Review: Days of Blood & Starlight

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

[Edited 4/11/2016]

Not enough words can convey how much I love this book.

Okay! So! I decided my previous review didn't make any justice to this wonderful book, it was just too emotional and all over the place. With that in mind, I'll write another one without spoilers and that grabs the essence of the book better.

Laini Taylor is a genious, let's just start there. This is the second book in a trilogy, but Laini Taylor gives us world building in a way that doesn't become boring but that reminds us of everything that was going on, so that the world of seraphim and chaemeras doesn't come with a "bang." With that, we can see the way she perfectly crafted her world AND her characters.

All of her characters are so well written it almost becomes silly. We have Akiva, and Karou, and Thiago, and Zuzana and Mik and everyone else and all their motives, emotions, feelings, are perfectly clear and justifiable. Nothing in this book was random or by chance, everything clicks together, everything makes sense.

It is still a sad book in a time of war, and so the rare happy moments become precious. If you want to read it thinking romance is the main point, it isn't. Seraphim and chaemeras are in the middle of a war, and it gets to you. You can almost feel what it's like to BE at war through the characters, whether it's from Karou's standpoint or from Akiva, or from side characters who are introduced to us so we can have a good view at what a war does to people from both sides. And all that emotion made me cry, more than once, for the very first time with a book.

Also, if you were a bit confused with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, even though (at least for me) everything made perfect sense at the end, this book has a whole different feeling to it and, once again, there are no loose ends.

And that's why Laini Taylor is a genius, because of the way she delivers emotions and how she makes them feel so real just through words. It's a beautiful book, beautifully written because Laini really knows how to describe settings and emotions, and it doesn't fail one bit to amaze. It's simply perfect in every single aspect, and so it fully deserves 5 stars.



[Old review, written 31/10/2016]
This was awesome! Such a rollercoaster of emotions! Laini Taylor promises and she delivers, without fault! I have to say, the little poems dividing the "parts" of the book are beautifully done. The only thing I somewhat felt was missing was romance, but it just wouldn't look "good" in a story like this one (hope people don't consider this as a spoiler)! But this book made me cry, and I had never cried with a book!
(view spoiler)[I just love love love the constant feeling of war and, I have to be honest, the whole sadness that fills this book. Everyone is just sad all the time, except Zuzana and Mik, who come to lighten up our world and Karou's life. They're a breath of fresh air delivered at the right time. Another character who's never sad is Thiago. He's so hateful, so disgusting, so what happened to him serves him right, although I wish he had suffered a little more. Still, he's dead and that's all that matters. People can't imagine my shock when I saw he was "back", I could swear I was more pained than Akiva when he saw how Karou looked at him. Good thing we learn soon after that it's Ziri, but poor Ziri, being in Thiago's body... I almost wish Karou and Ziri end up together, he's just so lovable, but Karou and Akiva belong together so I had this crazy idea of seeing Ziri with Liraz. Could that be possible? I can definitely see it happening in the future, with Ziri's real body. Now, as I said, this was the first book that made me cry. First time was when Bast thanked Karou, and no one had thanked her before. That made me real tearful. Then, of course, when Zuze and Mik left. And! As a final part, when Akiva and Liraz understood Karou couldn't bring their brother back. That made me really mad as well, Hazael deserved to be happy. But that's war! And how hateful is Jael, and how smart he is, to be honest. Akiva was set up really well and it delivered another shocking turning point that won't be good for us here on Earth. It can be good, on one side, as Akiva and Karou, Seraphins and Chimaeras, are finally united against a common enemy. I just hope they end up together in the third book and NO ONE DIES, a love like theirs deserves to live on. Akiva deserves so so much to be happy, he suffered so much since he was born and he always tries so hard to do the right thing. It really got me anytime Laini described Akiva while he was suffering, which was the permanent state he was in this entire book - suffering. So I just want to see him with Karou all happy and fluffy! What really made me curious was the queen of the Stelians! I want to see the role she'll have and how it will influence the pending war on Earth as she felt Akiva's magic, and how these two characters will connect. To end, I really hope Thiago stays really really dead, and never comes back. I just have a feeling Jael (serves him right, what Festival (!!!!) did to him but it somehow didn't deviate him from his ways) will be... ehm... disgusting enough to fill in Thiago's spot as the repulsive villain. (hide spoiler)]
This was a big review! And I still feel like I haven't fully expressed my feelings about this book. They are so many! Sorry about the extensive lenght of this review (it's my first one ever holy), but please DO GIVE this series a chance, it's perfect, it has romance and sadness, war and moments of peace (filled with sadness, ah), and even comedy in the middle, believe it or not. Laini Taylor is a perfect writer.

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