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Review

WOW… just… WOW! Absolutely incredible!

I gushed like an idiot over Laini Taylor’s first installment in this series, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, and there’s literally nothing more I can say. This book is STUNNING! Taylor’s writing remains beautifully descriptive, and absolutely captivating, although the story this time around is a lot darker, and heartbreakingly tragic in places.

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living — one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel — a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.”

Karou and Akiva are now in Eretz and are both trying to cope with the devastating fallout from the end of the first book. They also find themselves separated and on opposite sides of the war, both of them gutted over the events that tore them apart, and neither of them knowing how to deal with the brutality that they are now a part of.

If you pick up this book expecting love and sunshine, put it down and smack yourself in the face a few times. Then pick it up and try again. This is not a love and sunshine book (in fact there’s very minimal love in this book at all!). This is a story about the tragedy and futility of war, about coping with loss, searching for redemption and trying to find your away again. And the emotion poured into it is staggering! I was in tears a number of times reading about the brutality of the war, and the emotional struggles that characters I love were going through. And I think my heart actually broke at one point. I had to put the book down and compose myself before I could carry on.

The multiple POVs in this book are fantastic. Not only do we get both Karou and Akiva’s POVs, and see all that they are going through, but also most of the side characters – showing the more intimate impact of the war, as well as other’s perspectives on Karou and Akiva, and how their actions and responses shape those around them.

I particularly loved Akiva’s struggle to deal with the war he was fighting very reluctantly. He sees both sides of the battle, and understands what the chimeara are fighting for, despite being a soldier for the seraph. And through it all he searches for redemption and a chance at a better life, not only for his people, but for the supposed ‘enemy’.

“What can a soldier do when mercy is treason, and he is alone in it?”

Karou also battles with her role in the war. Driven by vengeance and overwhelmed with guilt, she is determined to do whatever she can to help. Watching her suffer through her loss and come to realize what her actions actually mean, my heart hurt for her.

“Perhaps Fate laid out your life for you like a dress on a bed, and you could either wear it or go naked.”

But amidst the sadness and tragedy, there are some lighter moments and Zuze and Mik provide some very welcome comic relief, with some gorgeous little moments of their own. And the story also shifts as our characters start to find their way again, and dreams from the first book are resurrected.

It started out a little slowly, but built steadily into a multi-layered story that left me totally breathless. There are some absolutely sensational twists and I am happy to say that I am left with a very strong feeling of hope for the next book, which is going to be ABSOLUTELY EPIC!!!

Laini Taylor, you are an incredible storyteller! I cannot wait to read these books over and over again.

6 stars (because 5 just isn’t enough!)

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series