At first I was disappointed, Days of Blood and Starlight started off as an echo of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, it felt empty, less – just faded, like a prop or a gap there just to link two great books.

But a few pages in I was delighted to be wrong, this was no gap…

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.”

Laini Taylor’s writing is heart stoppingly beautiful and Karou’s story is magical. Haunting. Vibrant. Sad. Shock, horror and unbearable twists combine with witty banter and raw emotion, with layers of depth and wonder that add more to the story than I can describe.

“These weren’t her folk but… they were, and maybe that meant that anyone could be anyone’s, which was a sort of nice thing to think, with the world falling apart.”

Recommended age: 13

Title:  Days of Blood & Starlight
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2
Author: Laini Taylor
Publication Date: 6 November 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Source: Purchased

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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. Forhope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?    — Extract from Goodreads.com