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?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone ends with Karou leaving Akiva in the hopes of saving her family. In Days of Blood and Starlight, we pick up with Karou in Eretz…working with the White Wolf. Karou now views Akiva as her sworn enemy and while she still despises the White Wolf, she’s willing to build his army for him. It’s what Brimstone would’ve wanted, she tells herself. While Karou and Thiago steadily rebuild their army and launch terror attacks on the angels, Akiva finds he may not be the only angel sick of war. As he works to keep the smallest sliver of hope alive, Karou adamantly works against with, though the two want only the same thing: a future for their people.

Though I absolutely loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I was blown away by just how powerful Days of Blood and Starlight is. Emotions run high in this second installment and every chapter threatened to break my heart a little more. Well, with the exception of the chapters from Zuzana’s point of view, which offer brief respites in an otherwise dark and nearly-hopeless world. I was a big fan of Laini Taylor’s point of view switches, as she balanced the characters well and gave us a chance to really see all sides of war. Some of the most important chapters are those from minor civilian characters, like the sheep-aspect chimaera just trying to make their way to safety when attacked by angels or the Breakblades that ensure the Emperor receives his women every night. These chapters really allowed us to see this world from every perspective and fully understand that nothing happening within these pages is black and white.

As far as our main characters go, my heart ached for poor Karou. She loses everything and gives herself over to what she thinks is the best course of action, though she understands she probably isn’t doing the right thing. It’s too hard to know what is right anymore. But despite being perhaps the physically weakest chimaera in the novel, she is by far the strongest character and it’s nice to see her particular strengths shine through even when she’s almost given up hope. Karou seems, if anything, more real in this novel. She acknowledges that she’s no leader or rebel, but just a girl with an idea for a better future who needs help making that future a reality. For some reason, this is one of my favorite aspects of the novel, Karou’s struggle with wanting to create change without being the leader of it. Because she’s right — she’s not the most charismatic or motivational person; she’s not the strongest; she has no taste for war or strategy. She just has hope and she wants to instill that hope in others. This really elevates the novel and the series to a whole new level for me.

Speaking of which, Taylor does a great job of unifying the novel around the theme of hope. I don’t think an author has ever so thoroughly torn me apart, only to offer me a sliver of hope that I so easily grab onto. In the hands of a lesser author, this novel would be a mess and I wouldn’t trust the author enough to believe in the ending. But Taylor is a master story-teller who knows just when to pull back and when to throw everything at us. Her writing style is gripping and lyrical; I can’t get enough of her.

If my heart’s breaking for Karou, it’s mangled into unidentifiable bits for Akiva. He’s no unnaturally perfect, pretty-boy love interest. He’s a complex person with a host of visceral emotions and the need to atone for everything he’s done. I sympathize with him more than any other character and I just want what’s best for him, though I’m afraid he’ll never get that. He’s the leader Karou isn’t. I’m so proud of the strides he makes in Days of Blood and Starlight and I know he’ll go on to do great things in the next installment of this series. But please, Laini Taylor, I beg of you, allow him at least one smile. Or a thousand. But at least one. He deserves it.

Zuzana and Mik are great characters in this book. They bring a very human element to a world otherwise populated with monsters (not that the chimaera are necessarily monsters, but Thiago and his minions definitely are, along with the angels’ Emperor and Jael). The couple are funny, romantic, and a constant reminder of the lives Karou and Akiva want for their people. Plus, they’re straight-up interesting.

Like before, I’ll warn readers that this book is even more graphic than the last, though not tastelessly so. The violence is devastating, but real. This is a book of war, of nations fall apart, but also of hope, and two nations looking to rebuild. This is easily my new favorite series and absolutely worth every second of your time.

Pages: 517
Publication Date: November 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Source: Publisher
Rating :

Teaser: “‘So,’ he called to her back, ‘Just out of curiosity, you know, purely conversation and all, at what age will you be entertaining offers of marriage?’“

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Karou has always been…different. And not just because of her aquamarine hair. All her life, the only family she’s known are chimaera, creatures made up of multiple animal and human parts; by human definition: monsters. But Karou doesn’t see them as monsters; she loves these creatures, Issa with her serpent body and the huge, hulking Brimstone. Karou fills her days with art school and running errands for Brimstone, often dangerous errands wherein she procures…teeth. She doesn’t know what the teeth are for (animal and human), but she does as Brimstone wishes.That is, until angels make their way to Karou’s world and incinerate the portals Karou uses to reach her family. One particular angel, Akiva, is confused by Karou and sets out to kill her for aiding his sworn enemy, but when the two finally face off, he finds he can’t do it. There’s something familiar about Karou, a feeling he can’t quite shake. Through Akiva, Karou learns of a centuries-old war between angels and chimaera that she now finds herself in the middle of. Choosing a side should be easy, until Karou learns Brimstone’s been hiding secrets from her, secrets about who she really is.

