Published: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Pages: 613 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 3.5/5.0
Synopsis:
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.
I really struggled to give this last book a rating. I both loved it and felt somewhat betrayed by the ending, which sounds kind of horrible when I write it. It truly wasn’t bad, but there was an additional POV added that ended up getting a little weird and had a significant impact on the outcome.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters occurs immediately following the events of Days of Blood & Starlight. Miraculously, Akiva’s angels have allied with Karou’s chimaera and they go to fight the Dominion. Much to their horror, they find that scarred Jael and the Dominion have already made their debut on Earth to much fanfare. The people of Earth are enthralled, except for Eliza, a graduate student and “prophet” in hiding. She fears the angels and the recurring nightmares equally because for her, the end has basically arrived. On top of all this, the sky in Eretz is becoming discolored and the Stellians are in quite the panic…
Akiva and Karou continue to have much angst between them, but there’s a good resolution. That’s enough said about them. Eliza (our new PoV) was a really likable character and the first 60-70% of her story was awesome. She’s haunted by nightmares where the most horrible beasts pursue her endlessly, she ran away from her family at a young age and changed her name, and she’s about to go study the corpses of chimaera discovered in the Moroccan desert. Exciting stuff… until she discovers she’s really and truly what her crazy cult claimed she was- Elazael reborn. *EYE ROLL* I knew what was coming, but I was just so annoyed that I was right this time. The whole story took this crazy turn that I just didn’t care for. I did like that we were finally introduced to the Stellians, who so brazenly left a fruit basket declining war in the Emperor’s inner sanctum. They were kind and lovely at first glance, but were a little bit scary after flashing teeth that may or may not have actually been filed into points.
Overall, Dreams of Gods & Monsters was a good book, but I felt the ending was really just a beginning for a brand new series. Like everything was just a set up! If Laini Taylor chooses to write a sequel series, I may forgo reading it at all unless trustworthy reviews prove its worth. Despite my criticism, this is still one of the best YA fantasy series I’ve ever read and would definitely recommend it!
Powder & Page 