Mini Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Synopsis:

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

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. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

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 theater 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?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Review | Days of Blood and Starlight Review

What a glorious and exhausting ending to a truly magnificent and gorgeous trilogy. Laini Taylor’s writing is so vivid, so melancholy, so fluid…it reads almost like poetry at times. She never makes things easy for her heroes, and she keeps our two lovers apart for almost longer than anyone can stand, making their reunion so sweet. This book is packed with action, new faces, new relationships, old favorites, and lots of righteous justice. Plus some surprising twists.

Mik and Suzanna win all the awards. I loved Karou’s interaction with them vs. her interaction with the other seraphim and chimaera. With the people of Eretz, she’s a leader, very non-human, very impersonal, but with Mik and Suzanna, she’s back to just being a girl, their friend, and a clever, yet very tired one at that.

The only reason this doesn’t get 5 full stars from me is because for the first half of the book I didn’t care much for newcomer Eliza and her storyline; I wanted to stick with Akiva and Karou (who are AWESOME in this book, by the way; if you thought Days of Blood and Starlight was painful, you’re going to love this one). Of course, when you find out why Eliza is important, I started enjoying her chapters more, but in the beginning, they were fairly annoying.

I’ve been a fan of this series since Daughter of Smoke and Bone was published, and this was truly an exquisite end to a beautiful trilogy.