Carpe Librum Book Club discussion

This is where we'll discuss Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

How did everyone like Daughter of Smoke and Bone?
Who was your favorite character?
What was your least favorite part/aspect of the book?

Overall i did like this book. I thought that the beginning was perfect!! I loved the writing and the story telling in the beginning. When the story shifted to Madrigal, i lost a lot of interest and i thought the writing style went down hill. My favorite character was definitely Karou or Zuzanna!!

I just finished the book, so I'm late to the discussion haha...

I was really surprised I liked it. I'm not interested in mythological creatures and gods and that sort of thing, so in the beginning I wasn't sold with Brimstone and the rest of the gang. But I think once we got to "Oh yes, Akiva is a main character, not a bit of narration every so often," I couldn't put it down. I love Laini Taylor's style, especially the romantic scenes. I was afraid I was going to be tired of them, but they were enjoyable, and the whole reading experience felt original (except for the two moons part which I know many stories have that, but I immediately thought of 1Q84 only because I read it recently).

I thought Akiva and Karou falling in love was rushed. They didn't meet until halfway through the book, and maybe three chapter later they're already in witty and flirty banter, and they feel butterflies. Also, how are you guys pronouncing Akiva?

I liked Karou a lot. I thought it was cool there were parallels from her life to Madrigal's life (like Kaz and Thiago), but I hope she still remains the same Karou now she has Madrigal's memories. I liked Issa and even Brimstone too, I'm disappointed they're dead...

I think I would have liked Akiva more if he was less mushy? I wouldn't mind him the way he is now if we had had some more pre-met-the-love-of-my-existence, or if he hadn't fallen in love so quickly. I don't know where I'm going with that, I guess I feel we missed out on some character development because of the rushed romance?

I so agree with Misty that when the story focused on Madrigal's story, I got so bored. I wanted to see more of Karou... The plot twist was nice, considering I was finding it strange Akiva was falling head over heels for this random girl when he was still getting over the love of his life's death. But staying in Madrigal's story dragged on, and I noticed the writing style changed too (and not for the better).

The epilogue was certainly interesting. I'm happy she didn't immediately forgive him because that would have annoyed me, but I was a little annoyed with Akiva begging her to remember she loved him before he told her he killed her family. He just seems to be extremely emotional/cry-ish for someone who's been trained to keep emotions under control.

I agree with everything you said about Akiva!! (also, i pronounce it A-kee-va, but i don't know if this is right). The rushed romance, in my opinion, was too unrealistic to be enjoyable!! I also noticed how the writing style completely changed. I was in love with how the author was writing in the beginning, but then her sentence structure and word choice totally changed. I don't know if she did this to emphasize the different worlds or if she just got lazy. Do you have any ideas on the change?

I read this book so fast, I couldn’t put it down. I was really drawn into this “Elsewhere” world, and I really enjoyed Lainis’ writing style, I found it magical. I’m looking forward to reading the second book; I hear it focuses more on the battle than the romance.
Trish, I pronounced Akiva as “Ah-key-vah”. I could be wrong lol.

I was a little annoyed by the insta-love between Akiva and Karou, although that scene where Akiva fell to his knees while clutching the wishbone in front of Karou pulled at my heart strings. Once it was revealed that Karou was Madrigal I was like “Oooh now I understand” but when they flashbacked between Madrigal and Akiva I wanted there to be more of an internal struggle/battle between upholding their peoples traditions and falling for the enemy.

I did enjoy how independent and strong/fighting Karou was as the female protagonist. I can’t stand bland, linear, damsel in distress female characters. So I was really glad to see some depth and complexity to her. I will be interested to see the transformation of Karou’s character now that she knows she is Madrigal.

I was upset when they killed Brimstone and Issa, as well as the others, so many questions I wanted answered. I really would of liked to see what Brimstone would of done when Karou returned and if they would team up some how to bring about an alliance. I hope he is brought back through flashbacks.

I really liked this book, but it was definitely not a favorite. Switching over to Madrigal's story was the biggest problem for me; I felt like it could've been summed up in a chapter and referred back to later. It was just way too long away from Karou.

I'm really interested to see how she reacts to her regained memories too! I want her to stay Karou, but it's a pretty big revelation that you had an entire life before the one you've been living and this isn't even the first body you've had.

I completely agree with the insta-love bit. I hate rushed romances. The fact that they'd already fallen in love in Karou's old life explained it, but I've had a bit too much of "meant to be together" storylines. I hope the second book really does focus on the battle.

I loved Elsewhere, though. I liked that Laini Taylor seemed to have put a lot of thought into the backstory and had a name for everything. I liked the mystery of the teeth.

I got crazy emotional over Brimstone's death though. I was near tears. The last thing he did was yell at her and throw her out into the street! I'm going to be pissed over his and the other chimaera's deaths for a looong time. It would be great if they DID come back in flashbacks.

