Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3)
By Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Fantasy

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?

General Thoughts: I liked it more than the first book in the series, and less than the second book. I enjoy Laini’s writing style. The way she describes things is vivid and unique. But I found my mind drifting during parts of the book and not fully engaged.

Plot: It was okay. I missed the sense of urgency throughout the story; I wasn’t dying to know what happened next. It seemed like they were setting it up to have the seraphim in the human world be a super big deal and this cataclysmic thing, but I didn’t feel that. It seemed like all they did when they got to earth was sit around. And to be honest, I didn’t like the end. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Characters: I enjoyed getting to know the characters that didn’t have prominent parts in the previous two books. Ziri and Liraz had fascinating stories and personalities in my opinion.  And some people may hate me for this, but I was really getting annoyed with the Zuzana/Mik relationship. They were too perfect and their banter was starting to get nauseating towards the end. I actually started rooting for them to get in a quick argument. There were a couple characters I thought were fairly pointless, but in general I like the characters of this series.

Pace: Not great. I didn’t feel as much forward momentum as I usually like in a story, definitely in the final book of a trilogy. It just seemed like it took FOREVER to get to the meat of the story, the part we came for: Karou and Akiva and their little rag tag army facing serious threats from the enemy. It got better towards the end, as most books do nowadays. I admit, I listened to it as an audiobook and maybe I was distracted whilst listening at times, but I’ve also listened to amazing audiobooks and not been distracted even whilst doing other things.

World/Setting: Now this I thought was better than in the previous books. We got to see more places and they were described more brilliantly. At least to me they were. I liked the caves where they camped out, but I’m a fan of deep dark caves for some reason.

The Jist:

What I Liked: Learning more about new people and new places

What I Didn’t Like: It was confusing to me in parts, slow in others, and lacked energy and excitement for me. Zuz and Mik also got annoying.

Would I Recommend It? Probably not. I think I would have been fine stopping at the second book.

My Rating: 3/5 Lunas|