alobear | Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I loved Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor when I listened to them last year, so I thought I'd try her better-known series, starting with Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

And, for the first half, I was fully invested, even though the modern day setting took me by surprise, as I'd been expecting more second-world fantasy. It's about Karou, a girl who attends art college in Prague, but also runs errands for a chimera wish-monger, who has raised her in his magical shop between realms. The world-building is great, the range of characters (in both worlds) is engaging, and I was very intrigued to find out the answers to all the mysteries about Karou's background.

But then it turned into 'romance between teenage girl and much older supernatural being' and I lost interest. The writing was still really good, but that storyline and romantic focus just isn't my kind of thing. The flashbacks to what had happened previously in the other realm also really dragged, since the outcome of the situation had already been revealed, so there was little tension in the detailed relation.

Still, anyone who is into this kind of YA romance will probably love this - it's just not for me.