Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published November 6, 2012

Hardcover, 513 pages

Overview:

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?

Review:

Unlike its predecessor, Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor is not a love story. This sequel focuses on the ongoing war between angels and chimaera only hinted at in Daughter of Smoke & Bone. As a book about war, Days of Blood & Starlight is painful, frightening, and emotional, with no end of battle or relief in sight.

While Daughter of Smoke & Bone focused on Karou's and Akiva's romantic relationship, in Days of Blood & Starlight, the two are enemies, each fighting for their own people. New and old relationships take center stage in this book: As Karou helps rebuild the chimaera army, she works to make allies along the way. Her friendship with fellow chimaera Ziri is particularly endearing, and I was glad to see Karou's human friends Zuzana and Mik make a reappearance. Additionally, the friendships between Akiva and his brother and sister, Hazael and Liraz, add an interesting element to the story and allow us to understand Akiva better.

As always, Laini Taylor's writing is lush and her characters brimming with life. Her magical world of Eretz is one I wouldn't mind visiting (in times of peace, that is.)

And oh! That ending! Many characters are forced to make difficult decisions that set up for future events in the final book and battle. I was kept guessing until the very end, and like in the previous book, Laini Taylor is not afraid to write big surprises. I'm anxiously awaiting the final book, out this spring.

Overall rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.

Review: Once We Were by Kat Zhang

Once We Were by Kat Zhang
The Hybrid Chronicles #2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published September 17, 2013
Hardcover, 352 pages

Overview:

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.

Review:

Once We Were by Kat Zhang continues the story of hybrids Eva and Addie, twin souls sharing a body in a unique world where people are born with two souls but only one is expected to reach adulthood.

What I loved so much about What's Left of Me was the concept--a world two souls are born into one body, and one (the weaker, "recessive" soul) gradually fades out, usually before reaching adolescence. The hybrids (people whose recessive souls haven't faded out) are seen as a threat to the rest of society, and the government has been working to find and remove these extra souls who haven't settled.

Once We Were starts off shortly after the events in What's Left of Me--Eva and Addie have escaped the mental hospital Nornand with a few other hybrid children and are living hidden with other hybrids. While What's Left of Me focuses on Eva, the recessive soul, grappling with the possibility of existing and relearning how to use her shared body (for the past few years, she's only been able to watch, immobile, as her twin soul Addie lives), Once We Were focuses on the rebel group of hybrids as they plot to stop the government from further harming other hybrids.

Compared to the fast-paced action of What's Left of Me, the second book in this series takes longer to develop, as the rebels spend months deciding on and perfecting their counterattack on the government. Much of the book feels like it's leading up to events in the next book, and while I didn't enjoy Once We Were as much as the first book, I'm excited to see how the story continues in the third and final book.

Overall rating: 3.5 of 5 stars.

Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor
Published September 24, 2013
Hardcover, 368 pages

Overview:

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

Review:

Vicious by V.E. Schwab is a fascinating book about superpowers and what happens when theories are taken too far.

I was hooked from the very beginning and never knew what to expect with Vicious. The story moves between several characters and places in time, but I never felt confused or disorientated by it. Schwab does an excellent job in using flashbacks to reveal information and create suspense at appropriate times.

My favorite part of the book is that it takes the typical "good-versus-evil" superhero story and spins it in a new direction--main characters Victor and Eli are complex and flawed, with understandable motives. While Victor takes center stage as the main mover of the story, he's never specifically made the hero or the villain. In fact, neither Victor nor Eli are ever made the "good guy" or the "bad guy"--and that makes Vicious all the more interesting to read.

In addition to superpowers, Vicious focuses on other topics like morality and what it is to be human. Highly recommended.

Overall rating: 5 of 5 stars.

2014 To-Read List

Happy 2014! Just like last year, I've put together a list of some books I want to read this year.

[x] Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
[x] The One by Kiera Cass
[ ] Renegade by Debra Driza
[ ] A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
[x] Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
[x] Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
[ ] Deception by C.J. Redwine
[ ] Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
[x] Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
[x] Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
[x] Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
[x] Once We Were by Kat Zhang
[x] Echoes of Us by Kat Zhang

What books are on your 2014 to-read list?