Recent Reads - Days of Blood and Starlight

So one of my New Year's Resolutions is to read two books a month. I don't know how that is going to go this month since I am reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King right now. I love it so far, but it is 880 pages, so cut me some slack! I might need to change the resolution to one book a month...

In the meantime, I wanted to review a book I recently read, Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. 

Before I get into that, I think this is the time to mention that I am a fan of (some) fantasy magic-y type stuff. In a non-weird way of course! I love books about magic, with some of my faves being The Night Circus, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and Carter Beats the Devil. I would highly recommend any of the those!

Days of Blood and Starlight is the second book in a series (the first is Daughter of Smoke and Bone), so I will talk about the series in general. Karou is a blue-haired girl living in Prague. She has a mysterious past and consorts with monsters (unbeknownst to her friends). The monsters are the only family she knows, until she is cut off from them. At the same time, angels have descended in cities all over the world. One angel in particular has something out for Karou and she feels a strange connection to him. The angel is working to cut off Karou's connection with her family. We learn that there is more to Karou's past than she even knows and she finally learns the mysteries of her past and her family.

This is all super super vague because there is so much to the first book that is a surprise. I felt that the middle part of the first book got a little slow and bogged down with a love story, but then it started to pick up again and I was hooked. The second book is a continuation of the series (duh) but can't really get into the plot because you just gotsta read the first book first! Out of the two though, I will say that I preferred the first book. I love "first books" in series where they get to set up this whole other fantasy world. The second book was a fast read though because I desperately wanted to know what would happen next. 

This definitely veers more toward the teen/young adult genre, but I have to say that I was totally entertained. If you are interested at all in fantasy/other worlds, I think you would enjoy this book series. I think the third book should be coming out in the next year or so.

Are you a fan of teen/tween/young adult fantasy at all? Anyone else read this series? Lastly, any book recommendations for me?

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