Days of B
lood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Genre: Fantasy
Published by: Little Brown Books
Pages: 513
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
This book has been sitting on my shelf for the longest time, even though I absolutely loved the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I’d put it on my Autumn TBR, however, so it needed to be read this month – which meant I had to read a 500+ page book after reading as many under 250 page novels as I could!
There was just as much mystery and plot twists in the sequel as the first book, which I was surprised abut, because I didn’t think there could be any more surprises. I’d say that Days of Blood and Starlight definitely isn’t your typical sequel, it was just as thought-out and just as gripping, and I only have high hopes for the final instalment. I’d say that although there were slow sections, they would seemlessly link into the faster paced action-scenes that mean I literally could not put the book down, even though it took some considerable deliberation to actually pick up the book in the first place.
Laini Taylor has a way of transporting the reader into an entiely different world. There are fantastical elements, but nothing is hard to believe and I absolutely love how different the world of the chimera is to anything I’ve ever read before. The world building is incredible, and the characters are beautifully written, so much so that it’s hard to say anything bad about it!
Karou is one of my favourite characters, and her relationship is Akiva is so complex. My heart was ripped in two in Days of Blood and Starlight, thanks to where the relationship cut off in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I was left wanting a lot more, but I think considering the circumstances that the ‘yes-no-maybe’ attitudes that Karou had were appropriate and understandable. For once I actually enjoyed the deliberation. What I loved most is that, whereas Karou is questioning, Akiva is not. He is completely resolute in his feelings, and it was refreshing to read such a devoted point of view.
I loved how well the third person work with the storyline. Reading Days of Blood and Strarlight is like being transported into a different world, and the third person perspective means that we can jump between the different viewpoints. At first I was sad that it wasn’t just Akiva and Karou, but I really loved the Zuzanna and Mik POVs as I definitely did not want to lose them. Also the minor characters’ perspectives were relevant, although at first it seemed like we were with them for no reason.
Overall, I can not wait until the final book in the series to come out in paperback, and I can’t believe I have to wait until March! Karou’s story is definitely one that I would recommend to any one. Even if you’re not the biggest fantasy fan, you absolutely have to read the series for the amazing writing!
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