Okay, I've been saying "Ah-key-va" too, so I'm glad there's some agreement there!

I really liked Karou's independence too. She was constantly making sure she had the upper hand in her safety and responsibility. So nice to see more girls in YA standing up for themselves. Another thing I liked was that she mentioned training in martial arts and then we saw her use her training--there's nothing that kills me more than reading about someone with tons of skills and then never uses them.

Did anyone else just fall in love with the setting? I loved how it was in Prague! So unique, and the descriptions were wonderful.

Was it just me though, or did it seem like the book was hitting the reader over the head with the "hope is better than wishes because it's your own magic"? It's a good lesson and there some great quotes relating to that, but it seemed so forced after a while.

I loved Brimstone and Issa so much, I'm wishfully thinking there's a chance they survived... They made the story lighter and when it was looking like they were the bad guys, I refused to believe it.

The concept with the teeth and pain being the source of magic is such a unique concept, it makes me wonder if I was in that position if I would use magic even if it the source was pain.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book, how both sides can be portrayed as the enemy and the hero. How good and evil is fluid and that it is hard to draw the line somewhere. For example how Razgut is introduced as this creepy creature but when you learn that he is a fallen and how he went through the torture, it made me feel so conflicted.

I wonder if Brimstone and the gang can be brought back in different bodies, but with the dwindling supply of teeth who knows. One can hope :)

I agree! I loved that it was set in Prague, it was refreshing, her descriptions definitely made me want to add Prague to the bucket list.

I didn't even think of that, but I love that point of the two different sides being able to be seen as both good and evil, Stephanie!!! I also loved the setting of Prague! This is the first book I have read with this setting and I loved every minute of the descriptions!!

In the beginning of the book I didn't really like Brimstone or Issa, but I honestly don't remember why!!! I really love them now and I was very upset to learn they had died (although I wasn't 100% surprised).

To be honest, I'm not going to be very surprised if, in the sequel, Brimstone and Issa turn out not to be dead. I just have a feeling Brimstone always had a backup for himself and his friends if anything were to happen. Also, I think that Laini Taylor really uses shocks and cliffhangers in her writing, so I think that she would love to bring them back. (I don't know if this makes sense about the author, but I just feel like it's something she would do).

So true! While I was reading, I definitely noticed the good/evil POV idea. For me it was because I was like, "Wow, they are such likable characters and they're evil? It can't be possible." Really shows how the good is bad to someone and the bad is good to another. All depends who writes the story, right?

I'm really excited to read the next one, especially since the romance isn't such a dominant part of it. I really wanted to get into it, but couldn't.

The good/evil thing was one of my favorite parts of the book. When we're introduced to Brimstone and the Chimaera, they're in a pretty positive light as Karou's family. When we meet Akiva, he's in a pretty negative light since he tries to kill Karou. But the way Akiva tells the story, the seraphim are the good guys and the chimaera are the bad ones, but Madrigal tells it differently.

I have a qeustion for you all: do you think Akiva only killed Karou's Chimaera out of rage, or do you think he went into the fortress and killed more of them with the other seraphim? And do you think Thiago's going to be a problem later (if he's not dead)?

Akiva probably only killed Karou's Chimaera, otherwise she would've mentioned he killed the others in the fortress. I mean, if he found out that Brimstone and others who were supposed to be Madrigal's friends lived there, being emotional as he seems to be (how does he feel so well if he's trained his whole life to keep it in?), he probably killed them out of rage. Most likely he thought they betrayed her with Brimstone being the one overseeing her evanescence and all, so it was more personal to him.

I'm sure Thiago will be a problem later... We can't have had that entire Madrigal thing without Laini Taylor intending to bring him back. And Thiago was one of the Chimaera in the fortress, and even though Akiva feels guilty now about Brimstone and the others, he would've mentioned "at least I killed Thiago" or something to redeem some part of his actions. I don't know, I just have a good feeling about Thiago being alive.

I think Thiago is definitely alive, the creepy one always manages to stay alive haha. I also think he is going to become a universal enemy which may bring both sides together (particularly Akiva and Karou).

The seraphim & Akiva killed Brimstone and his gang to cut off the supply of teeth so the chimaera couldn't regenerate. I think Akiva did it as both a war strategy and out of rage. He knew about Brimstone from Madrigal and when he was released from the Chimaera fortress he went back to tell his fellow seraphim as a way to seek out of revenge. Before it was just a fight he grew up in, but now it was personal. He knows how important Brimstone is to the chimaera population so he killed the heart of the army and from there he probably planned on bringing in reinforcements for the final onslaught. I honestly don't know if he would of killed Karou's Chimaera if he was told by Brimstone that Madrigal was alive. Especially if he is suppose to have repressed all his emotions.