Review for Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Warning
This is a review for the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Although there will be no spoilers about Days of Blood and Starlight there may be spoilers about the first book in this series. For my thoughts on the first book head on over here.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor 
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 8th November 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Crossover, Paranormal
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review



Goodreads Summary:
"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel – a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness. This was not that world."

Review 
Daughter of Smoke and Bone was by far my favourite book of 2011 and so naturally Days of Blood and Starlight was my most anticipated release of 2012. So much so that I dropped everything when it arrived so that I could devote an entire weekend to reading it.

This sequel was very different to Daughter of Smoke and Bone for many reasons. Firstly it definitely has more of a Fantasy feel to it, now that the cat’s out of the bag and we know what Karou is the world of Eretz is ours to explore in this novel. Secondly, whereas Daughter of Smoke and Bone was veiled in mystery and magic Days of Blood and Starlight is very war orientated making it at times a bleak and heavy read. And lastly whilst the first book in the series had a gorgeous romance there is none of that in this book with Karou and Akiva apart doing their own separate duties on their opposing sides of the war. That’s not to say that I didn’t like these changes, this book was excellent, but in a completely different way than Daughter of Smoke and Bone was.

One of the things I loved about this novel was the return of some of the characters I got to know and love in book one plus the introduction to some new loveable faces. The book focuses on many different characters throughout Karou, Akiva, Zuzana and Mik along with new characters Ziri, Sveva, Sarazal and Rath to name but a few. This gives the reader not only an opportunity to catch up with everyone but also different vantage points to view the war from and the effect it’s having on different parts of Eretz and the people that live there, not to mention the effect this war is having in the human world. Because there are a wider range of characters keeping up with the different subplots and who everyone is proved tricky at times, it’s definitely a book that requires your full attention something you may want to take into consideration before reading.

As always Laini Taylor’s writing was absolutely sublime. She has a way with storytelling that makes every chapter feel like its own little story that fits in as a piece of a bigger picture. Her writing is very description heavy and whimsical which is perfect for setting the scene of Eretz. I loved how there was also witty light-hearted banter between our human characters to lighten the mood when needed. I especially loved Karou and Zuzana’s conversations as I just adore both girls and their friendship.

The ending to this book was absolutely incredible with plenty of twists, turns, and shock revelations. I wasn’t sure if this books ending could live up to the epicness that was Daughter of Smoke and Bones’ but Laini Taylor has done it yet again and managed to completely surprise me. Overall Days of Blood and Starlight was an incredible book, although I didn’t love it quite as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone it was still a strong and worthy sequel that sets things up brilliantly for what I’m certain is going to be an explosive last book to this enchanting series.