Days of Blood & Starlight

Actual rating: 3.5 starsIf you think the first half of [b:Daughter of Smoke & Bone 8490112 Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) Laini Taylor https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338613368s/8490112.jpg 13355552] is slow, this one is even slower. There's a lot of build-up taking place as both Karou and Akiva settle into the aftermath of what happened by the end of the first book, and it takes about 60% of the book before things finally start moving. In a way, it was good because the impact really blew when it finally came... but personally I found it a bit too slow. I kept getting distracted until that 60% mark, and the switch in perspectives didn't really help either—sometimes I had to backtrack to remember the last thing that happened to Karou / Akiva.Speaking of Karou, she really grated on my nerves in this book. Don't get me wrong, her bitterness towards Akiva is understandable—especially considering the situation she's in. It's just the way she acts... she's childish, hypocritical, stubborn, not to mention gullible. Considering her history with Thiago, and the way he's currently treating her, I just don't get how she could trust him more than Akiva. Then she attacked Akiva with insults that partly came from her own self-loathing. It reminds me too much of abusive partners, and that really bothered me until the end.Also, there's a LOT of scenes featuring Zuzana and Mik. Maybe a bit too much, even. They do have a part to play at Karou's side, but some scenes—like the hotel one—aren't necessarily important to the main plot? It does serve as a nice reminder of the human world, since this book focuses more on the seraphim and chimaera, but sometimes these scenes feel... “disconnected”. If that even makes sense.Complaints aside, though... I really enjoyed this book for the development. There's a lot of depth here, ranging from the characters to the war itself. I'm especially impressed by how Liraz is handled, since we only got to see her scornful and ferocious side in the first book. Here, she's nicely fleshed out and shows a lot more—like her compassion and fear. It's also nice to see that Karou and Akiva ended up where they planned to be a long time ago, though it's far from what they imagined back then.Ziri deserves all the love and happiness in the world though.