Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, 3)

‘Dreams of Gods and Monsters’ by Laini Taylor is the third and last instalment of her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, one that I initially received to review and wasn’t all that interested in… until I read the first page and was hooked on from then. Laini Taylor is now one of my favourite authors, mainly because her writing is almost so good it’s hard to settle and enjoy. It makes you wriggle with excitement and happiness. It makes you want to punch love in the face. I’m not a fan of the usual internet sayings but saying ‘all the feels’ is most apt for Laini’s work, it truly is.Firstly, I highly recommend you re-read the first two books before diving into this one as the series has quite a large cast of not-often-names characters who will become important in this one. It’s also necessary to note the ebb and flow of emotions which make this series.A sequel to a favourite series is always a hard thing to read – more so to write, I expect. You always wonder whether it will do the series justice or if your own mind will work against you and has since hyped the book up in your mind that no matter what is written, or how it is written, it simply won’t be able to feel satisfying.Thankfully, Dreams of Gods and Monsters has nothing to worry about in that regard. Despite being eagerly anticipated it managed to exceed expectations. I squealed/squeaked at work when I received notification the book was ready to be read. I sneakily got it onto my kindle – still at work. I even peeked at it (and that’s when I decided I would indeed need to re-read the series.)I devoured the re-read of the first two and then this one in four days and throughout it was simply a joy. I thank Hachette tenfold for sending me the first without request which first introduced me to this series early. Laini Taylor’s writing is simply suburb and this book only seems to take that next step forward in her writing ability.The plot is hard to describe without mentioning spoilers for this or previous books, but it certainly does wrap all plot threads and story arcs – and even each character’s thoughts – neatly and succinctly. The characters develop throughout and yet there’s still time for the wit and razor we enjoy. We see yet more settings throughout the world, and new characters are added which you do manage to feel invested in quickly. Laini has a talent for introducing a character and their traits seamlessly, so they barely have to say anything and you already know whether you loathe or love them.It’s a hard thing to set a Big World Event in our actual world when there are otherworldly creatures involved. It’s easy to pick out how the world would react and find it unbelievable. This is handled within the novel without fault, even though religion certainly plays a part in it.Most importantly, this novel is an incredibly satisfying end to an excellent series. It feels odd to say it, but I feel sated with this one. I wouldn’t try to talk Laini out of writing more in this series if she chose to, of course, more would be beyond excellent! But this is one series where I do feel completely and utterly satisfied. We know what happens for them all in regards to plot. We are happy with the worlds involved. We are happy with how the characters are left by the end of the novel.

Dreams of Gods & Monsters was an epic and beautiful finale to one of my new favorite fantasy series. The romance made my heart melt. There was a Star Wars joke about using a Tauntaun to keep warm which I loved. There was more of the blunt, honest humor that I laugh out loud at. Behold my favorite joke ever.Razgut paused as though he were thinking up a reply, and then he farted. Squinching up his face, he did so with effort. The reward was slight in resonance but grand in aroma, and the emperor was not amused.- Laini Taylor, Dreams of Gods & Monsters pg 367I'm certainly amused by Razgut. Speaking of Razgut, I kind of wondered when he was going to say "my preeeciousssssss" because he totally reminded me of Gollum. He was pitiful, ugly, scheming and for reasons I don't understand I kind of liked him and felt sorry for him.The book before this one, Days of Blood & Starlight, was very dark. Dreams of Gods & Monsters did a good job showing that no matter how dark things get, love and mercy matter.But all he could think, in answer to that, was what Karou had said earlier, about the darkness we do in the name of the dead, and whether it’s what they would want for us.-Laini Taylor, Dreams of Gods & Monsters pg 264The writing is beautiful and just sucks you right into the story.She’d spoken of their happiness as though it were an undeniable fact, no matter what happened— apart from everything else and not subject to it. It was a new idea for him, that happiness wasn’t a mystical place to be reached or won— some bright terrain beyond the boundary of misery, a paradise waiting for them to find it— but something to carry doggedly with you through everything, as humble and ordinary as your gear and supplies. Food, weapons, happiness.-Laini Taylor, Dreams of Gods & Monsters pg 413As much as I loved this book, I wish it had ended 100 pages sooner than it did. Not because I thought the book was too long but because I felt like the final subplot that took up those last pages was unnecessary. The final subplot goes into the epic territory of Where This World Came From. Honestly, I don't like knowing that much detail because I feel part of the beauty of an amazing fantasy is leaving a little left unanswered especially about the origins of a fantasy world. For example, J.K. Rowling describes a hidden world of witches and wizards but she never attempts in the narrative to explain where the first witch and wizard came from. I think if she had, it would lose a lot of it's magic. Laini Taylor literally answers all the questions and to be fair she did foreshadow this plot in the previous books so it is nice that she didn't just abandon it. But I felt like the story would have worked much better without that final subplot because I felt like the plot really dragged through those last 100 pages.Overall, it was a very satisfying conclusion to my favorite series but I was not a fan of that final subplot about the origins of the world because I felt it was unnecessary.

