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

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Yound Readers
Release date: November 6, 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Summary: 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? (summary from Goodreads)


My thoughts: I'm speechless. This book was everything I hoped for and more. I loved it; every part of it. And at the same time, it was TORTURE. I think my heart broke for Karou and Akiva at least ten times.

"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."

That basically sums it up. It is more focus on the war and on Eretz in this book, than in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. In Daughter of Smoke and Bone, it was a lot of focus on Karou and Akiva falling for each other, and Karou finding out the truth about herself, and although I loved that one, too, I think this one was slightly better.

In Days of Blood and Starlight, we leave Prague and get to meet Eretz. Karou is helping the White Wolf to resurrect the chimaera and Akiva is trying to help the remaining chimaera from getting slaughtered, while the war still isn't over.

You see a lot of Eretz, and it seems there's always something new to learn. It was exciting to read this, because it seemed the problems would never end. It didn't get boring, like some books do, and it really felt as if everything that happened had a thought behind it, like Laini Taylor had really put thought behind everything, especially the world of Eretz.

Also, it was in a lot of different POVs, so you got to see every part of the war, how it affected everyone, which I think gave me a more full perspective of things, and a better experience.

Of course, I hated every page were Karou and Akiva was seperated, but I guess I survived. And sometimes, I really wanted to strangle Thiago.

Let's not forget about Mik and Zuzana. They're in the mix, too, and let me just say this; they are so incredibly cute together it's impossible. IT'S A LUCK THING! They're a bigger part in this book. That's all I'll say without giving away spoilers.

And then the end. A cliffhanger! Is she trying to kill me or something?

Lastly, I just have to say I love the cover.

So, if you haven't read it already, do, because you're seriously missing out.