Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor – Review

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: 4.5 Stars

I put off reading this book for a long time because I was really afraid that it wouldn’t be as good as the first book and it would ruin my view of the series. I wanted to be in the right mood to read it and I was so nervous that it would disappoint me. I shouldn’t have worried at all though, Laini Taylor knows how to write a story and develop characters that readers love in worlds that are so wild and unforgettable. I was worried that this sequel would taint the story that I loved so much, but it enriched it and breathed more life into it instead. When there are such high expectations it is so rare for a book to actually live up to them, but this one did.

As can be expected for any Laini Taylor novel amazing characters are thrown into magical and brutal worlds, in this book some of my favorite characters return, but there are also many new characters introduced. Karou goes through such hard times in this book and somehow manages to change for the better and to hold onto hope throughout all of it, true to her namesake. Akiva battles different challenges in another world and for most of the book I was wondering if there was any hope for the two of them to ever e together. These characters struggle hard throughout this installment and I can’t wait to follow them to the conclusion of their journey.

The book is told in third person and has some chapters that focus on minor characters to help give you a full view of what is happening from every perspective. The chimera and the seraphim battle each other, but some among them hope for a better way, a peaceful way, even against impossible odds. While the pace isn’t exactly fast, this book remains hard to set down as Laini Taylor’s writing seems to always find a way to keep the reader’s attention. As for world building, a bit more of Eretz is shown in this book than has been seen before and many different chimera species show up through the book.

I loved reading this installment. I felt like I returned to an old friend. The title rings true as there is a lot of bloodshed and battle in this book. There is a lot of action in this book, even if it isn’t non-stop and super fast paced, tensions are very high. The only thing missing is romance, but the trilogy clearly isn’t over and neither is Karou and Akiva’s story. This sequel focused more on character development and finding a way to bring peace to two different armies who hate each other. It is clear that this story is far from over and I am left needing to know what will happen next, but also wanting to savor the ending of Karou’s adventure.

Haven’t read book one? Check out my review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone here!