Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Paranormal
Number of Pages: 513
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
Synopsis: 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.
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?
Discussion: Days of Blood and Starlight was just as good as the first book. The setting still isn’t the USA or UK. And even though Karou flees Prague and goes to the chimaera, and then they go somewhere else, it’s a cool setting: Morocco.
So what else did I like about this book?
Zuzana and Mik
They are Karou’s best friends, and I was very glad that the book started from their POV. [The beginning scene is quite funny, actually. Zuzana is trying to convince Mik to pee on Kaz. XD] The two add much needed humor, and light in Karou’s life. Zuze and Mik get along pretty well with other people and are quite easygoing, so I wasn’t too surprised when the chimaera liked them better than Karou. Mik could play his violin for them, too, which they liked.
POVs
This book has a lot of POVs. And not just one, or two, but a lot. You have Zuzana and Mik, Karou, Akiva, Liraz, random wild chimaera, Ziri, random angel [I think], random person, and group of random people. And that’s all I can remember. At least eight or nine. But I really liked the POVs. Unlike DoSB, where it’s only Akiva and Karou, you get to know what the opposing side is doing.
The White Wolf and Karou
[I’m not talking about their characters, but their relationship.] Thiago, AKA White Wolf, was in love with Karou when she was Madrigal. But she loved Akiva, and he got angry. He is very greedy and wants to get everything he desires. So when Karou comes to be with the chimaera, he is still very “in love” with her. But it isn’t really love in my opinion.
I compared it to Snape and Lily’s relationship from Harry Potter. Snape is in love with Lily, but Lily loves James. Unlike DoSB, Lily and James die, leaving their son. Snape is absolutely devastated and then is mean to Harry.
In DoSB, Thiago becomes quite obsessed with Karou, as Snape does with Lily. He’s not really stalking her, but he tries to be near her a lot and things like that. That happens with Madrigal. Then, when Karou comes, he thinks he can win her back [even though he killed her].
He can’t. DUH.
But back to the point. That “love” Thiago has for Karou and Snape has for Lily is not real. Maybe in the beginning it was, especially with Snape, but soon it became a desire to have what they want. I think Thiago never really loved Karou the way Snape loved Lily in the beginning. He just wanted her because she was pure and Kirin. Maybe he saw other things in her, but that was the only evidence suggesting his “love” for her.
Can I just talk about a spoiler for a second?
*SPOILER ALERT*
When Thiago attempts to rape Karou, that is further proof that he does not love her. He just wants to win her so he can get what he wants. And the rape was a) digusting and b) not something I thought would happen, but when it did, it kind of made sense.
And then she kills him.
I was so happy; you don’t even know. I was like, “Die, die, die!” And she did it. :D Oh, nad the part about putting Ziri’s soul into Thiago’s body? Brilliant.
*SPOILER OVER*
This book was amazing. You better read it if you haven’t. [After DoSB, of course.]
Have you read this series? Will you now? Any more thoughts? Tell me in the comments below.