REVIEW: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - 4 stars

The beginning, the setting, Karou and Brimstone and Issa, and the quality of the writing blew me away. As soon as the truth about Karou was foreshadowed with a heavy hand, I felt sad. Like something beautiful was being ripped apart.

I never really warmed up to the truth about Karou, but the writing compelled me to keep going, despite the occasional abuse of five-dollar words. The world building is amazing. And again, Karou! I was so annoyed by her name at first, a lot of the names actually, but I completely fell in love with her. The truth was an intruder.

I am still looking forward to reading the next one. And Daughter of Smoke and Bone is well worth reading despite its flaws.

4 Stars

REVIEW: Croak by Gina Damico, 3.5 stars

Croak by Gina Damico

This debut novel is a really fun time. The dialogue is fresh and snappy, and the central characters are quickly developed.

I often had a hard time suspending my disbelief though when it came to the world-building and the explanations of how the reaping worked and how the town of Croak was run. There were a lot of overly long explanations that didn't always all hang together. Sometimes it left me wishing the author had used these interesting characters and wonderful dialogue in a different kind of story. The running jokes with the dead presidents and other famous historical people in the afterlife entryway jarred me right out of the story.

I was interested in Lex and how she develops, but I never really felt for her. Even when something horrible happens to her, I was mildly surprised but not upset. However, the way the kids interacted and the wacky but totally realistic things they say and do, were really enjoyable, and I definitely plan to read more in this series.