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jamies_shelves 's review for:
Days of Blood & Starlight
by Laini Taylor
Trigger Warning: Graphic attempted rape scene
I will fully admit, I did not like this one as much as the first book. That being said, it was still AMAZING!!! Very slight spoilers below as this is the second book so I'm not sure why someone would be reading this unless it's to see if others agree with them.
This book was definitely more driven by character development and set up. It almost felt like a bit of a filler in some aspects, like it was setting everything up for the ultimate show down in the next book, but it wasn't a bad filler. Everything still felt important and was able to fully hold my interest.
I am sad that there wasn't as much of a love story in this one. Karou and Akiva's relationship really captivated me in the first book, but they don't even interact until more than halfway through in this one. And even then, they share very little time together in this book. Both plots were still interesting, so this wasn't terrible, but it didn't catch my attention as much as when they were together.
We got to delve so much deeper into Karou and her past as Madrigal. We get to see how she's changed, how she's remained the same, and we get to see her with her people and watcher her fight for them. We also got more glimpses of Madrigal and Akiva's relationship which I absolutely loved. She's still a great character, but she bothered me a lot in this book. She was a bit of a pushover and at the end when she FINALLY realized the truth of everything I wanted to scream NO FUCKING DUH in her face.
Seeing Karou in this book actually made me have a realization. I love dystopians, yet I always tend to get very annoyed for a bit around the second or third book in these types of series. Why? Because the female main character (yes it's pretty much always the girl) tends to blindly follow the rebellion and its leaders even when she disagrees with what they want, they're assholes, and she has all this power over everything and the ability to say no. SAY NO! I just wanted Karou to fucking deck Thiago and tell him that she would not make any more new bodies for him if he doesn't stop acting like a dominating piece of garbage. But not, she does his bidding and bites her tongue. Karou, you are better than this. And she still never told anyone the truth about how their secrets got to the angels. WHY?!?!?? Why must the MC always bite their tongue and do stupid shit to get to the point of realizing that they shouldn't do that? This needs to change.
Okay, rant over. More characters.
Akiva. I love this boy, I really do. And I love that even when he thought he lost Karou, he still was aiming for a better world. I found his parts very compelling.
Zuzana and Mik are the real secret gems of this book! Every scene with them had me smiling. They're such a cute couple it's insane! The way that Mik loves her is just so pure and wonderful to read. But I'm also insanely scared that something bad is going to happen to him in the last book because of how sweet and innocent he is. Zuzana is also such an amazing friend to Karou. There were some moments (like when she was whining a bit about having to leave) that I found her a little annoying, but it was all out of love and friendship so I can forgive it.
Ziri is a new character and I immediately loved him. I applaud Laini for not making this a love triangle (and I pray it stays that). Yes, he is obviously in love with Karou, but she does not feel the same and instead feels deep familial and platonic love for him. I really like their relationship, but I need it to stay platonic. On top of that, he was just an amazing character. He is someone that let's you see that there is hope for others of their kind to stop fighting and work togther. And his sacrifice at the end was intense.
Hazael and Liraz. I really loved getting to see more of these two and get a deeper understanding of their characters. Seeing the love they (and Akiva) share for each other is so beautiful and they're both such interesting characters. Liraz is badass, strong, and independent and I can't wait to see how she tries to repent and comes to terms with fighting with the enemies against her own. Hazael was so charming, fun, and a kind soul. I wish things with him turned out differently because I think he was an amazing character that I wanted to see more of.
The beginning of this book didn't really captivate me, but the ending was phenomenal. There were a ton of tiny twists within the last third of the book that had me freaking out! And it perfectly set up the last book to be epic and I can't wait to read it!
I will fully admit, I did not like this one as much as the first book. That being said, it was still AMAZING!!! Very slight spoilers below as this is the second book so I'm not sure why someone would be reading this unless it's to see if others agree with them.
This book was definitely more driven by character development and set up. It almost felt like a bit of a filler in some aspects, like it was setting everything up for the ultimate show down in the next book, but it wasn't a bad filler. Everything still felt important and was able to fully hold my interest.
I am sad that there wasn't as much of a love story in this one. Karou and Akiva's relationship really captivated me in the first book, but they don't even interact until more than halfway through in this one. And even then, they share very little time together in this book. Both plots were still interesting, so this wasn't terrible, but it didn't catch my attention as much as when they were together.
We got to delve so much deeper into Karou and her past as Madrigal. We get to see how she's changed, how she's remained the same, and we get to see her with her people and watcher her fight for them. We also got more glimpses of Madrigal and Akiva's relationship which I absolutely loved. She's still a great character, but she bothered me a lot in this book. She was a bit of a pushover and at the end when she FINALLY realized the truth of everything I wanted to scream NO FUCKING DUH in her face.
Seeing Karou in this book actually made me have a realization. I love dystopians, yet I always tend to get very annoyed for a bit around the second or third book in these types of series. Why? Because the female main character (yes it's pretty much always the girl) tends to blindly follow the rebellion and its leaders even when she disagrees with what they want, they're assholes, and she has all this power over everything and the ability to say no. SAY NO! I just wanted Karou to fucking deck Thiago and tell him that she would not make any more new bodies for him if he doesn't stop acting like a dominating piece of garbage. But not, she does his bidding and bites her tongue. Karou, you are better than this. And she still never told anyone the truth about how their secrets got to the angels. WHY?!?!?? Why must the MC always bite their tongue and do stupid shit to get to the point of realizing that they shouldn't do that? This needs to change.
Okay, rant over. More characters.
Akiva. I love this boy, I really do. And I love that even when he thought he lost Karou, he still was aiming for a better world. I found his parts very compelling.
Zuzana and Mik are the real secret gems of this book! Every scene with them had me smiling. They're such a cute couple it's insane! The way that Mik loves her is just so pure and wonderful to read. But I'm also insanely scared that something bad is going to happen to him in the last book because of how sweet and innocent he is. Zuzana is also such an amazing friend to Karou. There were some moments (like when she was whining a bit about having to leave) that I found her a little annoying, but it was all out of love and friendship so I can forgive it.
Ziri is a new character and I immediately loved him. I applaud Laini for not making this a love triangle (and I pray it stays that). Yes, he is obviously in love with Karou, but she does not feel the same and instead feels deep familial and platonic love for him. I really like their relationship, but I need it to stay platonic. On top of that, he was just an amazing character. He is someone that let's you see that there is hope for others of their kind to stop fighting and work togther. And his sacrifice at the end was intense.
Hazael and Liraz. I really loved getting to see more of these two and get a deeper understanding of their characters. Seeing the love they (and Akiva) share for each other is so beautiful and they're both such interesting characters. Liraz is badass, strong, and independent and I can't wait to see how she tries to repent and comes to terms with fighting with the enemies against her own. Hazael was so charming, fun, and a kind soul. I wish things with him turned out differently because I think he was an amazing character that I wanted to see more of.
The beginning of this book didn't really captivate me, but the ending was phenomenal. There were a ton of tiny twists within the last third of the book that had me freaking out! And it perfectly set up the last book to be epic and I can't wait to read it!