This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic 
 I absolutely loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It was one of my favourite reads in 2011. And I felt like I waited for Days of Blood and Starlight forever! Laini Taylor is an amazing writer and therefore it was no surprise when I opened up this book and found it just as captivating as the first. 
 Now just because Days of Blood and Starlight had me hooked as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone doesn't mean they were similar is many other ways. I noticed right away that it was going to be much much darker than the previous book. The truth has been revealed (or remembered) by Karou and there's no denying it or hiding from it. I appreicated that Laini Taylor didn't give the characters in this novel any excuses. They were forced to face the consequences of their actions - whether fair or not - and sometimes those consequences were ugly and violent. 
 That being said, her writing is still absolutely gorgeous. It's like poetry. And her world building is some of the best I've ever read. At one point while I was reading I looked up from the book and told my boyfriend "she doesn't write books, she creates worlds." I felt like I was right there, immersed in Karou's world. Whereas Daughter of Smoke and Bone spent a lot of time in our own human world, Days of Blood and Starlight really gave the reader more insight into what life is like for the chimera and the seraphin. And because of the shifting perspective throughout the book I also found there was a fair representation of both sides and the people involved in it. This style made the world building feel so complete and detailed but never overly so. Despite the length of the book, I never found myself growing bored, or wishing she would skip ahead to bits with more action. I savored every word. 
 In addition to the world building we also received more information on a wealth of new characters. New enemies and new reasons to despise them. New people to fall in love with. We get to learn more about the White Wolf and Akiva's "siblings." The best thing about all these amazing characters was you see how the events unfolding affects each of them. It proves that no experience is the same for everyone involved and at times I felt conflicted over who I should be rooting for. There's even more character building for those that did make an appearance in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Like Zuzana! She was fabulous and I hope we get more of her still in the next book. I also fell hard for a new character called Ziri. But you'll have to read the book to find out why 
 As I mentioned before this book is dark. And it touches on some very serious issues. I'm not going to sugar coat it - some scenes were hard to read. I've seen a lot of criticism of this, but I think it's brave and admirable that Laini Taylor doesn't shy away from writing about the difficult things. Why should she? While Daughter of Smoke and Bone is about love, Days of Blood is Starlight is most definitely about war. War is a horrible and gruesome thing and Laini's writing is honest about that reality. It would be weird if some of these violent things didn't happen because history/experience tells us they would (Also check out this post from Stacked about The Chemical Garden trilogy for a similar discussion). 
 Recommendation: Daughter of Smoke and Bone was only a hint of the fabulous writing Laini Taylor is capable of. Days of Blood and Starlight takes the story to a whole new level. An absolute must read for fans of the series.