draft of a book. She spoke a little bit about how Daughter of Smoke and Bone came to be. She was working on a sci fi book when the idea for Daughter of Smoke and Bone came to her. And even though she wanted to stop and start the new book, she made the decision to finish the sci fi book even though she didn't think it was very good and would probably never see the light of day.
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| making a bit of a funny face here. :) |
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| talking with the hands |
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Then Laini read an excerpt from the book which involved essential and non-essential parts. If you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, well, you'll find out. :) We topped off the night with chili dogs and fries across the street. Yum! I am so glad we were able to make this event. Below are a few more pics we took throughout the night. Enjoy!
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| Laini has a great smile and the best shade of pink hair. |
As Grace mentioned, we're in Fresno together for the IBBY regional conference. They asked us to speak together about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. To prepare, we dug up all of the old drafts of the novel, and also my editorial letters/edits (to my horror, I discovered that although I had saved the different drafts with my edits in Track Changes, I had neglected to save any of my editorial letters, as they had been in emails and not saved as separate documents. Luckily, Grace was able to find them in an old email account. Whew!)
Some of the fascinating (at least to us!) things we found:
The 1st draft was 22,859 words; the final draft was 42,840 words, almost twice as long!
The 1st draft had 26 chapters, and the final book had 48 chapters.
The green tiger was not in the original draft.
In the original draft, the parents didn't try to follow/find Minli.
In the original proposal, Minli was named "Cai" (and then "Kai").
The first working title was God of the West. The next title was Never-Ending Mountain.
I also read a portion of my first editorial letter for the book. As I mentioned at the panel, my letters with Grace tend to be a little more casual than to some other authors who I don't know as well. With Grace, I cut to the chase quickly--but I always start with praise! Here's a sampling:
Hola!
So, I thought I'd get down in writing some of the things we discussed over the phone. But just to reiterate, I loved it. I think overall, it's extremely well crafted with a wonderful story arc. The novel is moving, magical, and engaging. I think this is in really great shape! I have a few main comments, most of which we've discussed:
1) The novel feels a little slight right now, and things overall feel a little too easy for Minli. I'd like to add at least one more big challenge for her, and also make a few of the existing challenges a little more difficult/drawn out. For example, she seems to find the King in The City of Bright Moonlight too quickly--she should struggle with this more. I like the idea you mentioned, of having her spend one night with the boy and the buffalo.
Overall, don't be afraid to put your characters in peril! I don't think I worried once about whether Minli would succeed in her quest, or feared for her safety or her life. This made for a comforting, pleasant read, but I think more conflict overall would go a long way toward making this more rewarding.
...
3) It's not believable that her parents would just wait around for her at home for her to come back--have one or both of them go after her? Or have them send someone else after her? If they do stay behind, you need a convincing reason why, and also her reunion with them at the end needs to be more dramatic. Wouldn't they cry? And what did they do while she was gone? Did they set up a shrine to her? Pray for her every day? Maybe they sent the old man selling the fish after her, or maybe a man from the village, or a kind traveler passing through?
It was interesting looking back at the publication history of this very special book--and we had fun telling the story, too. We should be on more panels together, don't you think?
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If you're in the Los Angeles area tonight (Monday, October 24), head out to the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore at 7:30 for
Laini Taylor's signing of
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Series: Trilogy TBA
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Buy: Amazon
|
Barnes & Noble
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?
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a rich, imaginative tale of magic and monsters, war and heartbreak. The world-building in this novel is breathtaking, the backstory a tapestry woven with strands of legend and otherworldly secrets.
Laini Taylor's style is beautiful and intelligent, bewitching in its elegant flair. The pacing is perfect with never a dull moment, whether the intensity comes from the heat of battle, the awe of discovery or the mystery of Taylor's monsters.
Laini Taylor's imagination knows no bounds. This is the most creative, original story I have ever read.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a book that cannot be easily defined. It is a long history of war and senseless hate, otherworldly races and ancient magic. It is a fantasy and a tragedy and a romance. It is all these things and more. The descriptions are lush and vivid, the characters terrifying and oddly compelling, the lines between good and evil hopelessly blurred. It is a tale of self-discovery and irrepressible love, a coming-of-age story like no other.
Karou is such a compelling heroine, the kind of girl that shouldn't be crossed. She is quirky and mysterious -- from her naturally blue hair to her bullet-scarred belly -- a complex character who is alive and engaging from page one. Her mental life runs deep as she struggles with a lifelong sense of emptiness, and the constant frustration of vague answers from the only family she's ever known. Karou is smart and skilled, and she knows there's more to the story than she's been told. She is fearless when she needs to be, but vulnerable at heart. It's impossible not to fall in love with this one-of-a-ki
I'm in the throes of editing hell...actually, I'll rephrase that--I'm in editing HEAVEN! Just a whole lot of it at once, is all. But the books are SO GOOD, and this is the meaty part of my job that I love the most. Speaking of, I've been meaning to update my "How I Edit" post from almost exactly five years ago, as technology has changed my process somewhat. Perhaps that will be for next week.
What I was working on this past weekend specifically was finishing up an editorial letter for the first book in Libba Bray's new four-book series, The Diviners. It's a YA historical paranormal with hints of horror (okay, more than just hints) set in New York City in the 1920s. Flappers, Ziegfeld's Follies, speakeasies, political protests, secret government experiments, cults, ghosts, supernatural powers, and oh yes, a serial killer. It's magnificent, and coming out next Fall.
This past weekend I've also been working on Chris Colfer's middle grade novel The Land of Stories, coming out next August. It's a fantastical adventure to a fairytale land, and it's a page-turner, with unexpected twists and turns, a lot of heart, and best of all it's funny. I was reading it on the subway and found myself chuckling out loud at the dialogue. I'm excited for the world to see that this kid can write as well as he can sing. And boy, do I love his voice (I can listen to his version of Blackbird all day).
So, while I keep editing, I wanted to share with you two trailers that were released recently. The first is for Peter Brown's hilarious new picture book You Will Be My Friend!, starring Lucille Beatrice Bear, who some of you might remember from his last book, Children Make Terrible Pets. You Will Be My Friend launched earlier this month, and on Saturday I attended his book launch party at Powerhouse Studio in DUMBO. And as Lucy would say, OH! MY! GOSH! This is the cutest trailer EVER!
This second trailer is for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone which officially pubs tomorrow! Happy early book birthday! There's been an incredible amount of excitement and buzz for this book, and the love, especially from bloggers, has been tremendous (and well-deserved, although I may be biased...).
Isn't that cool?
Okay, back to work!
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I'm so glad you got to meet her! I planned the school events she attended that morning and afternoon, so I got to meet her too and hear her presentation twice. Isn't she amazing?? She is the sweetest and I wish her nothing but success!
hi angie! yes, laini is totally amazing. loved hearing her talk about writing and her books. i am sure the kids loved her.