Young Adult Audiobook Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Late last year I listened to the first book in this series on audiobook, and it was fantastic! The second book did not disappoint, but I will say that there were fewer surprises.
Laini Taylor’s world of Eretz, on the other side of the portals from Earth, is full of mystical creatures and angels, and lovely, fun, lively, and sometimes hilarious, characters. Zuzana is the primary comical relief character, and like in the first book, she is my favorite with her sparkling personality. Things grow darker in the second book, and things are more difficult for Karou as the narrative pushes forward.
My favorite thing about Laini Taylor’s books is her amazing way with language. She fills the page with surprising word pairings and description that brings the world to life. The audiobook, narrated by Khristine Hvam, is also brought to live through her wonderful reading and embellishment of character voices. I love how Hvam performs each character in a subtly different way, though, like in the first book, I don’t like the voice of Razgut, mostly because it creeps me out.
I can’t wait to listen to the third and last book of this trilogy, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, which I’ve already checked out from my local e-library. I highly recommend these ebooks, but be warned, each book clocks in at over fourteen hours of goodness, which for me means an awful lot of time at the gym.
5/5 Stars
JEH
(associate link) wasn’t completely what I expected. It follows Lady Elizabeth, a rather rich and spoiled young woman who doesn’t want to marry the one man who can save her family, instead, she runs off to join The Glittering Court, in the hopes of finding another suitor. This book was half romance, and half alternate reality or half western, I couldn’t quite decide. The land of Osfrid is loosely based on colonial Europe, and the land of Denham is loosely based on colonial America. I got into this book around the time it turned into a western, but I’m still not sure it works.
(associate link), is on Earth and dying, by the narration is anything but dead. Aza has such a smart, lively and unique voice, that I couldn’t help but fall in love with her. What interested me the most was that the story is based on a little known piece of folklore (at least to me). I love myths and folk tales, and generally love books that elaborate upon them.
I borrowed this book from a friend, who bought it based on Amazon’s #1 rating. My friend wasn’t impressed with the book, and maybe her telling me that biased my own opinion a little bit. I didn’t find Clary to be a deep character. She doesn’t seem to have any interests beyond Simon. Though she occasionally draws, her art doesn’t come across as being important to her. Clary has no girl friends, which would have added to the depth of the story. Some parts of the novel were pretty transparent, and others seemed far-fetched (if you’ve read it you probably know what I’m talking about).
8. Wither (The Chemical Garden Series) by Lauren DeStefano
Have you read any of these books? What would you add to this list?
J. E. H U N T E R 