Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3)

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Age: Young Adult
Category: Fantasy; romance
Rating: 4 stars

Rosie Thinks: This book did what the final book in a series is meant to do - bring every single story line together to create an explosive finale. And it did. From the very start, this book set off at a furious and unforgiving pace. The near-constant cliffhangers nearly killed me and it was hard to tear myself away to do real world things, like go to sleep. And eat. And have a life outside of this book! Yet again, I am in complete awe of Laini Taylor's writing ability. The structure is incredible, the descriptions beautiful, and I love the way she ties everything together through repetition.

Once finishing an epic series like this, I love looking back to the beginning of the first book and comparing my thoughts. I just can't get over how much I did not expect this. At all. I went into it thinking it was going to be set in Earth and the angel love interest would be as boring as every other angel love interest in the YA genre. I was so wrong! The incredible, sweeping saga that Laini Taylor has packed into three books just blows my mind. The stories of all the supporting characters and minor storylines were just as engrossing as the main one. We go from art-student Karou, who has no other worries beyond collecting teeth for Brimstone and enacting petty vengeance against her ex to Karou/Madrigal, restrictionist for the chimaera, last hope of a world being literally torn apart by a thousand-year war.


Actually, let me correct myself: the first 85% or so had my eyes clued to the page, and was just as epic as I expected. After that . . . well, I was a little bit let down. The whole story seemed like one massive, climatic event after the other, right up until the end where it all fell through for me. The plot twists became a bit too convenient and I found myself frowning at my Kindle, thinking, "Really? Is that it?". The two main storylines (Akiva/Karou's dream and the Stelians/Cataclysm, to put it simply) never sat together well for me and in the moment where Taylor finally brought them together, I expected a glorious revelation. Instead, it became artificial and forced. Don't let this stop you from reading this story though - the rest of it is incredible, and the epilogue did a great job of redeeming it for me, since I thought it was a perfect way to end. It didn't tie up the entire novel in a neat, unrealistic bow, but rather cleared up most things and left a bit open. I couldn't really see it ending any other way, so I'm happy for that!