Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Title: Days of Blood & Starlight
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Format:Unabridged Audio CD
Length: 15 hrs, 22 mins
Publication: 2012
Source: Library
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?
Karou is in love with Akiva and no matter how hard she tries these feelings makes her hate herself. She believes that because of her relationship with him, she lost the only family she knew. Now, determined to hurt her enemy, she is the only hope the chimaera have at defeating the angel army but at what cost. Karou is so consumed with building the army that she never thinks to ask what they are doing on their raids. She's surrounded by chimaera and they see her as a traitor. As events begin to spiral out of control, Karou may just find that the devil that you know may not be the best ally.
Karou is an intriguing character; she's strong but possesses this innocence that allows her to trust the wrong people. She does however have a caution button that triggers from time to time but she has herself in a tricky situation between doing what's right for her people or blindly hoping that her efforts will help the chimaera can win this war. My favorite scenes though few are between Karou and Akiva, it's something about the turmoil of forbidden love that's deliciously appealing. Hopefully, they will be together in the end, though there may be another guy in the running for Karou's heart. Taylor has created a well-rounded group of characters that I think anyone can enjoy but I have to say that my favorite character to is Zuzana, she just has such vibrancy and humor about her and I think this balances the seriousness of Karou.
Khristine Hvam did an excellent job of bringing Karou and crew to life. I wasn't distracted by the various tones and accents used to differentiate between male and female characters. Now, I'm really particular about audiobooks, a good narrator can hold my attention but a great one has the ability to allow me to see the words in my mind and visualize the story. Hvam accomplishes this with ease and clarity. I found myself not wanting to end the journey that had begun, so I sat in the car until either the track ended or the disc. Overall, I think the sound production for this was fantastic. I loved how the author transitioned to different characters, while still maintaining the fluidity of the reading and I hope she does the interpretation for the next book.
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| 4.5 stars Loved it!! |
It never even occurred to me to try out the audiobook. I might have to get this. I loved this book - I loved it so much I can barely express it in words. I cannot wait for the next book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! :)
Julie~ at New Adult Addiction
I loved the audio so much I wanted to get the book! :)
DeleteI don't have good experience with audio books, the narrators were usually silly and did not do a good job of bringing the characters to life, so I couldn't really get into the book. I prefer to read myself, but I'm glad you had a pleasant experience! :)
ReplyDeleteI've had Daughter of Smoke and Bone on my Kindle for ages, but I still haven't gotten around to it! I hope the series is as good as all the reviews promise.
-Inx
I understand, I'm really picky about what I listen.It's usually hit or miss with audios but I loved listening to the Harry Potter series with Jim Dale as the narrator. I think that's really when I started listening to books.
DeleteThis isn't a book I would read on my own. I would pick it up because of the cover and contemplate it. Since you liked so much and enjoyed the audiobook. I may check it out from the library and listen to it too. I need a book to listen to once I finish The Iron Thorn.
ReplyDelete