I have been putting off writing my review of DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS, the last installment in Laini Taylor’s glorious Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. Not because I didn’t like it–OPPOSITE. In fact, it’s BECAUSE I loved it so that I kept putting off writing down my thoughts. The conclusion to the thousands of years of war between the angels and chimaera of Eretz, and so the conclusion of the tale of Akiva and Karou, star-crossed loves, was as emotional and bittersweet and hopeful as I wished it to be. It was intense and dark, but also full of little rays of light. I would love to say that DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS is perfect on its own, but I didn’t think it was, not quite. But when I consider it in conjunction with the first two books in this series? YES, MA’AM. AMAZING.So I’m going to keep my little summary short this time to avoid spoilers, but here’s the gist: Karou and Akiva have corralled the remaining Misbegotten and Chimaera in the Kirin caves in Eretz. They are trying to prepare for their big offensive push against Jael and his Dominion forces that have used one of the remaining portals to invade the human world. There are other forces at work, however, that throw Karou and Akiva’s plans for a loop, the ramifications of which can mean the failure of lifetimes of dreams and hard work. EEP!The things that I loved the most about DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS revolved, as most things do in this series, around the characters and the relationships. The foremost of these is obviously Karou and Akiva. They remain emo and tortured and torn between their feelings and their plans for finally putting an end to the war between their people and get moving on that happy, different life they dreamed about in the Temple of Ellai. I spent lots of time during DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS wanting to just shove their faces together, but the way Laini Taylor draws it out is ultimately very satisfying. I trust her storytelling abilities completely, and she does Karou and Akiva–the heart and soul of this series–justice.But of course there are other characters that I came to love over the course of this series, and seeing them again and the roles that they play was emotional and sweet and intense. As always, Mik and Zuzana were fabulous and I adore them, and Ziri. ZIRI. I die from my love for him. But other characters, too, have such great arcs and change in ways that really warmed my heart. Laini Taylor knows how to write beautifully and how to imbue those words with MAJOR feelings. She did so many characters justice, whether they were old or new (there are new–intriguing and awesome–characters in DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS).So much of this book was amazing and satisfying and just what I was hoping for that it largely allowed me to gloss over something that I didn’t love very much. It involves a completely new character whose chapters wound up throwing off the flow of the whole story for me. They were important for sure, and I didn’t hate them, but I thought that reading them was like slamming on the breaks. Most annoyingly though, is that a secondary character is introduced in these chapters and things just kind of…flap around with him. It’s a small but important role and it bugged me the whole time that we just stopped hearing about him. Alas, nothing is perfect.By and large, though, DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS was excellent. The action was good, if some parts read slower than others, the drama was off the charts, the romance was intense and broody, the writing was lush and lovely, and the climax was perfectly emotional. Everything was a touch bittersweet because of the things and people that were lost along the way, but in the end I couldn’t be more thrilled with this series and the way it concluded. Laini Taylor is magic.

