Book Sketch: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS
By: Laini Taylor
Published By: Little, Brown, & Company
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3
Pages: 613
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Bought
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera's rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.

When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited - not in love, but in a tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.

But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?

The New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy comes to a stunning conclusion as - from the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond - humans, chimaera, and seraphim strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.



First Thought After Finishing: Only Laini Taylor could have pulled this off!

The benefit of being so far behind in my reading was that I didn’t have the dreaded wait between the second and third books. Imagine, reading sequels when you remember every detail like you just read it—because you did! As sad as I am to see this world draw to a close, I have to say that with what is in the books, Laini Taylor did not disappoint.

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. Once upon a time, they hoped and dreamed of a different world. Once upon a time, the fate of that world fell into their hands. Karou and Akiva thought that they knew what battles lay ahead of them. They thought that bringing the chimaera and the seraphim together could solve the world’s problems. But that was only the beginning…

Writing reviews for the last book in a series is something that I have always found challenging. How does one gush enough (or complain enough) without spoiling anything in the previous books? Even though Dreams of Gods and Monsters has been out on shelves for some time, I imagine that somewhere, someone like me has not yet read the book. And if that is the case, then I must ask you, what are you waiting for?

“Once upon a time…a journey began, that would stitch all the worlds together with light.”

This is a book of epic proportions, but that doesn’t mean that there are no familiar faces. The characters that we have come to know and love are back. Karou, Ziri, Zuzanna, Mik, Akiva, and Liraz all have their part to play. The character transformation throughout the trilogy was fantastic, but in this book, Liraz is finally allowed to shine. I have a soft spot for the “tough” characters who are finally allowed to have their moment, and I loved the story that Liraz was given. There was also Ziri, who went from someone I wanted to hug in comfort to someone I wanted to hug in joy. He might not have been Akiva, but he is certainly the good guy that you cannot help but love. Lucky Ziri, indeed. There were also new faces here, like Eliza. She was interesting from the beginning, and when her story begins to converge, the true brilliance of Laini Taylor’s writing begins to shine through.

“Absence has presence, sometimes, and that was what she felt. Absence like crushed-dead grass where something has been and is no longer. Absence where a thread has been ripped, ragged, from a tapestry, leaving a gap that can never be mended.

That was all she felt.”

I love fantasy books because the worlds amaze me. As a reader, it’s fascinating to see how worlds can overlap or how one small change can create a huge ripple effect beyond imagination. I fell in love with Karou’s world all the way back in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and that never changed. The chimaera and the resurrectionist were highly original when the book debuted, and they remained so. The only thing that I felt like this book lacked was some of the gorgeous prose found in former books. This book had more action (and also more of the character’s thoughts) rather than expansive descriptions creating atmosphere, and I missed that. Still, the author has just released the first book in a new series, and I am eager to dive into that world and all that it has to offer.

Most Memorable Aspect: The world here was beyond expansive. I love how the mythology was connected and the full history was finally revealed—I wish I had imagination like this!