Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Book 1

I was pre-reading for my 12 year old when I read this book which I fell in love with. It is, however, not for 12 year olds. The main character is 17 and engages in typical 17 year old behavior, including losing her virginity and regretting it, and is basically on her own, without parents. Other than that part of the story, I can see younger (girls) really enjoying this book. It has many twist and turns. This is a story about an angel and a human who has been raised by chimera (demons?). They fall in love and have to deal with otherworldly influences on their forbidden relationship. It is a very interesting book and sucked me right in. The storyline is so complex that when I read the sequel, I should have gone back and re-read book 1. I will definitely do that before starting the last book in the trilogy. It's not a religious story in any way. Oh, and the cover is the most beautiful illustration ever.

When I picked up this book I was just thinking it was going to be another story about angles and good vs. bad and I wasn't expecting anything spectacular out of it. Well let me just say that I was very pleasantly surprised! Daughter of S and B was actually very good! While I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters, I found it pretty easy to connect with most of them. The writing style was the first thing I noticed when I was reading that I really enjoyed. The plot line was very good. The story in general was just very interesting and cool. The pacing was good for the majority of the book (at certain points it was hard to quit reading), but some parts in the second half of the book were a little repetitive. It's kind of hard to explain but the story kept going back to a certain event in the past over and over again. It got a little tedious for me. Overall a quite enjoyable read! I am giving the book 4 and a half out of 5 stars. Probably best for ages 15 and up but I think mature younger teens could enjoy it also. There is some violence and scary or darker themes and some sex. Hardly any language, though (maybe a "d-mn" or two).