Title: Days of Blood and Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
Publish date: November 6th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Buy it from: Amazon
Goodreads summary:
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?
Review:
There is a feeling very few authors and very few books give me when I finish reading them. And that is the feeling that they use words so beautifully that I should no longer be allowed to attempt to wield them, as any meager efforts that I make fall short of their beautifully composed prose.
Laini Taylor is one of those authors and Days of Blood & Starlight is one of those books.
(Please know how hard this review is to write without writing some major spoilers for Daughter of Smoke & Bone)
Just as beautifully written as Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight has very little contact between our two main characters (and lovers) Akiva and Karou. And though I love the swoony angst-ridden moments, I was totally fine with them being separated. Because Days of Blood and Starlight is more about their personal paths for redemption and the struggles that they have along the way. Karou is reconciling the part of her that is Karou with that other part of her and Akiva… he’s trying to atone for his own sins.
Each character that Laini Taylor brings to the page has a distinct personality and… I want to say flavor here, even if that’s weird. From villains, to supporting characters (both returning and otherwise), all are fully-developed. And as far as returning characters go, may I just say? YAY, ZUZANA! I was so happy to see the return of the tiny, rabid fairy.
This was one of my most highly-anticipated titles this season– nay, this year– and it did not even approach the realm of disappointing.
In conclusion, I’d just like to say that Laini Taylor may take my words away… because she uses them so much better than I do.
To sum up: If you haven’t already read the first book, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, what are you even doing with your life? And if, in addition to that, you still haven’t picked up Days of Blood & Starlight, rest assured… I am making a judgy face at you.