I can’t believe it took me this long to pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And yet, crazily enough, I wish I’d waited even longer because now I’m obsessed and the third book in the series isn’t due until next year. I cannot handle that much suspense. But, in case you haven’t already guessed, I’m in love with this book and these characters. Going into the first chapter, I had no expectations. The synopsis isn’t very telling, but the cover was cool and I’d heard plenty of positive reviews. I just didn’t know what kind of world or plot to expect.

Straight up originality it what I received. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is unlike any other book I’ve read in years. Laini Taylor’s take on angels is fresh and invigorating. I don’t think I’ve read about chimaera…ever. These new plot points and ideas immediately captured my interest so that there was no chance of putting down the book once I started. But then there are the politics behind the war between the two races. I’m a sucker for well-laid-out war books. I like having both sides presented to me equally, their flaws and strong points presented for the reader to choose. There’s no black and white here, only gray, which makes the book and Karou’s particular situation endlessly fascinating. I love the way Taylor offers up both sides sympathetically so that we fully understand why Karou’s choice is so hard. Plus, Taylor’s super specific details ensure the reality of this world and highlights the sad truths of war.

Karou is an amazing protagonist. One of the first things I fell in love with was her honesty. Whenever she’s questioned about the unreal aspects of her life, she tells the truth with a quick smirk. When a waitress asks her how she managed to fly, Karou answers, “I really was flying,” with her trademark smirk. As soon as I read about this, I wondered why more characters in YA haven’t caught onto this trend. Think about it: so many shady things happen in YA fiction; vampires are secretive about their desire for blood; werewolves hide their transformation or their wolf-like characteristics; telekinetic characters blame a falling lamp on the wind. And in all these books, it’s so very obvious that these characters are hiding ENORMOUS SECRETS and yet no one ever calls them out. Our protagonists think to themselves, “Huh. That’s weird. There’s something off about him but he’s sooo dreamy,” while we’re yelling at our books, “How stupid can you be?” So, I guess, I appreciate that not only is Karou not stupid, but neither are the people in her world. When something weird happens, people point it out. And when Karou can’t easily cover up an unexplainable phenomenon, she doesn’t. Simple. Believable. Refreshing.

But Karou is awesome for a host of other reasons. She can defend herself. She’s snarky and witty. She’s suspicious (a trait sorely lacking in many YA females). She acts out like any teenager, makes mistakes, but is loyal to her family and friends and never stops trying to help others. And Taylor doesn’t just give us Karou; she also gives us Karou’s best friend, Zuzana, an insanely likable and tough friend. Zuze is not sidekick and she’s definitely not afraid to call Karou on her bullshit. She’s a force to be reckoned with and a person Karou absolutely needs in her life, as well as a person we need for comedic quips and jabs. Karou couldn’t get any luckier than having Zuze for a best friend, and I came to love her just as much as Karou and, later, to appreciate Zuze’s budding relationship with Mik. It’s easy to see that the two deserve each other and that Karou deserves a positive relationship role-model.

Speaking of relationships, Akiva is as smoldering a love interest as any. At first, there’s a slight fear of insta-love, but the further into the book you get, the more you come to trust Laini Taylor and realize she would never make that mistake. As I held out for the end and the answers I knew she would provide, I wasn’t disappointed. Well, I mean, I was, because the ending is absurdly heart-wrenching, but I was happy to see the relationship fully developed and in such an interesting style. Speaking of which, Taylor’s writing style is remarkable; her prose is beautiful, succinct, and poetic. She describes her fascinating settings in intricate details, yet cuts to the point of her plots, allowing her a smooth read that’ll sate any book-lover’s desires. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a must-read for fantasy and paranormal lovers. I admit, it does get a little graphic in its violence at parts, but all the devastation is realistic and necessary to the story’s development. The characters, settings, and conflicts are rich and captivating. This is a book I plan to read again and again.

