Days of Blood and Starlight

I read a lot of books. That being said, one of my favorites of last year (?) was Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. A tale of forbidden love between angel and chimaera. This is the sequel. Karou- the chimaera, is recovering from the news that all she loves has been killed by Akiva- the angel, and the love of her life. Akiva thinks Karou is dead and he doesn't know if he wants to go on in a world without her, his soulmate. They are both devastated by their losses. They miss each other. They both live their lives for each other. Karou has become the resurrectionist for her people. She is creating an army of chimaera who are powerful enough to take on the Seraphim. Akiva is trying to fulfill his duty as a Misbegotten, while secretly helping Karou's people who are being hunted and killed. The war is in full force and the old loves find themselves doing all they can to prevent it from destroying their people. Akiva's father is set on destroying the chimaera. Karou's leader- Thiago, the White Wolf- is set on destroying the Seraphim. Karou cannot understand the point of all the destruction with no solution in sight. But she has such intense feelings of rage at what was done to her beloved father Brimstone, that she can't always see that Akiva is still looking out for her and her people. As each takes action in their own worlds, they face devastating losses and must decide if they can put the past behind them to save what is left of the future of their races. This book was wonderful. It is so different from anything else I have read. These characters are so amazingly rendered that you almost believe they are somewhere in the world, in that little corner of the Kasbah. I look forward with great anticipation for the next book, and it will take a while to get these characters out of my head. I wish that Laini Taylor would publish Karous' sketchbooks so I can see these characters in color. I'm curious if my imagination is a match. Well, this glorious week off is now over. It's back to work for 4 weeks until Christmas. Han, Raisa, Patch, Nora, Ky and Xander, Saba and Jack and Norah and Bram all await me. I can't wait to see what they have been up to. Until then, happy reading my friends!