Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Release Date: First published & Audio unabridged edition on November 6, 2012
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 513 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 9 hours
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: YA Fantasy (High Fantasy)
Review Date: August 14, 2013
Rating: 5 bookmarks
Synopsis: 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?
Release Date: First published & Audio unabridged edition on November 6, 2012
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 513 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 9 hours
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: YA Fantasy (High Fantasy)
Review Date: August 14, 2013
Rating: 5 bookmarks
Synopsis: 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?
I've never had such a hard time writing a review before. I really loved this book, but when it came time to put my thoughts to paper it suddenly became very difficult. I wanted to express what I liked and didn't like without spoiling the story. That was very hard. I listened to this book on audio weeks ago and I'm just now able to write this review. So lets get started, shall we?
Woah...this book was heavy. Sad, unfortunate and sort of depressing. If you like happy go lucky stories, this one is not for you. It gets you even more than the first book. Same as Daughter of Smoke and Bone, it's beautifully written. Just beautiful. The way it's written really draws you in and makes you care about these characters. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry (if you're the crying type), it overwhelms the senses.
There's tons of character development and there are lots of twist and turns, lies, war, blood, death, the whole nine. What was disappointing was some of the Karou's behavior. I was so upset with Karou, poor martyr Karou. Girl, stop! Yes, she's lost her family, I get it. She's lost her love, I get it. But it's like she's so down on herself and so busy hating Akiva, she can't see the forest for the trees. She really lets a certain person run a number on her just because she feels guilty over something she has no business feeling guilty about! If that sounded sort of cryptic, it was. I don't want to spoil the story for you. The ending wasn't all to surprising, but I just kept holding out hope for one thing and it didn't happen. Oh, that was sad. Maybe in the next book?
We have to talk about the narrator for one moment. I adore these books on audio. The narrator really pulls you in with the different voices, the accents, etc. Same as with the last book, I really recommend audio. If you're not into unusual names, and things that are hard to pronounce, then that's the sure way to go. You'll be able to enjoy it a lot more then.
| Here are a few of my favorite quotes: “I am one of billions. I am stardust gathered fleetingly into form. I will be ungathered. The stardust will go on to be other things someday and I will be free.” “It was brave," countered Issa. "It was rare. It was love, and it was beautiful.” “Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them. And its snap split the world in two.” Side note, Randomly I came across this art work and it really depicts exactly how I would see the scene from the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which depicts Akiva and Madrigal's (aka Karou) first meeting when she saves his life. It really looks is dark and dangerous, just how I would envision war in a magical Other World. Happy Reading & Listening, ~Tamara Check out my review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone |  |
| Get the audio version here: 