I'm not sure I can do a cohesive review for this book. There were so many things I loved about it, and yet, somehow, I hated it, too.I hated that we've come to the end of this wonderful series. I hated the way this one felt rushed and it was like every time I hoped that we'd come to an uplifting moment, we got smacked right back down again.Laini beat me down with this book. Repeatedly. Until I lost all hope in a happy ending. Then she would let the light shine through again, and then BAM! Thunder would roll and all hope died. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseum.The action and plotting in the finale were amazing. I felt as breathless and terrified as the characters must have for the entire length of this book. To be honest, it was exhausting. I just wanted a little bit of a respite, somewhere. A reason to believe that this book would not destroy all I loved about the series. And everyone, as well.I was completely drawn in to the plot and the characters and the gorgeous, lyrical prose, as always, but really. There's only so much suspense I can take.There were a couple of things I (honestly) disliked about this installment. They didn't ruin the book, but I thought they were extraneous and occasionally upsetting.Eliza. WTF? Really? We need a new character who we don't know or care about at this stage of the game?I mean, I guess she's all right as a character. Likeable, even. But throwing her into the last book felt really odd to me.Aside from Eliza's late appearance and the hyperventilation-inducing stress of the plot (which I actually liked, but geez I can only handle so much), the only other thing that kept this series from a perfect 5 star rating from me was the ending of this book.I complain, and yet, this series has been the most wonderful experience of my reading life. I loved everything about it, and will probably read it many, many times in the future. No, it didn't end exactly as I would have wished, and this last book was so stressful that at times I thought my lungs would explode from holding my breath, but I loved it anyway.Everyone, absolutely everyone, should read this series. Laini Taylor is a genius and I'm already waiting most impatiently for Strange the Dreamer , which doesn't come out until September.TL;DR: A worthy close to a beautiful, astonishing, captivating series. Watch out for that ending, though.

I hate it when I want to give a book a glowing review and just can’t. That is the case with Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor, the final book in the trilogy that began with Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It picks up slightly before Days of Blood and Starlight ends, with the angels invading Earth. Here we meet Eliza – one of several new characters who become central to the plot later on – who has been plagued with nightmares about invasions and beasts her whole life. After an ominous warning from Jael, the leader of the Dominion, that “the beasts are coming,” the story turns back to Karou and Akiva, who struggle to unite what’s left of the warring armies of Chimera and Misbegotten so they can try to prevent the apocalypse the angelic invasion all but guarantees. Tied into all of this is a rebellious tribe of angels known as the Stelians who refuse to participate in the wars because they have a higher calling, one that will affect the fates of all involved, but especially Karou and Akiva.Before I get into criticism, I will say this. If you’ve read the first two books in the series, it’s worth your time to read this one, if only to finish out the storyline. As usual, Taylor’s writing sparkles, with so many memorable lines that I’m glad I learned to use the highlight function on my Kindle. The story is beautiful in places, even funny, especially when the characters are allowed a brief respite from the drama to be themselves, the people we’ve grown to love since the first book. I give Taylor all the credit in the world for showing how witnessing war changes people, even though as a fan I was worried she “broke” one of my favorite characters. (In reality, the trauma just made her stronger and more mature.) There are also some clever nods to the first two books in the series, something I wish we would have seen more of.Now, for the tricky part, explaining my mixed feelings on this book. The first 200 pages were very confusing to me, with a lot of perspective changes (some of which aren’t explained enough for you to know whose perspective you have and why) and a lot of thinking and rehashing. As someone who didn’t re-read Days of Blood and Starlight before this came out, this was helpful to a point, but also got annoying. I kept wanting her to get on with it, to get to the action. Once she finally does, the book grabs hold for long periods of time. However, it soon becomes weighed down by her new characters and a complex mythology that ends up being a lot for a reader to take in at once. I feel like the story would have been better served either by a) cutting a new plot line involving the Stelians, or b) breaking this story into two books so that the new plot points could be better developed. As a reader, I was never able to connect with the Stelians and truly feel their place in this world. If they had been introduced in book two so that more time had been devoted to developing their story, perhaps I could better appreciate the role they play in the outcome. As it is, I feel like their storyline was an afterthought that was jammed in to make the unexpected ending make sense. I applaud Taylor for trying something new, for stretching the world which we all thought we knew to be more than we ever imagined. However, I feel like the basic story suffered as a result. What bothers me the most is that what drew me in, the love story between Akiva and Karou, was relegated to second place, over the new mythology that she added. Even Zuzanna and Mik, two of my favorite characters, played a lesser role in the book and their ultimate fates left too open for my taste. Another sticking point for me is that once the story shifts back through the portal for good, the human world is all but forgotten. I would have liked to have seen more of an after-reaction from the humans to the events that turned their worlds upside down. The summary epilogue also left me wanting more to experience, rather than be told. All in all, it was worth the read, but not the powerful end to the series I was hoping for.

