Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini TaylorDaughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: November 6th, 2012
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?
Taken from Goodreads
Start: 2/21/2014 | End: 3/1/2014 | Pages: 513 | Rating: 5 Stars
My Thoughts:
WHY did I wait SO LONG to pick up the second book of the series?
Did I not have access to the book? * bzz * Wrong, the library had it. Also Amazon had it.
Did I not have the time? * bzz * Nope. Plenty of time to read other books.
Was I just not interested? * bzz * I loved the first book and I wanted more.
Was I lazy?
. . .
. . .
* DING DING DING * We have a winner! Yes. I was a lazy bum, and a poop. BUT NO WORRIES NOW, because I have finally finished this 500 page beast of a book. And I just want to say that it was incredible! Amazing! Fantastique! Superb!
I. Want. MORE!
For anyone that's never heard of this series, I am here to ENLIGHTEN YOU. When I first stumbled upon the first book on Goodreads, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I was blown away by everything. The characters, Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, Zuzanna, and Mik, and the world of Eretz as well. In this second book of the series, we are introduced more to the world of Eretz and the war between the seraphims and the chimaera.
There's not much to say without spoiling the first book. I did try to explain the plot to my boyfriend by saying that "the 'demons' and the 'angels' are at war with each other, but then this girl, who thought she was a human, finds out she's a 'demon'. She also has the ability to resurrect dead 'demons' by creating new bodies to move their souls into, because she was trained by her caretaker, who was a 'demon', but she just didn't know it. But then she falls in love with this 'angel', when she wasn't supposed to, and then everyone dies."
See? It's hard to explain it without all the fancy terms.
But other than my "amazing" book summarization skills, Days of Blood & Starlight pulls you straight back into the story. I read the first book a year ago, but after a few chapters I was hooked.
However, I do have to admit that Karou did get a little to angst-y for me. To me, she felt like a completely different character from Madrigal, her past self, and even the Karou in the first book. I really hope she straightens herself out in the last book, because if not, then there's going to be a lot of drama. And a love triangle. Yay.
I also loved how Taylor made you experience every emotion Akiva had to go through. When he was in the dark about things, you were also in the dark. I remember being so confused when something happened that wasn't supposed to happen, but at the time Akiva was also just as confused, and angry. I literally was in his shoes. And I also acted in the same way.
I am super excited for April.
I want to read the third book now. NOW.
5 stars. 5 stars for everyone.
