| TITLE: Days of Blood & Starlight SERIES: Daughter of Smoke & Daughter AUTHOR: Laini Taylor PUB DATE: 11/6/12 PUB: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers FORMAT: eARC SOURCE: from pub for review |
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.
THREE WORDS: Stellar, Stunning Sequel
MY
REVIEW: Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone was
one of my absolute favorite reads of last year, it was one of those
books that moved me and never really left me, and I've been eagerly
awaiting the sequel all year. And Days of Blood &
Starlight is
as equally stunning and stellar as its predecessor and enthralled me
completely.
In
Days of Blood & Starlight we
find old characters facing the consequences of the climactic events
at the end of book one, and are introduced to new characters, new
places, and new revelations. Our heroine, blue-haired Karou, and her
once angel-lover, Akiva, both find themselves in different worlds and
entangled in a bloody war. Faced with mysteries, heartache,
betrayals, death, and pain, these two characters must come to terms
with who they are and what they must do for their people, for
themselves, and for love.
I
devoured all 500+ pages of Days of Blood &
Starlight in
one sitting, staying up into the wee hours of the morning, unable to
put it down for even a second. From page one, Laini Taylor instantly
swept me away into her fiercly beautiful world and carried me away
with her breathtaking and captivating storytelling. Days
of Blood & Starlight has
a different, yet equally enrapturing, feel to it. Like the brief
synopsis says above, the same “richness,
color and intensity of the first book” is present in this sequel,
but it is a different canvas upon which they've been painted.
Taylor's
immensely gorgeous and lyrical writing and storytelling continues to
enchant and impress. There are so many lovely passages and sentences
in this sequel that I found myself re-reading, unable to look away.
The intricate, layered and rich world-building of book one is deftly
continued in book two. Karou finds herself in a very different place
than her beloved Prague; a harsh, relentless place that Taylor
somehow brings an eloquence to. And the world of Eretz is greatly
expanded upon in this book, as both the worlds of the angels and
chimaera are explored. This world and all its inhabitants is crafted
with an exquisiteness that is both beautiful and bleak, enchanting
and terrifying, irresistible and repulsive, and utterly spellbinding.
The
story laid out in Days
of Blood & Starlight is
a stellar mix of fire and fierceness, love and heartache, humor and
pain, intensity and softness, acceptance and new paths. As the middle
book in a trilogy, it continues to connect the threads woven in the
first book, while setting the scene for the climactic finale in book
three. Taylor paces this sequel perfectly, balancing the suspenseful
ferocity of the war the characters find themselves in with the
unexpected truths and revelations as well as the rich character
development and growth. Like in book one, this sequel has stories
within stories, and all the important subplots are woven together
seamlessly, creating a colorful and captivating tapestry full of
action, love, and palpable emotion.
Taylor's
characters continue to be some of my very favorites! The Karou we
meet in Days of
Blood & Starlight is
a more mature, stronger, and maybe even darker Karou than the girl we
met in book one. But this change is necessary and realistic; Karou
has seen and discovered truths that she can't walk away from
unscathed, and she has to either stand still and fall apart or go
forth and grow. She chooses to bravely go forth and on. Akiva feels
like a more complete and developed character in this sequel; his
layers are exposed and explored greatly. There's a large cast of
characters, some old, some new, some likable, some fun to hate. I
think the character that really shines in this book is Zuzana. Her
laugh-out-loud humor is infectious and endearing and perfectly
placed. I think I'm a little bit in love with this feisty little
fairy of a girl ;)
While
the romance, or lack of, between Karou and Akiva, is not the
dominating force in this sequel, it is intensely felt. The
relationship between these two, not just the romantic one, but the
simple, undeniable connection between them, is, in my opinion, still
one of the absolute best written and explored relationships in YA
fiction. Everything about this relationship- the electric connection,
the heartache, the betrayal, the longing, the lust, the desperation,
the need, the simple love- feels so intimately real and burns
palpably.
This
book ends a bit more quietly than the first book, but left me excited
and desperate for book three nonetheless.
MY
FINAL THOUGHTS: I was scared that no sequel could live up to the beauty and superb storytelling of Daughter of Smoke & Bone, but this sequel has done just that. Days of Blood & Starlight is a captivatingly and darkly gorgeous story with a riveting plot, dazzling writing, excellent world-building and unforgettable characters. A MUST read book in a MUST read series!
MY RATING
Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository
Hi there! I'm a writer of fantasy books for young people, but my books can be enjoyed by adults as well. My 'Dreamdark' books, Blackbringer (2007) and Silksinger (2009) are about faeries -- not dainty little flowery things, but warrior-faeries who battle devils. My first young adult book, Lips Touch, is a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award! It's creepy, sensual supernatural romance. . . about kissing. I am also an artist with a licensed gift product line called "Laini's Ladies."
