Book Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood & Starlight

by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Published: November 6, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eBook (513 pages)
Source: Purchased

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.

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...

Spoiler free even if you haven’t read the first book in this series. 

As dark and epic as Days of Blood & Starlight was, I found it surprisingly funny.  I especially loved the Monty Python references.  While Daughter of Smoke & Bone was more of a love story, this sequel was more a story about war.  The author does an excellent job of showing how pointless war is.

Mercy, she had discovered, made mad alchemy: a drop of it could dilute a lake of hate.

– Laini Taylor, Days of Blood & Starlight pg 205

I thought I would lose interest in this book since the romance wasn’t as prominent, but I care so much about the unique and interesting characters that I couldn’t put this one down.  This is one of those books where I did nothing all day but read and my house was a complete mess by the time I was done.

The only way I can think of to describe the writing is “intelligent.”  There are witty references and Laini Taylor can play with my expectations like a violin.  And like I said – the writing is just so funny.

Well, Karou wanted to retort, with all the gravity and maturity she could muster. Duh.

-Laini Taylor, Days of Blood & Starlight, pg 45

Karou, the main character, grows so much in this book.  You can see the small steps of her becoming an adult.  Karou learns about forgivness to herself and others, seeing the big picture, and not blaming herself for everything.  The huge amount of character growth like this is one of the reasons I love to read Young Adult.  Laini brings up a lot of interesting questions about Akiva, too.  The book brings up his past, his people, and hints at what role they might play in the next book.

Overall, I loved this beautiful and intelligent sequel as much as the first book in this series.  It’s a great look at how pointless war really is.

Content Rating: High, for an attempted rape scene, frequent language, violence that was sometimes kind of graphic.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• eBook Challenge 2014