Pages: 417
Publication Date: September 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Source: Purchased
Rating :

Teaser: “She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil’s lair. She wasn’t innocent now, but she didn’t know what to do about it. This was her life: magic and shame and secrets and teeth and a deep, nagging hollow at the center of herself where something was most certainly missing.“

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

A few years after Katy’s dad died, her mom up and moved her from Sunny Florida to the middle of nowhere West Virginia. Trying to fit in, Katy goes next door to introduce herself to her hunky neighbor, Daemon, only to receive a less than friendly welcome. Daemon is infuriating, and seems to hate Katy with a passion. Why? Katy has no idea! It’s not like she’s done anything to him. So she went and knocked on his door to ask where the grocery store was. So sue her.

After befriending Daemon’s sister, Dee (much to his dismay), the two are forced to spend more time with eachother than they ever desired. Not only that, but they are stuck in a couple of classes together! Now Katy has to battle being the new kid in an underpopulated city and having the hottest guy she’s ever seen hate her guts.

The thing with being Dee’s best friend means that Daemon and Katy are forced to spend time with eachother. Dee is determined to make them be nice to one another, and she goes to great lengths to attempt to make that happen. One night (while arguing with Daemon, of course) Katy finds herself in a situation that could end her life. Except….that doesn’t happen. Nope. Instead, she finds out that Daemon, Dee, and the rest of their friends and family are aliens. Yep, you heard correctly. Aliens.

Turns out that once an alien demonstrates their powers around a human, that human gets a sort of trace on them. The trace makes them glow like the fourth of July, which attracts the aliens (or Luxens) enemies, The Arum. Now Katy has to spend even more time with Daemon to stay protected, but she soon finds out that that might not be as bad as she once thought…

 

I have heard a lot of positive things about the Lux series during this past year, but I always strayed away from them. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it had to do something with the aliens. Most of the main characters in this series are aliens, and that might have convinced me not to read the series. I don’t know. But what I do know is that this is one of the very best series that I have ever read.

Daemon….oh, Daemon. I don’t even know how to begin to tell you all how HOT this guy is! Daemon is infuriating, sexy, gorgeous, sarcastic, a definite smart ass, brilliant, glowy, a jerk, and a romantic all bunched up together. I’ve fallen in love with many male characters before, but I don’t think I’ve fallen this hard since Jace from The Mortal Instruments. Daemon is at the top for me, and he definitely made this series.

I can’t just lay it all on Daemon, though, because I loved ALL of the characters! Katy…..such a brilliant lead character! She reminded me a little bit of Bella from Twilight because of how timid she could be, but I still loved her! Dee, Ash, Adam, Andrew? Matthew….I loved them all. I will say that it took me a little bit to warm up to Daemon’s sister, Dee. I was really on the fence with her during the first book, but I loved her by the time the second book started. All of the characters are just so special. I really don’t know how Jennifer L. Armentrout created such a lovely world.

The only downfall about this book is that it is very similar to Twilight. Girl meets different male species, girl falls in love with said male, danger comes after female, male protects female. Katy was Bella, and Dee….Dee was SO Alice! Ash was Rose, Adam was kind of like Jasper..Andrew? Is that his name? He was like Emmett. Then you have Matthew who was just like Carlisle. I wouldn’t compare Daemon to Edward…but you get the gist. I definitely noticed the similarities in the book, but I looked past it because of how GOOD the book was! I have talked to people who were really bugged by how similar the two books were, though.

I loved loved LOVED that Katy was a blogger! I know it’s silly, but I got irrationally excited over the fact that she blogged, got excited over ARC’s, etc. I even went fangirl when she was doing her WOW and IMM posts. This really won’t affect those of you who don’t blog, but those who do will LOVE this!

The romance between Daemon and Katy was so special. I had my fangirl face on for like…well…it’s still on because I’m about to read the third book, Opal. This was probably one of the best romances I have ever read. In fact, THIS was/is my fangirl face.

I don’t have anything bad to say about this series. I LOVED IT! The only reason it got bumped down to a 4.5 is because the final product has several grammatical errors, which I just can’t look past. I would encourage every single one of you to go out and buy or borrow this series. You will NOT be disappointed!

Pages: 361

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Publication Date: May 8th, 2012

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote: “Aliens—if they exist—are little green men with big eyes and spindly arms or…or giant insects or something like a lumpy
little creature.” Daemon let out a loud laugh. “ET?”
“Yes! Like ET, asshole. I’m so glad you find this funny.”

“Will you show me what you really look like? You don’t sparkle, do you?”