Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

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?

Reviewed by Briana @ Pages Unbound on

5 of 5 stars

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This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

Taylor ends the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy as strongly as she started it, giving readers a book full of high stakes and powerful emotions. Everything fans loved about the first two books are present in Dreams of Gods and Monsters and with the same intense quality. Readers will re-fall in love with Taylor’s richly imagined worlds and characters and with her beautiful, dreamlike prose.

The pacing of Dreams of Gods and Monsters is better than in Days of Blood and Starlight, of which my main complaint was that it felt too much like a “middle book” with no clear goal in sight. Taylor quickly stops playing games with readers in this conclusion and gets to the point: the battle between the angels and the demons, and the poor humans that are caught between. Action is everywhere in Dreams of Gods and Monsters, as plot threads weave together and plans are made and executed. Readers will be unable to put the book down, desperate to know what happens next—and who lives or dies.

Taylor likewise stops playing games with her characters, and Karou and Akiva quickly get their act together. They finally realize that there is too much at stake for them to prolong their petty fights. Other characters adopt a sense of carpe diem, as well, and a lot of unexpected but brilliant and seemingly right relationships develop. Whole new sides of well-known characters are revealed, but they seem natural, as if they were always there but hidden. Taylor is not manipulating her characters or directing them, but simply discovering them.

Most compelling, however, is Taylor’s finely tuned ending. Readers will get part of what they want, what they have been hoping for throughout the series, but they will not get everything—and that too seems appropriate. Taylor has been chronicling a war, and wars do not end neatly, with everything wrapped up in a bow. One task ends in Dreams of Gods and Monsters, but the rebuilding of a world is left—and an even bigger fight is introduced. This leaves the series open-ended, with the potential for not just a sequel, but a whole second series. Personally, though I would love to read more of the characters’ lives, I hope that series remains unwritten, left to readers’ imaginations. After all that has happened to Karou, Akiva, and their friends, the hint of inconclusiveness seems right.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy is YA literature at its finest, featuring a mature fantasy style that is beautiful and fierce and never watered down. Taylor takes readers on a gripping journey through two universes that will make them laugh, cry, and long in turn. Highly recommended, and a perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a very, very good story.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 May, 2014: Finished reading
  • 23 May, 2014: Reviewed