Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series

Daughter of Smoke & Bone * Days of Blood & Starlight * Night of Cake & Puppets *
Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Publish Date: November 06th, 2012

Publisher: Hachette Audio, Audible Audio | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format Reviewed: Audiobook
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Narrated By: Khristine Hvam
Author’s Goodreads
Author's Website
My Review on Goodreads

Introduction

Now that Karou knows who she is, she joins the chimaera fight against the angels, just as she had in her previous life. As their resurrectionist, she follows in Brimstone's footsteps and fights for peace. However, as hard as she works and as valuable as her services are, not all the chimaera are to be trusted. Not all the chimaera have forgiven Madgril for falling in love with an angel. Akiva, meanwhile, is with the angels again, but not completely. He too is fighting for a way to end the war without more bloodshed. 

Trigger Warning (Sexual Assault)

Before I go further, there is a long scene of (attempted) sexual assault. If this isn't for you, you might want to skip this book, or skip the pages/times spans of it. While this event does influence the story directly after it, I didn't like that it was so detailed and it went on forever. Personally, I would have liked it to have been written so that the reader knows what's happening without all the details.

But, there was an awful lot of implied rape in other parts of the book. So if this is something that truly bothers a reader, this might be hard to read.

Love

The love here was...complicated. With good reason. I personally like revenge more, but that wouldn't make an intriguing book because Karou can't just kill Akiva. Did her sad internal monologue go on too long? Yes. Did the other potential love interest replace him? No. It was awkward and I didn't want to hear about how much he liked her as a young boy. But this other love interest did some amazing things otherwise and is an awesome character.   

Ressurection/Magic

This book gives you some more information on how resurrection and their magic works. I still have way too many questions about how resurrection works (making a body for a soul, and then the body isn't right anyway and the original form takes over anyway?). At least we can learn what teeth are for. Although, again, Karou's inner monologue about the monstrosities she is creating got very old.

I know, it's weird, Karou, but he's battle-ready.

Final Verdict  

With the exception of the trigger warning, I did enjoy this book. It is just as beautifully written as the first book. I feel that it is needlessly padded with repeated thoughts of uncertainty regarding Akiva, how war is bad, etc. There are also some more characters that are introduced and some of them (the ones introduced in the beginning) just don't really go anywhere. Once they run away to safety, that's it. It bogs down the story quite a bit. However, the core story is still great. The ending is absolutely crazy and I can't wait to listen to the next book.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series

Daughter of Smoke & Bone * Days of Blood & Starlight * Night of Cake & Puppets *
Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Publish Date: September 27th, 2011
Publisher: Hachette Audio, Audible Audio | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Audiobook
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author: Laini Taylor

Narrated By: Khristine Hvam
Author’s Goodreads

Author's Website

My Review on Goodreads

Introduction

If you knew Karou, you'd know she's raised by what she calls monsters, and she loves them dearly. She fills her sketchbooks with them, human-animal hybrids, and after art school and hanging out with friends, she goes to her father's shop. Her father, Brimstone, the goat-ox hybrid, is a wish monger who trades impossible wishes for teeth. And Karou runs his errands, collecting teeth from those willing to part with them, until everything is interrupted by old foes, old war, and old lovers.

Setting - Prague

I really enjoyed that it was set in a place I am unfamiliar with. Not that there's anything bad with writing what you know, but I've had enough of Canada and the US. I was lost for a bit with all the different names/terms, but I grew to love the unfamiliarity of it. Taylor uses enough local sights, food, etc, so you can look stuff up if you want to, but she gives enough context that you can understand what she's talking about.

Fantasy Elements

I think the best part of this book is the fantastical elements. The chimaeras, the human-animal hybrids, are imaginative in their character designs and have robust personalities, my favourite being Brimstone. Then there are the otherworldly elements of the space Karou and her family live in, what wishes are and what they can do, and everything about Karou's existence.

Writing

This seems to be what throws people off of Taylor's writing. The author uses a lot of smilies and metaphors, and flowery writing, which I quite like, but I get that the preference lately is to have less flourish. I did find it to be a bit long, though. It took me a few months to finish it, and that only happened because I moved out of the city so my commute to work doubled. A little too much description bogged down the flow. (Alas, I am conflicted, because I also loved hearing about the new locales and people...)

Love

Eh. I didn't love the love here. Dude is trying to kill her, then he...pines for her. Then they meet up again and she...lets him hang around?

But.

I love what happens after.

Final Verdict

I enjoyed that this book didn't plunk you in as an outsider that needs everything explained right away. It kept the mystery going and in the meantime, we got to see Karou go about her life, which includes school, exes, then running her family's errands. I could devour books based just on her life before it falls apart. I still feel like the first part of the book is vastly different from the second. I enjoyed both parts, but you could keep me in the day-to-day life of Karou forever and I'd be happy. Ultimately, I highly recommend this book if you like longer fantasy, paranormal, or urban fantasy stories. If you don't like these genres, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because it is a lot to take in. But if this sounds intriguing to you, I highly recommend it. BTW, the narrator for this audiobook (Khristine Hvam) is FANTASTIC.