Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Great beginning, and one of my favourite cities: Prague.
When I was there, my last real vacation, 1984 or 1985, it was still a communist country, Tschecheslowakia (since then parted in Tschechei and Slovenia).
Given the old roads and cobblestone it was an adventure, although I managed some parts alone, and most with a group of people who I had "Advenced Philosophical Study" with (a rare Leistungskurs in German school, for some a glimpse of what to study): I am sitting in a wheelchair and Prague is just about one of the un-accessiblesed (sp?) cities I visited. Cameras and Military Personell about, even way before 9/11 (yeah people, there was a time with surveillance before that - in non-democratic countries ... and elsewhere). But I will not rant more.
So I was thrilled to read a book playing there, as I knew that Prague has not changed too much since then.
I am currently two minds about this book, one part does not want to finish it, and that my main computer broke down helped some, I had to save data and try to repair it or write a detailed report for sending the Mac mini to Apple. And I read a different book (a novella) in between, as I was constantly distracted.
The other mind is, I am not sure, after skimming some reviews of the second book, wether I will enjoy that.
And then, at 75% now, it kind of drags along (ok, that makes three minds, not two).
My favourite character are Karou and Zuzana, I do not like Akiva.
Threw caution to the wind, at 98%, a few minutes left reading, I bought the second book in the series.
A review can only be practical after the trilogy has ended (if I do not DNF the second or third book, ah the joy of the double negative ...).
The circle this book goes, I am sorry to say, I did not guess that, not having thought much about the book during the breaks I took.
Maybe if I had forced myself to read it faster, more than a month is entirely too long even with reading and finishing several other books in between.
So I will not spoil it, but I still think, it dragged around the 70%-mark, when the action left Prague.




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