Review: Days of Blood & Starlight

Title: Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)
Author: Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Fantasy

See it at Goodreads


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?


There was no doubt in my mind that Daughter of Smoke & Bone was probably one of my favorites last year. It’s a rare occasion for me to go out and buy a brand new, just-released book due to hype, but I felt an instant pull to it and I’m glad I’d given it that chance. I think it’s well worth the hype. So, needless to say, I grew antsy the last year waiting for the sequel to come out so I could just find out what’s going to happen to our blue-haired heroine and this strangely unique angel-being of hers. I was nervous. I get this condition I call “second book syndrome” almost too easily when it comes to series. I often find it hard to continue a series because of this, unless the sequel is just as good as the first…or better. And I didn’t want my awe from Daughter of Smoke & Bone to be taken away with a bad sequel. I was terrified of disappointment, but I went rushing right to it anyway.

Days of Blood & Starlight did disappoint me in some ways. Unfortunately, I can’t go into many details. I want to stay spoiler-free, and that can be difficult when it comes to reviewing sequels. I can say this: the writing style felt different from the first page. Perhaps it had a lot to do with the new style in general. Days is told in a few POVs from characters, rather than only Karou’s like it’d been in Daughter. The writing itself is still beautiful and crafty, very visual, but it’s slow. That’s a warning. It takes time and patience with this one before you may find yourself back into the story. It took me almost two hundred pages before I finally started to truly devour the book. I can understand any frustrations a reader might have if their book is slow-going in the beginning. But hang tight. Once it gets there, it really gets there. And then you’re off with a bang into Taylor’s amazing characters and world-building all over again. By the end, I found myself wondering if I liked Days better than Daughter, and I honestly can’t answer the question, even now…weeks after I’ve finished reading. Days felt different to me on some levels, but in a good way. It was thought-provoking. I learned to love new characters. I lost some and felt a deep heartache. I laughed. I cried. I learned.

If you enjoyed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, don’t miss out on Days of Blood & Starlight. It’s completely worth it.