Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781444722673

Format: Hardback

Pages: 516

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: November 8, 2012

Please note that this review refers to an uncorrected advanced proof edition and the listed details above are for the upcoming hardback edition out this autumn.  

SYNOPSIS

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living.

One without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mother's arms to take their turn in the killing and dying. 

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon's secret temple and dreamed of a world that was like a jewel-box without a jewel - a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.

REVIEW

I thought it would be a long well drawn out contest to see which book would be the first one I reviewed for my brand new blog, but as soon as I opened my delightful puffy blue parcel bag from Hodder, I knew there wasn't anything else I could consider reading or writing about. 

Days of Blood and Starlight is the sequel to Laini Taylor's refreshing novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  I deliberately chose the word "refreshing", because when I first requested a copy of the book I had no knowledge that angels would make an appearance between its pages and after my first encounter with the Seraphim I approached the book with a new, extremely wary outlook.  The Young Adult and Dark Fantasy markets are now flooded with stories of doe-eyed vampires, frolicking fairies and romantic angels interested in more than just merely saving your everlasting soul, so it's hard to approach a book containing one of those archetypes without some preconceived prejudice or preference for them.  But I was extremely pleased to discover that it was a book with a lot of depth to it: fantastic well rounded characters, interesting storyline that flowed seamlessly from one chapter to the next and a slyly hinted hidden realm whose full history is yet unexplained.  If you haven't read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I strongly recommend you do.  It's a rare gem of a book that accomplishes something unique within its genre and hopefully it will inspire both readers and writers to try something a bit different in the future.

Laini Taylor's follow up novel not only lives up to the high expectations her previous book demanded of it, but outshines it in almost every possible way. It's almost a shame that it cannot be read as a standalone novel since there is little to no summarization of the events from the previous book, but because the author assumes that the reader has the much needed background information the novel starts straight into the narrative without the burden of long drawn out exposition.

What you get instead is a fiercely addictive read that is incredibly hard to put down due to its cunningly scripted chapter endings that tease the reader into reading "just one more chapter". It's "stay up into the wee hours with a pot of coffee and a pillow" good.    

While it does read like an compulsive, mesmerizing modern fable, Taylor takes the time to lovingly create characters that are so well fleshed out that readers can't help but become emotionally invested in them. It's a rare treat to come across an author that takes such care to render her characters in such exquisite detail that you come to care about even the most minor of players in this epic struggle between Seraphim and Chimera.  There were times when I felt every betrayal like a slap to my own face and there were some unjust events that brought a dark flush to my face and a tiny angry fist shake in the air.

Days of Blood and Starlight is a devastatingly beautiful and remarkable read.  Highly imaginative and beautifully written, I would gladly trade a bag full of teeth just to get my hands on the last book in this so far outstanding trilogy.

5 out of 5 Stars

(I will hopefully sort out the stars next time around! *smiles*)

Short and Sweet: The Twitter Review

A compulsive and mesmerizing modern fable that breathes new life into old legends while weaving its own captivating tale.