Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
More often than not, the second book of a trilogy falls flat. It provides enough material to get you from the punch of the first volume to encourage you to stick around for the rousing conclusion. But Ms. Taylor? She delivers a sequel that (exempting the fact you need the information from that initial volume to understand what’s happening) stands boldly on its own. She takes the reader into a deep dive into the characters they’ve already fallen in love with (hate with?) and fleshes them out into new and incredible pathways. At the same time, she provides new points of view that paint the worlds of Earth and Eretz with – well, blood and starlight. And you’re left sitting on the edge of your seat, the pages clutched between your fingers in a desperate need to learn more, to find that new revelation.
Is everything a surprise? Not really. You see the ending coming before the words reach your eyes. And while it’s irritating to guess where things bend, I can’t find myself angry. Ms. Taylor’s deft hand with her tale is too practiced. Like puzzle pieces fitting into a monstrous (no pun intended) jigsaw, you feel satisfied at the revealing image. And one wants nothing more than to dive into that final promised volume (that much of the usual middle book magic remains).
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