Warning: Spoilers
“I am a priestess of a sandcastle in a land of dust and starlight”
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/4
Trigger warning: rape
I absolutely adored Days of Blood and Starlight! It
definitely breaks the typical Second Book in a Series Curse by being superior
to its predecessor in a variety of ways. First, it was much better paced than
the first book. I felt like there was a good balance between character
development, action and suspense. I liked how the book made various jumps from showing
certain stories from the present, and then jumping to either the past or future
and back again as the reader learns more about what has happened. This kind of storytelling
really added to the intrigue of certain plot points. The plot was also more
gripping than the first book, in particular since the world of Eretz and its magic
becomes a greater focal point of the book. More depth is also given to all of
the characters, and new awesome characters are introduced, such as Ziri and
Sveva, who I hope we definitely will see more of in the final book.
One thing that did throw me off slightly at the beginning was
the vast amount of POVs I now needed to navigate compared to the first book. Days
of Blood and Starlight gives us additional POVs, such as those of Ziri,
Zuzana and Sveva. Once I got the hang of the switch between characters, the
book became a lot easier for me to read and more enjoyable.
Zuzana was just an absolute badass bitch in this book. Her
deciphering Karou’s email and trekking ALL THE WAY to Morocco through a fucking
desert to see her BFF was just incredible. Her and Mik were also a really
awesome couple. While I found them quite sweet in Daughter of Smoke and
Bone, I honestly didn’t expect to fall in love with their romance as much
as I did. I certainly hope that Mik is able to complete these three tasks soon,
cause me thinks they need to get engaged ASAP. Also Zuzana throwing perfume in
a balloon onto Kaz at the beginning of this book was just priceless.
Both Karou and Akiva’s stories in this novel were incredibly
heartbreaking and this book definitely explores darker themes than the first
one did. There are definitely a lot of parallels to be drawn between both of
their stories. They were both acting loyally towards a leader who they didn’t
trust (Thiago in Karou’s case, Joram/the Seraphim in Akiva’s), and both are
eventually led to seek out rebels for their cause. My guess earlier on in the
book was that those two rebel groups would eventually come together to fight
the evil system of those who are making war. I was very happy to be proven right
and I am most certainly intrigued to see how this clashing of worlds will play
out in Dreams of Gods and Monsters.
In this book we also see a much deeper and nuanced side of
Akiva’s siblings, Liraz and Hazael. Their bond was truly amazing and
heartbreaking to witness, especially when Hazael died. Reading Liraz’s reaction
to being told that Hazael won’t be able to be brought back was so heartbreaking
and emotional. I definitely hope that Liraz finds some sort of happiness by the
end of the next book. I could definitely imagine her with Ziri.
Also that ending was such a plot twist! I was shook when
I realized that Karou had brought back Thiego to life, after his attempted
rape. And then I was double shook when I learned that actually Thiago
was actually Ziri. A most excellent of plot twists!
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