I ALMOST never read this series, but it has definitely become one of my all-time favorites. The synopsis on the back of book 1, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, did absolutely no justice to the story, and was so vague that I nearly never started reading it! I'm so glad it was JUST interesting enough to add to my Goodreads to-read list, because I kept coming back to it again and again, almost deciding to read it every time, but ended up choosing other options. I'm SO glad I finally decided to read it though, as the story (and its characters) made me fall in love with it.The characters quickly grew on me right from the beginning. I could relate to Karou & Zuz right from the beginning because they were in art school, and I went to college for art & graphic design. I actually took Life Drawing classes, where nude models were a normal appearance and many similar thoughts passed through my head while they were posing, etc. Karou is a typically strong female lead character, which I adore, especially in YA books. Akiva is a decent man, who has been through the ringer, and come out nearly broken several times - something I also am familiar with so it rings true to me. All of the other characters, with their weirdly beautiful names, became real to me so that I'd want to visualize what they'd look like. I found on Laini's blog a link to some art that portrays the characters. I wish I'd found that while reading book 1!!The story was unique enough that I didn't easily predict what would happen any given moment. And the story is presented as it comes, so that you learn what's happening as the characters do, and nothing is to be inferred. I liked the setting, mostly in Europe, which was a nice change of pace from all of the other similar genre books I've been reading lately. All of the different languages, and higher level vocabulary, the inclusion of different cultures, etc., all helped the story to become more than others with similar story lines/subject matter.Overall, loved the ending. Satisfying, long, but an absolute thrill ride! I enjoyed every page, & every surprise. I'll be reading this again, for sure!!

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (DGM) begins with Karou and the remnant of the chimaera forging an uneasy alliance with Akiva’s Misbegotten and agreeing to take on Jael. Not surprisingly, the alliance is rocky at first as the centuries old enemies struggle to put aside their mutual hatred of each other, but gradually they’re able to do so. This book introduces a new character—Eliza—who proves central to understanding the bigger picture and what’s at stake. Of course, Karou and Akiva find a way to put aside the pain between them and join together in the fight against Jael. At the end of the book, the loose ends are tied together and the stage is even set for a possible spin off series, although the Karou-Akiva story is resolved and doesn’t need anything more.The Book: DGM is a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. So, if you’ve made it through Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight, you definitely have to read the conclusion (like I’m telling you something you don’t already know). It’s very much worth it.Pros: Zuzana, Liraz, and Ziri become great characters in this book. Also, the same imagination and lyrical prose that characterized the first two books is here in spades in the final book. Laini Taylor is a great writer and she’s in fine form in this book. Yeah, we kind of know how it’s going to end, but the author pulls it off in a way that is enjoyable and unpredictable. I give a special A+ to the author for what is a very imaginative, novel story. Also, after the painful, distressing tone of Days of Blood & Starlight, it’s nice to see the story veer back into the magic territory of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.Cons: The plot was not as strong as the first two books, IMO. We came into this book focused on two things: Karou and Akiva getting back together and somehow defeating Jael. Curiously, both of these plot arcs are resolved rather early and the resolutions are surprisingly anti-climactic. The anticipated big confrontation with Jael ends not with a bang but with a whimper. Also, the Karou-Akiva reconciliation that I thought would be epic and emotional kind of happens with just a shrug. After books 1 and 2, I thought there’d be more drama and emotion and more story time, but the reconciliation is pretty low key and…dare I say, romantically disappointing. The endgame of the story focuses on a new plot arc about monsters in the dark, which hasn’t really been introduced very much hitherto so it feels like someone out of the blue is crashing the party. Still, we’ve got great characters and the story ends the way we want it to end, so while this isn’t the best book in the series, you gotta read it and I give it a solid thumbs up.

