Melissa B. (Phantene) reviewed Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Bk 2) on + 72 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A worthy sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. The author has a fantastic imagination, and I look forward to her next book.
Melissa B. (dragoneyes) -
Helpful Score: 1
The first book in this series was awesome and this one is as well. It picks up soon after the first book ends and from there it is a wild ride.
Karou and Akiva have went their separate ways to join up with their own people. As the battle between old enemies start up again, they find that there is good and bad in everyone no matter who side you are fighting for. Sometimes you just have to decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong.
Even though I noticed a lot of reviewers upset about how Karou treated Akiva, I personally can understand it. What he did was horrific no matter what. Even though we the readers can see how sorry he is, it doesn't mean that Karou can or even cares right now. He help cause the deaths of ones she loved and that can leave a big hole in your heart.
As usual, Laini's writing is superb! She hasn't written a book yet that I haven't loved. Can't wait for the 3rd installment on this one!
Karou and Akiva have went their separate ways to join up with their own people. As the battle between old enemies start up again, they find that there is good and bad in everyone no matter who side you are fighting for. Sometimes you just have to decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong.
Even though I noticed a lot of reviewers upset about how Karou treated Akiva, I personally can understand it. What he did was horrific no matter what. Even though we the readers can see how sorry he is, it doesn't mean that Karou can or even cares right now. He help cause the deaths of ones she loved and that can leave a big hole in your heart.
As usual, Laini's writing is superb! She hasn't written a book yet that I haven't loved. Can't wait for the 3rd installment on this one!
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
And here, my interest in this series comes to an end. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a heart-pounding whirlwind of an introduction into a magically complex double-world and a fascinating protagonist. DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT took all that and beat it into the ground until it turned into dust. All. At. A. Very. Slow. Pace.
I think my interest started waning upon Karou and Akiva breaking the wishbone in Book 1. Since then, the narrative has drowned in a pathetic ocean of romantic angst. I dont mind moping so long as there are other things going on in the story, but theres nothingrepeat, nothingto alleviate the patheticness that continues to emanate from Karou and Akiva. Karou spends the whole of Book 2 basically a prisoner in an isolated castle in the deserts of Morocco, helping Thiago exact his brutal plan of revenge against the angels. And yet I couldnt bring myself to feel sorry for her. I probably could have if it seemed like there was more to her than just her apocalyptic feelings regarding Akivas betrayal. But I didnt see it.
Taylors writing tries to take on this objective observer tone to allow readers to feel their own horror at the scenes of warfare that unfold. It only sort of works. A heart-wrenching chapter or two in the midst of more plot, more action would have been great. It would have been the literary equivalent of poignant silence in the midst of a Hollywood warfare movie. Instead, DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT chooses to string several dozen of these chapters together to make up the majority of the bookwith the result that its attempt to move readers into lingering contemplation over the horrors of the war gets drowned.
Poignant chapters, great love, and musings over war are all great, and necessary, but they need to be done in moderation. DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT did not do any with moderation. And as a result it made what should have been an enjoyable, moving, and tear-jerking read into a slog.
I think my interest started waning upon Karou and Akiva breaking the wishbone in Book 1. Since then, the narrative has drowned in a pathetic ocean of romantic angst. I dont mind moping so long as there are other things going on in the story, but theres nothingrepeat, nothingto alleviate the patheticness that continues to emanate from Karou and Akiva. Karou spends the whole of Book 2 basically a prisoner in an isolated castle in the deserts of Morocco, helping Thiago exact his brutal plan of revenge against the angels. And yet I couldnt bring myself to feel sorry for her. I probably could have if it seemed like there was more to her than just her apocalyptic feelings regarding Akivas betrayal. But I didnt see it.
Taylors writing tries to take on this objective observer tone to allow readers to feel their own horror at the scenes of warfare that unfold. It only sort of works. A heart-wrenching chapter or two in the midst of more plot, more action would have been great. It would have been the literary equivalent of poignant silence in the midst of a Hollywood warfare movie. Instead, DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT chooses to string several dozen of these chapters together to make up the majority of the bookwith the result that its attempt to move readers into lingering contemplation over the horrors of the war gets drowned.
