Title // Author: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (web | twitter)
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2
Genre: Fantasy YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Release date: November 6, 2012
Challenge: 2013 TBR Challenge
Source: Own itSummary: Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.
This is not that world.
Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.
While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.
But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?
Book Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Book Review: Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn
Author: Diana Renn
Genre: Contemporary YA, mystery, thieves
Publisher: Viking Children’s Books
Release date: June 14, 2012
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge
Source: DAC ARC Tour
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Violet loves reading manga and wearing scarves made from kimono fabric, so she’s thrilled that her father’s new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns into a dangerous treasure hunt.
Her father’s newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van Gogh sketches have been stolen from their home, and, until they can produce the corresponding painting, everyone’s lives are in danger — including Violet’s and her father’s.
Violet’s search for the missing van Gogh takes her from the Seattle Art Museum, to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo, to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery thickens, Violet’s not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to solve the mystery — before it’s too late.
Book Review: Secret Letters by Leah Scheier
Author: Leah Scheier
Genre: Historical Fiction YA, Mystery
Publisher: Hyperion Book Children’s
Release date: June 26, 2012
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge, YA Historical Fiction Challenge
Source: DAC ARC Tour
Summary: Inquisitive and observant, Dora dreams of escaping her aristocratic country life to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes. So when she learns that the legendary detective might be her biological father, Dora jumps on the opportunity to travel to London and enlist his help in solving the mystery of her cousin’s ransomed love letters. But Dora arrives in London to devastating news: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Her dreams dashed, Dora is left to rely on her wits–and the assistance of an attractive yet enigmatic young detective–to save her cousin’s reputation and help rescue a kidnapped heiress along the way.
[Read more…]