Review: Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone Book 2) by Laini Taylor


Publishers: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published Date:  November 6th 2012
From: Bought
My rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis:

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:

It took me a while to get back to this series. the first book 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' was stunning. The world building extraordinary from the start. The concept of the story, a girl who is somehow connected to demonic creatures and an angel, was crafted together so beautifully I was gripped. I loved the romance, I loved Karou and I wanted to read more. 

But then we have that dreaded interlude where we have to wait for book 2. You've been there, I'm sure. I didn't want to read book 2 until I could read book 3. So this was my dilemma. I waited.

But then my reading hiatus kicked in so here we are finally. 

Book 2 - Days of Blood and Starlight has a different feel to it than book one. so we know Karou has the soul of Madrigal. But Karou is still her own person. Still loves Zuzana and Mik but she's broken after hearing Akiva tell her he killed her family.

Instead of staying and moping, and let's face it, who wouldn't. she disappears from the world. It's only after a few chapters we find out she's actually in Morocco and she's encouraged the demons (good and bad) to settle there while they regroup. she's also taken up the task of creating more creatures but what I love about this part is her character. She decides she isn't going to just recreate all of Thiago's close colleagues. She's ruthless and sneaky enough to pick and chose who gets remade.

One of the characters I loved most was Madrigal's other Kirin friend - Ziri. He's a nice demon, young and bit in love with Madrigal/Karou. His story really becomes the main character arc of the book. What Ziri does has a lasting effect on the rest of the demons to come, and on Karou. 

Back to Akiva and what he's up to. With his two angel friends, they decide they're not going to openly kill the enemy anymore. To do so goes against everything Akiva was striving for when he dreamed the dream with Madrigal. He hasn't forgotten Karou, in fact, he mourns her, even if she isn't dead. 

The book finishes nicely, ready for book 3.

What I liked the most? The writing doesn't fail in the slightest. The story is still ongoing and you can feel the world's expand as you're reading it. Such an epic fantasy, I'm maybe a little sorry I waited too long read it.

-CB x

You can reach Laini Taylor here:
Web  Goodreads

Available from Amazon:

Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 

 
Publishers: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Published Date: September 27th 2011

My rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis: 
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Review:
Wow! Wow, wow, wow!!

It isn't often I'm awed by such rich writing or such a weird, bizarre, outrageous, spell-binding but truly fantastical story.

Right from the beginning you fall into Karou's world. Crazy, young thing with blue hair and a penchant for drawing fantasy creatures that all have names, histories and Karou's enthusiasm. She goes to an art school in Prague and has a brilliant friend in Zuzana, who is equally as eccentric. Karou's ex-boyfriend has been an ass on an epic scale and gradually you get drawn into the mystical world that Karou lives in. She 'wishes', using magical beads, devastating crudeness to the ex which is incredibly funny.

Taylor then takes us on the journey of Karou's world. Not knowing if she is human or not but she sure looks like one even with the blue hair. We get invited into her past with indeed does include the before-mentioned fantasy creatures, and we visit magical places around the world like Paris and Morocco.

When we reach Morocco the story lifts onto a new level as we meet Akiva. Karou's world shifts slightly as each is drawn to each other for undefined reasons which get explained later on. Because there isn't just the human world involved here. We learn about other worlds accessible by portals. And....shhh, Akiva is an Angel, or a soldier whichever you want. But there is a war going on between the chimaera (the fantasies) and the Angels (the soldiers).

The romance between Karou and Akiva is exquisite. It's slow building and then overwhelming and then...disaster happens.

The writing held me in my chair for hours just reading through the beautiful prose that gets painted like a perfect picture enabling the reader to visualise such drama and scenery.

I've never read Laini Taylor before but I was enchanted. If you haven't had a chance to pick this one up then please do. It'll be well worth your time.

-CB x

You can reach Laini Taylor here:

Web  Goodreads

 

Available from Amazon: