Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
Release Date: November 12, 2012
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?
Review:
Oh my goodness! Where do I even begin! Well, first of all, I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone quite some time ago, and I had purchased that and Days of Blood & Starlight at the same time after reading quite a few raving reviews. However, after I finished Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I started Days of Blood & Starlight and only managed to get about . . . two or three chapters in before I ended up starting another book. Anyway! Fast-forward a couple of months and with finals right around the corner, I needed a serious stress reliever, which for me, means reading!! So, I was looking at my shelf and Daughter of Smoke & Bone caught my eye and I just decided that I'd just go ahead and re-read that one super quick as a little refresher, and to hopefully finish the other two remaining novels in the series.
After finished Daughter of Smoke & Bone for a SECOND TIME (!!) I couldn't wrap my mind around why I didn't finish the other books in the series right then! I mean, that ending!! Needless to say, I have now read Days of Blood & Starlight and have started the third and final installment in the series, Dreams of Gods & Monsters.
Days of Blood & Starlight starts of fairly soon after Daughter of Smoke & Bone ended. The transition was fairly seamless, which was a major bonus. There was no real time jump, which also helped with the seamless transition. SOOOO MUCH happens in this second installment. By the end of Daughter of Smoke & Bone we've learned that Karou/Madrigal has been restored of her memories after her and Akiva broke the wishbone. Akiva ended up destroying all the portals into Karou's old world as well as her all of her friends and family. And . . . Karou is the new resurrectionist after Brimstone's death. Needless to say, my mind was blown . . . multiple times.
Karou's personality, I felt, really changed through the transition from the first to the second book. This may be attributed to the fact that she now has her old memories back. And, after basically all of the Chimaera have been destroyed, guess who has magically managed to survive . . . THIAGO! Wait . . . WHAT?!! Okay, so after reading about Madrigal's memories concerning Thiago, I was a little unsure about how I felt about this. Especially because he is like . . . in charge now, I guess. We'll get to that a little later on.
Meanwhile, Zuzana and Mik are back in the human world, with Zuze going a little crazy after Karou's disappearance. I have to admit, I wasn't too big of a fan of Zuzana during the first book, but I really did grown to love her so much throughout this one. Mainly due to the fact that she is totally hilarious! But also that she loves Karou so much to venture out and find her. Now that is true friendship!
Okay, so on to a little . . . romance (?). Akiva and Karou are apart a lot during this installment (which basically sucked) because Akiva thinks Karou is dead. Meanwhile, Karou is basically being held captive by Thiago and isolated from everything. Thiago, Thiago, Thiago. You sound extremely sexy and seductive . . . but also like a huge jerk! I did want something to happen between you and Karou for quite some time . . . but not the way it actually ended up happening. Thankfully, you got what was coming to you . . .
With an ending like that . . . I definitely recommend having the third installment on hand! Such a whirlwind of emotions after finishing this one! So many crucial things happened! Not quite as great as the first one . . . but still, a solid sequel! Now to see what Dreams of Gods & Monsters has in store for me!!
WARNING! This review contains spoilers from the first installment in this series!
Oh my goodness! Where do I even begin! Well, first of all, I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone quite some time ago, and I had purchased that and Days of Blood & Starlight at the same time after reading quite a few raving reviews. However, after I finished Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I started Days of Blood & Starlight and only managed to get about . . . two or three chapters in before I ended up starting another book. Anyway! Fast-forward a couple of months and with finals right around the corner, I needed a serious stress reliever, which for me, means reading!! So, I was looking at my shelf and Daughter of Smoke & Bone caught my eye and I just decided that I'd just go ahead and re-read that one super quick as a little refresher, and to hopefully finish the other two remaining novels in the series.
After finished Daughter of Smoke & Bone for a SECOND TIME (!!) I couldn't wrap my mind around why I didn't finish the other books in the series right then! I mean, that ending!! Needless to say, I have now read Days of Blood & Starlight and have started the third and final installment in the series, Dreams of Gods & Monsters.
Days of Blood & Starlight starts of fairly soon after Daughter of Smoke & Bone ended. The transition was fairly seamless, which was a major bonus. There was no real time jump, which also helped with the seamless transition. SOOOO MUCH happens in this second installment. By the end of Daughter of Smoke & Bone we've learned that Karou/Madrigal has been restored of her memories after her and Akiva broke the wishbone. Akiva ended up destroying all the portals into Karou's old world as well as her all of her friends and family. And . . . Karou is the new resurrectionist after Brimstone's death. Needless to say, my mind was blown . . . multiple times.
Karou's personality, I felt, really changed through the transition from the first to the second book. This may be attributed to the fact that she now has her old memories back. And, after basically all of the Chimaera have been destroyed, guess who has magically managed to survive . . . THIAGO! Wait . . . WHAT?!! Okay, so after reading about Madrigal's memories concerning Thiago, I was a little unsure about how I felt about this. Especially because he is like . . . in charge now, I guess. We'll get to that a little later on.
Meanwhile, Zuzana and Mik are back in the human world, with Zuze going a little crazy after Karou's disappearance. I have to admit, I wasn't too big of a fan of Zuzana during the first book, but I really did grown to love her so much throughout this one. Mainly due to the fact that she is totally hilarious! But also that she loves Karou so much to venture out and find her. Now that is true friendship!
Okay, so on to a little . . . romance (?). Akiva and Karou are apart a lot during this installment (which basically sucked) because Akiva thinks Karou is dead. Meanwhile, Karou is basically being held captive by Thiago and isolated from everything. Thiago, Thiago, Thiago. You sound extremely sexy and seductive . . . but also like a huge jerk! I did want something to happen between you and Karou for quite some time . . . but not the way it actually ended up happening. Thankfully, you got what was coming to you . . .
With an ending like that . . . I definitely recommend having the third installment on hand! Such a whirlwind of emotions after finishing this one! So many crucial things happened! Not quite as great as the first one . . . but still, a solid sequel! Now to see what Dreams of Gods & Monsters has in store for me!!
