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

by Laini Taylor

It began with DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE
It continued with DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT
It ends with DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. 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 there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theatre that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

• ISBN10: 0316459208
• ISBN13: 9780316459204
• Publish Date: 1 December 2020 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 656
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 5 Stars
More accurately, ALL of the stars... In our own universe, & every parallel universe out there.
✨⭐️

[Djilan]

I loved this series so much!
Laini her writing is gorgeous! And the characters.. We got to know them and feel for them.

This third book took me a while to finish, because I was dreading the bad things that were bound to happen. And I hated bad things happening.. But I pulled through and enjoyed every single page.

[Empress of Sass]

I just couldn’t get into this book. I feel like where to series started and where this book ended up were radically different places. Longer proper review to come.

[Beth C.]

This one, I think, was my favorite in the trilogy. It brought me closer to her writing style that I first evidenced in Strange the Dreamer. The ending, particularly, was lush and beautiful (but no spoilers!). I look forward to continuing with Ms. Taylor's works, especially with the follow-up to Strange.

[Kim Deister]

Dreams of Gods & Monsters Dreams of Gods & Monsters is the last of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy and I am so sad to see it end. This has been a wild ride with a beautiful cast of characters and a thought-provoking story that held me from beginning to end. Despite the length of these books, they were all fairly quick reads because I just couldn't put them down.
 
This book was full of adventure and intrigue, suspense and twists, and I loved it! The mythology of this series takes humans, demons, and angels and changes your perception of them. What does it mean to be good or evil? How does one person or thing become evil? Are those thought to be evil truly bad, or is it just one's perspective? These are all questions that this book, and the series, makes you ask yourself.
 
I felt like this book was the most emotional of the series. It tore my heart to shreds more than once, and built it right back up. The imagery and the characters are so vivid that it was impossible not to put myself in the middle of the story with them, feeling their pain, their angst, their joy, their sadness. So delicious!

[ellieroth]

Me sobrecargué de información

[layawaydragon]

3.5 Stars:

+world-building, plot, tension, and characters.

-romance and pacing issues, and flowery writing that crossed the line into annoying purple prose
I enjoyed it despite the problems and felt the ending was satisfying.

Romance:Let’s get this out of the way first.

Zuzana & Mike: remain the couple to beat. They’re sweet, mesh, and have chemistry that isn’t forced to fruition like a blooming onion. *cough*

Akiva & Karou:



Oy. I get this is supposed to be their epic romantic journey but I have a hard time with them being together. I mean it’s not fun to read their anguish being a part but they have lust, history, and nothing else.

They have a moment that was “YES! This!” when they realize they don’t know each other. My bubble was quickly popped when they touched and nothing else mattered. Again. *sigh*
At least I can skip their paragraph(s) long eye-fucking and lusting fire-storm BS.

Other: There’s another couple or two that blooms. I like the pairings. Especially the Hero that deserves happiness and end the love triangle mess. However, that’s more about liking the characters and wanting them to be happy than buying their connection. Again, it’s all about fate and instant attraction.

I wish some fluffy shit was cut to make room for more growth and depth. As much as I love the world-building and plot, this aspect makes me nervous to read more of Lani Taylor’s work.

Plot:

I liked the weaving perspectives. Not only does it make sense to have them, it builds the tension and suspense.

Eliza was a solid addition. I definitely had to know how humans were reacting to The Visitors and that was only possible through her. It also worked to throw me for a loop where her story was going and how it connected.

I liked reading the Chimera and Angels in the cave with all their drama and overcoming their history. Ziri as The Wolf is brilliant and heartbreaking. Lirazel surprised me.

I will admit to being confused and frustrated with not knowing Karou’s plan against the Angels until the showdown. It ended up being changed and working, so I have to wonder still what the plan was with the original crew.

Stelvians make an appearance and we finally get answers there. Most of the time they’re flittering around the edges and aren’t really important until the end.

Pacing:




Yes, I agree pacing is an issue. Many times I was frustrated because it wasn’t going anywhere or at the speed of molasses. This with the writing makes me wonder if the editor decided Taylor was “too big to fail” or something? Why does no one remember “the bigger they are the harder they fall”?

The Ending:

While I found the ending satisfying, it didn’t reveal all the answers. Like the how and why of Akiva’s power. Or the secret of tithing beyond pain being the crudest. And teeth.

At first it made sense that Karou only got and used teeth from the human world. But now that she knows about Chimera, I wonder why they can’t use Chimera or angel teeth instead of solely from the human world.

Maybe I missed something but it seems silly to just burn the bodies immediately after getting the soul. There must be a reason why but there’s no explanation.

There’s an ace pulled out of the sleeve for The Real Big Bad but we don’t see it happen. There’s no why or how, just that it will happen and it’s meant to be.

So not everything is revealed but I still feel good about how it ended. These opens could lead to more books in the world, but I don’t know if I can get excited about it.

Part of it is being relieved this trilogy is over and seeing how quality declined as it went on. The other is not wanting another insta-love fest. We’ll see. I’m at least willing to look into it because of Daughter of Smoke and Bone’s high point and good elements.

[KitsuneBae]

Remind me again why we need to spend a lot of time reading about Eliza? And remind me again why everything is just so verbose? This series really made me weary.

[Kelly]

I did struggle to remember details towards the end as there was a bit too much going on, especially with being a non fantasy reader. It felt so much longer than it's 500 plus pages, but really enjoyed it nonetheless. The series has been so vivid, incredibly lyrical and that ending was pure perfection.

[neddieb]

It was way too long. I couldn't get into the story