Dreams of Gods & Monsters

This felt like it took me forever to read and not really because of length but there is just so much happening in this book. So many characters and plot and subplots to follow and yes it was a lengthy read I found myself thinking many times near the end (because I was getting impatient) can we just get to the important stuff because a lot of the writing was a lot or at least felt like a lot of characters working through their feelings which understandably all the stuff they are going through there will be feels and I usually don't mind beautiful deep writing about all the emotions but this time around I could have done with less of it. If this is ever adapted for the screen it has to be a TV series because there is no way a movie could squish all this into 2-3 hours and be good. I am happy I finally got to finish this series, I picked up the first book years ago. 2011 or 2012 and I LOVED it so much, the sequels not as much but they were still very good reads.

This book got me engaged, involved. It kept me on the edge of my seat, it had me worrying, it had me hoping, there were a couple of places where I was almost praying... and there were parts that were so, so, so sweet... it made me cry. Of both sadness and happiness.

There were only a couple of things I wasn't happy about.

1) I WISH Eliza had reacted differently to the incident. I wish she had said: “Of course I'm distraught! I managed to flee a cult where I had been abused my whole childhood, and am studying a field I'm passionate about, and if you don't believe I'm innocent, if you don't believe that I didn't do this, I can kiss my career goodbye, no-one will ever take me seriously, and I'll go to jail for violating the agreement AND YOU ARE SENDING ME BACK TO THE CULT!”

2) I wish to know more about how the fake grandmother's life turned out. I wanted to see her punished.

3) I wanted to see the other guy punished.

And where will they find enough teeth to create enough bodies? Why aren't they using the teeth from the old bodies?

It's done, I finished the final book in this amazing series! I'm just going to dive right in with this review. First off, I want to thank Laini Taylor for writing these books, she really has a way with words that make me pause for a minute. However, compared to the other books, I have to say this was my least favorite. I've made a small list of the reasons why:

• The story was still thrilling and I had so much fun reading it, but there was also a lot of information being dumped.
• I didn't like the character Eliza.. At first, she was just boring, and then I felt like she wasn't really part of the story (even though she was actually at the beginning of everything).
• I'm also not sure how I feel about the slightly open ending. Maybe it was this open because Taylor wants to keep writing about the world of Eretz, which I'm absolutely fine with, but I kind of needed closure after three books.
• I think somewhere in book 2, I kind of lost interest in Akiva and Karou's relationship. Of course, I still wanted them to have a happy ending, but I didn't really care as much as I did in book 1. In the end, I was way more invested in Ziri & Liraz and Mik & Zuzana ("the most excellent rabid fairy"😂). I will always be team Akiva, so if he's happy with Karou, I'm happy 😉

That being said, I'm still very enthusiastic about this book and there were so many beautiful moments as well. I loved Liraz's storyline in this book, and I shipped her with Ziri from the moment that was even a possibility. So glad they got together in the end❤️ I'm glad Karou finally decided to create soldiers with honor, that was what I was hoping for in this last part of the series. The chapter in which we get inside Razgut's mind was one of my favorites. He is feisty. At the end of book 2, I was so disappointed in him, but I love his wit and internal dialogue. It reminded me a bit of Gollum on a good day. What was done to him was so cruel, I thought his backstory was very important. And poor Akiva, he just can't get a break, can he? "I keep getting second chances, that aren't rightly mine". If you've read the books, you understand how intensely sad it was when Akiva spoke them😭

Because I've only read two books this month, I'm going to pick this one as my Book of the Month⭐ I will miss the world of Eretz, and I will say goodbye to it with the appropriate words:

I kiss your eyes and leave my heart in your hands.

Taylor excels at world building, and some of her prose is genuinely beautiful, but this book would have benefitted from an unflinching edit - at least a third should have gone. Satisfying ending, though considering how long the book was the wrap up and explanation for Eliza seemed rushed. Kids would really need to love this world and characters to stick with it all the way to the end of ~1500 pages.

Series 3 of the year complete.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this book and trilogy as a whole. For starters, I'm absolutely obsessed with Laini Taylor's writing. She has a way with words that draws you right in and keeps you hooked. The prose and imagery she weaves with her words is perfection and I cannot wait to read anything and everything else she publishes.

