Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Days of Blood & Starlight Review: Karou

I finally know who--and what--I am.
The truth, at last.
And all the pain it comes with.

Before, I was in love.
In love with an angel, a seraphim. 
In love with the enemy.

We dreamed of a world together.
A world with no bloodshed between species.
If only.

He betrayed me.
And the world suffered for it.
I have to decide how far I'll go to avenge it.

My name is Karou.
Hello, my friends! Today, I am Karou, who's name happens to also mean hope.

Book: Days of Blood & Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Book Status: Book 2
Setting: Human world and Eretz (fictional)
Genre: YA fantasy
POV: third person, mostly from Karou and Akiva

Reading: first time
Favorite line: "As long as you're alive, there's always a chance things will get better"
Rating: 4 stars




You got to admit, that title? Simply amazing. "Days of blood & starlight". So very epic.

This story is quite unique. When I first picked up Daughter of Smoke and Bone (book 1), I thought that this was going to be the regular human-girl-falls-in-love-with-an-angel kind of thing. Nope. It's so much more. There's an entire world full of chimaera, something I was not expecting. And let's be honest, how many books out there are about chimaera, let alone chimaera and angels? Not that many.

Enter Karou. Karou isn't really your average heroine. For one, her role in the book sets her apart from all the others. The job of building/resurrecting a monstrous army isn't the typical heroine stuff. And when you can do that, well, you get into a whole bunch of issues like being forced to resurrect people you don't like or for some reason being unable to resurrect people you want to. Add that to the fact that you're also harbouring some very bitter thoughts from your ex-love, who may or may not have done some really terrible things to your people. Yeah. Complicated things like that.

What I particularly liked about this book was the setting. Yes, it is partially set in the fictional world of Eretz where the angels and chimaera live, but it also corresponds to modern-day Earth. Where about on Earth, you say? Morocco, Africa. Or the kasbahs there, anyways. Bottom line is that it's in an uncommon place, a place people normally don't write about. The first book, set in Prague in the human world, is another example. These are places most people don't travel to because they've never been exposed to it. They definitely need some more love, and this book is providing it. 

You know how you can travel to different places through books? Well, I can now add both Prague and Africa to the list along with England, Japan, Italy, Greece, and many more. My passport is quite impressive, isn't it? Where have you guys been through books? Let me know!

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