Poignant chapters, great love, and musings over war are all great, and necessary, but they need to be done in moderation. DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT did not do any with moderation. And as a result it made what should have been an enjoyable, moving, and tear-jerking read into a slog.
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Bk 2) on + 2527 more book reviews
This is the second book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. A third book is scheduled to be published in 2013. I really did not enjoy this book as much as the first book in the series, it was just so scattered and depressing. Definitely dont start with this book, start with The Daughter of Smoke and Bone or you will be totally lost.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent. The narrator captured different character voices well and was easy to follow. It wasnt a spectacular audiobook but it was good enough.
Karou is still in shock from events in the last book and is using her resurrection skills to help the White Wolf, Thiago, rebuild a new and more gruesome army of Chimera to battle the angels and seek revenge. Akiva believes Karou is dead and is doing his best to atone for all the damage he did to the Chimera by diverting and undercutting some of the Angelic attacks he leads.
I had a lot of problems with this book. The constant POV switching kind of gave me whiplash and really broke up the story. The other thing that fractures the story is the erratic time changes and jumping around. Taylor will leave an event hanging and then come back some time in the future to resume that character's POV, then she'll have them go back to explain what happened in the gap after they've been telling the story in the current time. It makes for kind of a fractured mess.
The descriptions are still beautifully written at points and the world very detailed and creative. This world has become epic and massive. We end up reading about a lot of politics in both the Chimera and Angelic regions.
I still am having trouble enjoying Karou and Akiva as characters. Karou is so passive and makes the glaring error of never trying to leverage the service only she can provide to bargain with Thiago. She spends a good 3/4s of the book whining and being inactive; when she does take action it is to destroy and distance those around her.
Akiva is a bit better, at least he is trying to help save lives throughout the book. Still it takes him a good 3/4s of the way through the book to actually take decisive action. He is still way too emotional and angsty for me.
The two characters that really lighten, and at times made, the story for me were Zusana and Mik. Zusana and Mik do bring some light and fun to the story. They are both way more interesting than Akiva and Karou and a lot more fun to read about. I am still not entirely sure what the purpose of them being in the story was, but I do think the story was better for their presence in it.
Things are so dark and so violent in the story that at times I felt like the violence was more than actually necessary. This is one bleak story, so don't come to this book looking for anything even remotely uplifting. It is truly the most depressing book I have read this year. Some scenes are so violent and emotionally wrenching that they actually made my stomach turn. There is also an attempted rape scene that is very violent, so just a heads up.
Taylor over explains a lot of the characters emotions as well. It comes off as patronizing at points. As a reader we understand that the tears a character is shedding means they are sad; we dont need the fact that they are sad spelled out in multiple sentences following the fact. There are a number of places in the book where I felt like things were over-explained and ended up rolling my eyes and thinking okay I get it already. lets get on with the story.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, like the last one. Again I am not a fan of cliffhangers...I think books should have some sort of resolution so that readers come back to read a series because they enjoy the authors writing and the story.
Overall I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I guess I didnt realize how much I disliked this book until I sat down to write the review. I really dont have much positive to say about it. I do think Taylors writing is beautiful at points and I think the world she has created is incredibly creative. I have problems with the bleakness of the story, the inactivity of the lead characters, and the way the multiple POVs and jumps in time fracture the story. By the end of the book I thought the whole thing was kind of a mess and really didnt care at all what happened to these characters. Given all of my problems with this story I probably wont read the final installment in this series.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent. The narrator captured different character voices well and was easy to follow. It wasnt a spectacular audiobook but it was good enough.
Karou is still in shock from events in the last book and is using her resurrection skills to help the White Wolf, Thiago, rebuild a new and more gruesome army of Chimera to battle the angels and seek revenge. Akiva believes Karou is dead and is doing his best to atone for all the damage he did to the Chimera by diverting and undercutting some of the Angelic attacks he leads.
