Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2)

by Laini Taylor

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.
This is not that world.
Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.
While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.
But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Reviewed by rakesandrogues on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted at: http://muggle-born.net/days-of-blood-and-starlight-by-laini-taylor-book-review/

Like with any other sequel, I had doubts coming into DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor. The first novel of the series, DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, had been a stunner. A wonderful blend of fantasy and romance, DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE had easily been one of my favorite reads of last year. Was the sequel going to be able to live up to my high standards? It seems that I had nothing to worry about. DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor is everything that readers have been anticipating. It will not disappoint.

Karou grows so much in the span of DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT. She is such a different character from DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, hardened by her recent experiences. She struggles between following through her obligations and following her heart. It is so easy to empathize for Karou because you grew to love her in the first book. You understand why she has difficulty in deciding what to do.

I think that the secondary characters are such a delight in DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor. Taylor takes this time to flesh out the characters, and we see a side of them that we did not get to see in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Furthermore, I loved the interpersonal relationships between all the different characters. Karou’s friendship with Zusana is one of my favorite elements of the book. The relationships in DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT continue to be true and genuine.

I yearned for a little more romance, but that’s mostly just me fangirly-ing over Karou and Akiva. They are a match-made in heaven (no pun intended) and it hurts me as a reader to see them apart. The amount of romance is adequate in terms of what is going on in the story. There’s not a lot of girly squealing in DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor, but I know it will just make things a lot sweeter in the later books. No matter what happens, you just know that Akiva and Karou are meant to be together.

Laini Taylor is such a talented author. The world-building continues to be richly detailed and beautifully written. She artfully weaves themes of war, loss, and betrayal in DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT. Fans of Daughter of Smoke and Bone will not be disappointed with this enchanting sequel.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 15 February, 2015: Finished reading
  • 15 February, 2015: Reviewed