“Twice-daughter, my joy. Your dream is my dream, and your name is true. You are all of our hope.”I've been looking forward to this book for what seems like a very long time. And I'm very pleased to say it did not disappoint. It wasn't perfect (I'll get into that later), but it was damn close.The book picks up right as the Angels (led by Jael) arrive on Earth, and we're immediately introduced to a new human character named Eliza who appears to have quite the mysterious past. It seems odd to introduce someone new, and apparently major, this far into the trilogy but it does eventually pay off (somewhat....again, we'll get to that later).As for Karou, Akiva, and all our old favorites, we actually back track a bit from where the last book left off (with the Angels and Chimaera already in the Kirin Caves), and we get to see how they eventually ended up there.For the most part, fans of the book will get closure on their favorite characters from the previous books (well, the ones that survive). I was elated (with tears in my eyes) with where some of them end up. One of Laini Taylor's strengths is in creating characters that you fall in love with. Even ones that start off as unlikeable (Liraz) could end up being your outright favorite by the end. There were a few notable exceptions when it comes to closure though. For example, my favorite character from Book 2, Sveva doesn't appear in the book at all (I guess my hope for her and Rath ending up together will need to stay as fan-fiction).The major storyline that was set up in book 1 and 2 (Angel/Chimaera War) is seen through to a worthy conclusion. It came a bit earlier than I expected, with nearly 20% left in the book for the resolution, but still it was quite satisfying. It was equal parts, exciting, infuriating (on purpose) and at times heartbreaking.It's that last 20% (well, technically the last 8%) of the book where I am I not sure what to think. Spoilers to follow:SPOILER BELOW:...........Eliza (now with the memories of her kin) informs them that the myth of the Godstars is one yet to happen....and that *gasp* THEY are the Godstars. Destined to fight off the darkness in an epic war.The trilogy is over, but now we have this new piece of knowledge. We aren't told when this war will take place, or who will survive the battle (many are slain, one hundred survive). Though if you take the myth literally, those that survive ARE the Godstars, so maybe we do know a few of the 100 who survive (Akiva, Karou, Mik, Zuzanna, Liraz, Ziri, Rath, etc). I don't know, like I said, I don't know how I feel about this. It almost feels as if the author is setting up another book. That the Daughter of Smoke and Bone was just the warm up for the real story. Or maybe we're just meant to believe that these characters were fated to come together, and eventually save the world and succeed? The story is about how they came together...so maybe we already know the important part....I'm just rambling...I'll stop now...............END SPOILERSo yeah...take away that one part, and I absolutely LOVED the book. Without a doubt, it stands aside The Hunger Games, His Dark Materials, and Harry Potter as one of my favorite series of all time.

I am left speechless after reading this masterpiece

Deeply satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, and one of the best books I've read in years. Dazzling world-building, cliff-hangers with real cliffs steep enough to inspire vertigo through the pages, and a sense of peril and wonder and sheer determination. Loved it.

Llego bien enpaquetado y muy rapido.

O livro apresenta estragos mínimos da transportação. Mas aconselho a comprarem com a Amazon são espetaculares no atendimento deles.

Great read once again. Fantastic conclusion to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy. A story of loss, love, trials and tribulations all wrapped up with a good dose of magic and mystery. I have to say though the Epilogue left quite a few questions unanswered including the future of Eretz and Earth. Would have liked to hear how things panned out.Otherwise great story, enjoyable read, would recommend reading the first two books first to have any understanding of this one. Great imagination Laini Taylor!