Tuesday, February 19, 2013
“Days of Blood and Starlight” by Laini Taylor (Reviewed by Lydia Roberts)
Read An Excerpt HERE
NOTE: This review contains spoilers related to Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke
and Bone, Book #1 in the trilogy of the
same name.
Series are virtually the norm in the world of YA
Fantasy. Unfortunately, many either lack strong, sensible plots in one or
more of the individual books or fail to provide characters that we care enough
about to follow through turmoil, hardship, or even their day-to-day lives. Fortunately,
Laini Taylor’s Days of Blood and Starlight (Book #2 in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy) indicates that this is one
series that will continue to deliver arresting, relatable characters;
storylines that twist without becoming convoluted; and a world that believably
melds the real and the fantastical from beginning to end.
The story picks up a month after Karou learned the true story of who she was, or more accurately,
who she’d once been: a chimeara, a “demon,” named Madrigal. As Madrigal, she had come to believe that
the never-ending state of war between her people, the chimeara (beings whose
physical appearance reflect different medleys of animalistic and human
characteristics), and the angels (more apocalyptic harbingers than winged
cherubs) who had previously enslaved them, did not have to continue. Both this
understanding, and a plan to unite the two races, stemmed in large part from an
affair with Akiva, a rogue warrior
angel determined to change his killing ways. Unfortunately, things had
gone horribly wrong, and after it appeared that Madrigal was lost to him forever, Akiva used his knowledge of the chimeara to enable the angels to
eradicate nearly the entire race, destroy their lands, and cut them off from
the human world. In an instant, Karou
was made complete with the return of her memories of her past self, but just as
quickly, she was bereft of her life as she knew it, her only family, and her
love—Akiva—who she’d fallen in love with a second time.
Days of Blood and
Starlight has a very different feel from Daughter of Smoke and Bone right from the start. Some of the
new elements worked well, while others? Not so much. While Daughter was told mostly from Karou’s point of view, this one
switched between the perspectives of multiple characters, including Karou, Akiva, and Karou’s human
best friend, Zuzana. I wanted very
much to hate Akiva for what he’d
done, but I couldn’t help but understand his actions somewhat as Taylor delved deeper into his
background, showing how he, his siblings, Hazael
and Liraz, and others like them were
bred and trained from childhood to be emotionless soldiers and to believe that
the chimeara were soulless demons. The grief and guilt that he struggled
with as a result of his actions were convincing, and before long I began to
root for him as he tried to find Karou and
to atone in some way.
The book took a little too long getting to Karou, herself, though. Interspersed
with Akiva’s early chapters, were
several with Zuzana. It was
interesting to see how the human world was dealing with (and exploiting, of
course) proof of the existence of angels and magical flying girls, and it was
nice to see that Zuze was fiercely
loyal and determined to find and help her friend, but knowing what was actually
happening with Karou sooner would
have been more to my liking.
One of the hardest aspects to adjust to in a series like
this is the shift from the established world in the first installment to what
inevitably is the conflict-ridden world of the next book. While Days did have a shift in tone, the time
for out-and-out war will actually take place in the final book. This one
moved out of modern-day Prague (for the most part) and the human world, and
there were battles, but Taylor
continued to build upon the mythology she started—without making it seem like
details were being added as filler to mark time before the conclusion. We learn
more about Eretz and the Empire of
the Seraphim, and the creatures known as the Fallen (one of which Karou plans to use to find a way from
the human world back to the home she only knows in her—Madrigal’s—memories). Taylor answers a lot of questions raised by Daughter (Are the angels going to kill Akiva? What happened to
Brimstone? What other magic exists? What is the angel world like?),
crafts a tale that stands on its own, and weaves in tantalizing bits of
information that leads to more questions, but in a good way, not a frustrating
one.
There are a few too many new characters who share the
spotlight, and that is something that frustrated me because I wanted the focus
to stay on Karou. However, the
series is about more than just two star-crossed lovers, and I can appreciate
that. I am very much looking forward to the final book, and I hope that Laini Taylor keeps a balanced approach
to presenting fighting and developing characters.
Days of Blood and
Starlight: B+
Daughter of Smoke and
Bone: A+
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
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4 comments:
Oh its so unfortunate when a seqel doesn't stand up to the first one. I still plan on reading these of course.
Pabkins @ My Shelf Confessions
It was definitely a different tone from the first book. At the beginning I was anxious for Karou chapters, but without all of Zuzana's chapters I think the book would have been too dark. Also, when we did get to Karou, her thoughtlessness annoyed me. I loved the perspectives of Akiva's siblings, but there were a lot of new perspectives to adjust to.
It is definitely worth the read, and I am anxiously awaiting the next book.
It is brilliant, i cant wait for the next book!