Days of Blood and Starlight (Laini Taylor)

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Length: 517

Rating: 5/5

In this sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou has finally learned who she really is. But this revelation and the betrayal it exposes shatters her world. To avenge her people, Karou is pulled into a deadly war between angels and demons that has been raging on for centuries.

This book is both stunningly gorgeous and terribly tragic. I had the pleasure of meeting author Laini Taylor at a book signing, where she admitted that it took her a while to realize that this book had a completely different tone from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the tone of a war book.

This isn’t the magical, romantic world of Prague any more. Karou teams up with the monsters, but still struggles to find the clear line between good and evil, while the reader roots for it to never exist, because we love characters on both sides of the war. We get the same struggle from Karou’s angel, Akiva, and I loved seeing the world from his point of view.

The book was just so beautiful, and so well-written, and I’m so upset I have to wait for the third book in the trilogy to come out. Until then, all I can do is hope that Karou and Akiva can find some sort of peace, because I’ve come to love them and all their friends so much!

You can find a great interview with Laini Taylor here.  

Entice (Jessica Shirvington)

Title: Entice

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Length: 438

Rating: 4/5

In this sequel to Embrace, Violet has embraced her status as a Grigori, part-angel and part-human, and her destiny to keep humans safe from vengeful angle exiles. As their battles with exiles heat up, Violet must come to terms with her partner Lincoln, even though their electricity can never go anywhere, and even though he seems to be keeping secrets from her. When all the exile trouble points back to Phoenix, Violet must also come to terms with him, and how powerful his hold on her still is.

While this book wasn’t quite as good as the first, and all the angle history and hierarchy was still hard to follow at times, this book also had a lot going for it. Violet continues to be awesome, never quitting and still trying to figure out who she is and how the guys in her life fit into that. And of course the romantic tension is still at the high level seen in the first book.  

I also liked all the new characters introduced in this book with the new Grigori- makes for much more excitement and interest. If you liked Embrace, you’ll enjoy the sequel, and look forward to the next book in the series!  

Embrace (Jessica Shirvington)

Title: Embrace

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc

Length: 369 pages

Rating: 4/5

Weird things start to happen on Violet Eden’s 17^th birthday. Not only does she find out she’s half-human, but the guy she’s been crushing on knew about it and didn’t tell her. He’s half-human too, and together, they’re destined to fight angel exiles on earth. But Violet doesn’t trust him anymore, and turns to the support of Phoenix, who just happens to be an angel exile. Choice and destiny don’t seem to be getting along for Violet who is learning that life and the higher powers definitely don’t exist in black and white.

Violet Eden not only has the coolest name, but she’s pretty awesomely hardcore herself. Yeah, she’s got the attention of two hot guys, but she doesn’t become passive or whiney because of it. Instead, she’s all about choosing her own destiny, even though she doesn’t actually have a whole lot of choice in the matter. But she tries as hard as she can to control her own fate and has a lot of respectable inner strength to match her outer strength.

Speaking of those two hot guys though- talk about some great romantic tension. I couldn’t put this book down. Lincoln and Violet are made for one another, but angel rules dictate they can’t be together. And he’s broken Violet’s trust and she has a hard time getting past that. Phoenix has a major thing for Violet, because she’s a new, special kind of fighter, and he’s intrigued. All in all, the makings of a great love triangle.

Some of the angel hierarchy explanations still left me a little muddled, but hopefully it’ll clear itself up in the next book. Which I’m very much looking forward to reading. 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Laini Taylor)

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Length: 418 pages

Rating: 5/5

In the human world of Prague, Karou is a talented art student with bright blue hair who creates fantastical drawings of monsters and storylines to go with them. She’ll tell you with a quirky smile that they’re real, and you won’t believe her. But the monsters are real, and they’re her only family. When scorched hand prints start appearing on doors all over the world, Karou is drawn into a brutal other-worldy war. Who is Karou, and what side is she on?

Everything about this novel is utterly gorgeous. The European setting, the characters- from chimera made of different animal body parts to winged angels- and especially, the writing. Beautifully crafted from the first sentence, I occasionally got lost in the words, but was scared to get too lost in Karou’s world, where there is no exact line between good and evil, and dangerous beings spilled from another world, pulling Karou into their battles.  

Karou, more than anything, desires is to know who she is. She feels like part of her is missing. The story is artfully constructed backwards, so that all is revealed as Karou discovers it- much like a mystery. One must read at least two-thirds of the book before the significance of the title and cover alone are revealed. Even though Karou and the reader don’t know who she is, we still love her. She’s smart, tough, funny, and flawed because nothing of the other world has been explained to her.

I WANT MORE (yes there will be a sequel). By far the best book I’ve read yet this year, and would have definitely been included in the Top Books of 2011 had I read it in time. Seriously, treat yourself and go read this book. 

Unearthly (Cynthia Hand)

Title: Unearthly

Author: Cynthia Hand

Publisher: HarperTeen

Length: 435 pages

Rating: 5/5

Clara is part-angel and has just discovered her purpose, the reason she was put on earth. She sees visions of a raging forest fire and a boy standing among the fiery trees. Her family picks up and moves to Wyoming where her visions take place so that she can prepare herself. There she discovers Christian, the boy from her visions who is perfect and conveniently gorgeous. While trying to fit in at her new school, she also tries to get to know Christian to find out how and why she is supposed to save him from the fire. Christian may be her dream boy, but there’s another boy in the picture too: Tucker, who appeals to Clara more and more, even though he’s a distraction from her purpose. By the time fires ignite in Wyoming, Clara faces a tough choice. Christian or Tucker? Destiny or love?

This book was crazy addicting. I only put it down once between pages 50 and 435. And that was for five minutes. There are so many mysteries. What isn’t Clara’s mom telling her about angels? Why is Clara’s purpose what it is? And what is her purpose exactly? As you might have guessed, this book is the first in a trilogy, so even though I was left with a ton of questions, there is still hope for answers in upcoming books. Why isn’t it January of 2012 so I can keep reading?

This book was so enjoyable because even though Clara is super-human, she’s easy to relate to. She experiences high school cliques, the jealousy of friends, first love, and my favorite theme, self-discovery. Clara’s the way cooler version of me in high school. Except that good-looking boys talk to her a lot more. She takes being gifted to a whole new level and I think YA readers will be able to connect to that, as we’re all gifted in our own ways.

Finally, this book is great because it’s easy to see it as a metaphor for any reader’s life. Aren’t we all trying to figure out our own purpose?

Now go and pick this book up- you won’t put it down!

And speaking of relate-able girls, I read a great article about female role models in YA literature. Can I just say I love all the amazing female characters mentioned?! I aspired to be certain aspects of all of them- from Anne's imagination to Alanna's bravery to the March sisters' perseverance- they all inspired me and still do today.