I had a lot of problems with this book. The constant POV switching kind of gave me whiplash and really broke up the story. The other thing that fractures the story is the erratic time changes and jumping around. Taylor will leave an event hanging and then come back some time in the future to resume that character's POV, then she'll have them go back to explain what happened in the gap after they've been telling the story in the current time. It makes for kind of a fractured mess.
The descriptions are still beautifully written at points and the world very detailed and creative. This world has become epic and massive. We end up reading about a lot of politics in both the Chimera and Angelic regions.
I still am having trouble enjoying Karou and Akiva as characters. Karou is so passive and makes the glaring error of never trying to leverage the service only she can provide to bargain with Thiago. She spends a good 3/4s of the book whining and being inactive; when she does take action it is to destroy and distance those around her.
Akiva is a bit better, at least he is trying to help save lives throughout the book. Still it takes him a good 3/4s of the way through the book to actually take decisive action. He is still way too emotional and angsty for me.
The two characters that really lighten, and at times made, the story for me were Zusana and Mik. Zusana and Mik do bring some light and fun to the story. They are both way more interesting than Akiva and Karou and a lot more fun to read about. I am still not entirely sure what the purpose of them being in the story was, but I do think the story was better for their presence in it.
Things are so dark and so violent in the story that at times I felt like the violence was more than actually necessary. This is one bleak story, so don't come to this book looking for anything even remotely uplifting. It is truly the most depressing book I have read this year. Some scenes are so violent and emotionally wrenching that they actually made my stomach turn. There is also an attempted rape scene that is very violent, so just a heads up.
Taylor over explains a lot of the characters emotions as well. It comes off as patronizing at points. As a reader we understand that the tears a character is shedding means they are sad; we dont need the fact that they are sad spelled out in multiple sentences following the fact. There are a number of places in the book where I felt like things were over-explained and ended up rolling my eyes and thinking okay I get it already. lets get on with the story.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, like the last one. Again I am not a fan of cliffhangers...I think books should have some sort of resolution so that readers come back to read a series because they enjoy the authors writing and the story.
Overall I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I guess I didnt realize how much I disliked this book until I sat down to write the review. I really dont have much positive to say about it. I do think Taylors writing is beautiful at points and I think the world she has created is incredibly creative. I have problems with the bleakness of the story, the inactivity of the lead characters, and the way the multiple POVs and jumps in time fracture the story. By the end of the book I thought the whole thing was kind of a mess and really didnt care at all what happened to these characters. Given all of my problems with this story I probably wont read the final installment in this series.
Kristin K. (escapeartistk) -
While this is still a series I want to see through to the end, I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first (which I loved). There's too much ruminating, guilt and self-doubt by both Akiva and Karou, plus one completely random, unclear, puzzling event involving a heretofore (and thereafter) unheard-of character (who I'm guessing will show up in the third installment). In short: not as good as the first book, but still good.
Kohner E. (witchcat) reviewed Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Bk 2) on + 12 more book reviews
I found this book to be just as page turning as the last. The guilt and shame Karou feels is all too human, and really brings her character together. We are shown more of Eretz and the struggles within; no longer is our heroine some fumbling girl who doesn't understand what Brimstone is doing. The dynamic between Mik and Zuzanna is the most adorable thing ever. And everything that starts happening left me screaming and unable to put this down. I have to read the last book.
R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Bk 2) on + 1453 more book reviews
If you've read Daughter of Smoke and Bone but not continued the series, it's certainly time to do so. This is the point, the second book, where authors sometimes lose focus perhaps because they haven't thought the entire series through. Not true with this one. The book picks up right from the first novel so if it's been awhile since you read it you may want to skim it to remember the characters, the wonderful fantasy environment coupled with action, adventure and decisions that are so difficult to make. In this, the second book of a most creative trilogy, we learn so much more about the characters of Akiva, Karou, Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, Zuzna and Mik.
Yes, it is true that Karou suffered greatly in book one seeming to lose both her courage and strength. Maturing in book 2, we see a different Karou who can now cope with war, her affection for Akiva, and her devotion to her people. Akiva shows more strength as he copes with war in his own world. War can only rip the people and the world apart.
