Be that Cat

Days of Blood and Starlight - Laini Taylor
Little Brown - Available now

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them.

And its snap spilt the world in two."

I simply can not say in words how much I loved this book. The stunning sequel to Laini's Daughter of Smoke and Bone is just as brilliant as I had dared to hope it would be - I know we've all had at least one let down from an author we have loved and been super excited for their next offering only to be disappointed, well that fear is not needed here!

Book 2 picks up Karou's story following the disastrous events of book 1 and is just as beautifully brutal in its prose with the story split between Karou and Akiva the two opposing sides of the endless Chimera/Seraphim war, both sides so seeped in blood and suffering that revenge has simply become a way of life - more means to justify the end.

The romantic aspects of the series are muted for the moment, exploring further the inexplicable war that rages on and brining each of these races to new levels of hate. The question is, can the voices of the  battle weary few speak to all, and will it be in time to keep the human world clear of the bloodshed?

Gruesome characters, beautiful monsters and enough mystery to keep the pages flying by, bring on book 3…trust me, some things are worth the wait!

Dancing in the Underworld

Falling Under - Gwen Hayes
Penguin - Available now (Books 1&2)

"Don't." His curt voice cut into me as if he'd just called me a name.

"Don't what?"

"Don't fall under." He closed his eyes and turned his head away, breaking the link.

I tumbled through darkness, awakening in my own bed with a stranger's heart beating in my chest.

 ~ page 38 ~

Theia Alderson lives a very sheltered life owed to her stodgy British father who anyone can see is just totally incapable of the love a daughter needs as he is still suffering from the loss of his wife and being, well…British. Her small group of girlfriends have characters that are a little left of centre but that just made me love them even more, especially their witty comparison of a Dr Suess cautionary tale to high school hierarchy :)

Theia is a smart character and quite complex, I really liked being in her head - of course there was the standard 'He loves me, he loves me not' internal anguishing but when you're falling for a guy thats half demon I guess its allowable, especially when he's making comments like "The darkness in me wants you the way a black hole eats stars" (does that give anyone else chills?).

The story did have a rather large twist that I didn't see coming (though probably should have) and an original feel that I haven't been getting lately from a lot of my YA reading which was nice and refreshing. Book 2 Dreaming Awake is also available now and Im excited to see what Gwen has in store for me next!