Published November 6, 2012 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers5 stars
Goodreads Review
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?
First, I am so sorry it took me so long to write this review. I read it the day it came out and I swear I had written the review then. You all know my undying love for Laini Taylor and Daughter of Smoke and Bone and that is no different for Days of Blood and Starlight. So I am so sorry this review is so late, but here it is!
Review: Guys, Days of Blood and Starlight gives me ALL THE FEELS. Seriously, Laini Taylor just writes these words on the page and gives me all these feeling that I don't know how to process! Basically I was just one big ball of ugly crying face.
Days of Blood and Starlight is much darker than it's predicesor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. While we certainly still have Taylor's beautiful writing, the beauty of the story is replaced by something a lot more mature. I really enjoyed how Days of Blood and Starlight leaves the love at first site (sort of) theme behind and focuses on much more difficult subjects like war, rape, and genocide.
Poor Karou! She is just at rock bottom, wracked with guilt. She goes through a lot of terrible things in this book, and I have to say I really loved it. I am a bit of a sadist I guess, but I really like it when the main character's world is completely ripped apart in a way where they can never fully go back to who they were before the beginning of the novel (part of the reason why I loved Mockingjay). I like seeing how events of a novel change a person, for better or worse, and books where the main character never goes through any turmoil feel a little cheap to me. Well, you don't have to worry about Karou not going through abuse in Days of Blood and Starlight, let me tell you. I'm really excited for Dreams of Gods and Monsters to see how all of this bad stuff will change her from the first book.
I have to admit for a while I thought he was introduced to create a sort of love triangle with Karou and Akiva, but now I am a little ashamed that I thought Laini Taylor would take such a cliche road. Gurl, I am sorry I doubted you and your amazing writing abilities. I honestly hope Karou in the end will not be with either of them. I think that Karou will eventually forgive Akiva, but forgive doesn't mean forget. I dont' want her to go back to him. I want Karou to love herself.
We also have to talk about the angels. I really loved how their society is an allegory for today's government. They really show what can happen when you don't question the ethics of the decisions made by the government and just follow blindly.
So overall I think you all can tell that I love this series. It is one of the strongest YA(ish) series out there and I am so so so excited for the final book, Dreams of Gods and Monsters (due April 2014, OMG WHY).
No excuse me while I go re-read this and cry.