The author writes succintly and simply to create a story that flows in an outstanding and inspiring path. The reader encounters love, death, oppression and war. It's exciting to delve deeper into the world of seraphim and chimaera while discovering more about the motivations of the characters. This book is sadder, darker, deeper and more fascinating than book 1. In short, this novel makes the reader yearn to read the final novel in the trilogy.
Yes, it is true that Karou suffered greatly in book one seeming to lose both her courage and strength. Maturing in book 2, we see a different Karou who can now cope with war, her affection for Akiva, and her devotion to her people. Akiva shows more strength as he copes with war in his own world. War can only rip the people and the world apart.
The author writes succintly and simply to create a story that flows in an outstanding and inspiring path. The reader encounters love, death, oppression and war. It's exciting to delve deeper into the world of seraphim and chimaera while discovering more about the motivations of the characters. This book is sadder, darker, deeper and more fascinating than book 1. In short, this novel makes the reader yearn to read the final novel in the trilogy.
Bridget O. (sixteendays) -
I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed returning to Karous world of chimaera. And then I was surprised again when I found myself incredibly bored, heartened only by the short chapters and a few moments of brilliance from Karou.
The first half of this book was really difficult for me to get through. All of the main characters (Karou, Akiva, Zuzana) are separated and for some reason it takes 200 pages to basically catch the reader up on each of their lives. Interspersed were chapters from other characters points-of-view that were stuck in just as plot movers so that the reader could see parts of the war that the main characters werent privy to. This really slowed down the story and made me feel like I was drowning in plot (and misery).
The second half of the book picks up when Zuzana and Karou are finally reunited, but I can only admit to being fully rapt for about half of the remaining chapters. Very little of Akivas story held my interest, and as I have no personal stake in Karou/Akiva I didnt really care if they found their way back to each other or not. (In fact, after this book, I am firmly in the Karou/Ziri camp.)
This book was written with the knowledge that there would be one more book to come, and it really shows. There is no end to this one; it ends more like a breath is held. The purpose, Im sure, is to make me really want to read the next book, but honestly this one wore me out and Im going to have to take a break from Karous world yet again.
The first half of this book was really difficult for me to get through. All of the main characters (Karou, Akiva, Zuzana) are separated and for some reason it takes 200 pages to basically catch the reader up on each of their lives. Interspersed were chapters from other characters points-of-view that were stuck in just as plot movers so that the reader could see parts of the war that the main characters werent privy to. This really slowed down the story and made me feel like I was drowning in plot (and misery).
The second half of the book picks up when Zuzana and Karou are finally reunited, but I can only admit to being fully rapt for about half of the remaining chapters. Very little of Akivas story held my interest, and as I have no personal stake in Karou/Akiva I didnt really care if they found their way back to each other or not. (In fact, after this book, I am firmly in the Karou/Ziri camp.)
This book was written with the knowledge that there would be one more book to come, and it really shows. There is no end to this one; it ends more like a breath is held. The purpose, Im sure, is to make me really want to read the next book, but honestly this one wore me out and Im going to have to take a break from Karous world yet again.
Kristin K. (escapeartistk) -
While this is still a series I want to see through to the end, I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first (which I loved). There's too much ruminating, guilt and self-doubt by both Akiva and Karou, plus one completely random, unclear, puzzling event involving a heretofore (and thereafter) unheard-of character (who I'm guessing will show up in the third installment). In short: not as good as the first book, but still good.
Kristin K. (escapeartistk) -
While this is still a series I want to see through to the end, I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first (which I loved). There's too much ruminating, guilt and self-doubt by both Akiva and Karou, plus one completely random, unclear, puzzling event involving a heretofore (and thereafter) unheard-of character (who I'm guessing will show up in the third installment). In short: not as good as the first book, but still good.
Kristin K. (escapeartistk) -
While this is still a series I want to see through to the end, I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first (which I loved). There's too much ruminating, guilt and self-doubt by both Akiva and Karou, plus one completely random, unclear, puzzling event involving a heretofore (and thereafter) unheard-of character (who I'm guessing will show up in the third installment). In short: not as good as the first book, but still good.
