This review can also be found hereIt's no secret that I fell in love with Daughter of Smoke & Bone last year, it even made it onto my top reads of 2012 list, but this one just added a whole new layer to this series. It's so dark and different from Daughter of Smoke & Bone but fans of this series will be sure to love it none the less.I was petrified to start this one, after the way the first book ended I had the worst ideas as to what Laini Taylor was going to do. Thankfully I was wrong but this book is still pretty difficult. There is a lot more killing and blood shed than in the first one and it's just so dark, but still unbelievably magical.This time around we get to see how the characters act through different eyes: such as Zuzana and Mik's as well as Ziri and Akiva's. This added a great aspect to the book and I really enjoyed seeing things from different characters. I kept praying that Karou and Akiva would work everything out and just be together, but seeing how they were apart for most of the book I was pretty sad. There are parts when they seem to be growing close again but then something happens and it is forced away. Hopefully the next one will provide us with a little more Karou/Akiva.The writing is still magical and amazing. Laini Taylor is a master and no matter what she's writing whether it was sweet and fully of magic like Daughter of Smoke & Bone or dark and gritty like Days of Blood & Starlight, she can pull it off flawlessly.If you were a fan of the first you definitely need to check this one out right away. It is darker but it still provides you with a sense of hope even when everything seems like it is falling apart. I will be waiting not so patiently for the next installment of this series which comes out next year.