That being said this book completed suffered from trying to do way too much. This book introduced so many new complexities and layers to the world that I think Laini took on too much with this final installment. There were so many instances where this book dragged and seemed to have no true direction. I felt like this book had even more info dump than the first book.

So while I love the world and the characters and was eager to see what would happen to them, this book was fairly unsatisfying for me. I think there was just too much going on and not enough conclusion for me. This book definitely left the door wide open for a sequel or spin-off and I'm not sure how I feel about that with how disappointing this final installment was.

So basically, I love the writing in this book and I love the characters, but the plot was just too much for me. The story seemed to go in too many different directions for my taste. This trilogy as a whole was still really good though, this final book was did not live up to the other two books.

WOW.
600 odd pages later and here I still am breathing and somehow alive.
I cant word how much I love this series and the way it ended.
I was scared to death during the last 50 or so pages.
I need more of the world ASAP.
thank god there are novellas ? (I think)
WOW.
the world is just 10000/10000 !
Mik is life.
I want to personally thank Akiva and Karou for existing.

Great. Awesome. The ending was warm, fuzzy and open? Like Strange The Dreamer. So these guys are ramping up to fight the Nithilam, and the crew from Strange The Dreamer is moving through the portals. So the last open portal is from Earth to Eretz and the other side from Eretz was closed off. So, is there going to be a story where everyone meets in Eretz(?) and gathers together to fight off the Nithilam?! That'd be awesome to read.

Yes? I think so, yes. The writing was beautiful, as always - this is a lovely series, but most of it comes from the delicious writing, rather than the story or characters themselves. This book is full of squishy feelings and YA-romance moments and I'm totally ok with that, but I'm also totally ok with leaving Karou, Akiva, Zuzana and Mik and not coming back. This isn't a series that will be on my re-read list anytime soon.

It was nice to not get a traditional happily ever after. But as the universe(s) expanded I really wanted to learn more about what happens after the End. Not to Karou, but maybe Scarab and Eliza and the nihilim. I really wanted to see Brimstone and his reaction to Karou post-wishbone, and see the 'family' reunited. But as it stands I am mostly satisfied.

Emotionally satisfying. I have enjoyed the ways the world is almost a trope that Taylor subverts each time.

At the end, I have a few quibbles. First off, the fourth book is missing and largely jammed in here in ways that stuck out. The whole Eliza angle should have been introduced around the same time Razgut showed up in earlier books. Why present the idea that the Stellians are blood drinkers and then never address it again? Lastly, ending with Karou instead of with newer successes felt less impactful - something more like Melanie Rawn did with the Dragon Prince series.

I think that if I'd read this straight after Days of Blood and Starlight, I would have loved it. I've been out of this world for too long and was not really in the mood for it. I pushed myself to read it because I was so excited waiting for it.
I don't think adding the Stelian plotline really added much to the story and it disrupted the ‘natural' ending to the series which was the end of the war. In a way it was good to have that little bit after, especially as it mentioned economic realities for the Chimaera but as I was reading it I was feeling dissatisfied.
Still, I loved this series; will hopefully read again one day all together, might raise my rating of this one.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters was quite a bit longer than the previous two installments, and it sure felt like it took longer to read. 613 pages packed with lots of action, plot twists, and characters old and new. Instead of wasting breath on a full summary of the story, here's a synopsis in a nutshell: Jael, emperor of the Seraphim, has taken select troops through a portal to Earth to seek weapons. All the world watches the arrival of this “heavenly host” while at the same time, the bodies of monsters are found near the Sahara desert. Angels and demons? Yep. On the other side of the portal in Eretz, Karou and Akiva make a fragile peace between their two small armies, and prepare to bring the fight to Jael. Add in some personal character struggles, Storm Chasers, fallen worlds, Faerers, Stelians, and a huge bruise in the sky called the Cataclysm, and voila, you've got this book.

The Good

New characters. The addition of new characters in this book was refreshing and gave me a chance to be frustrated (a good thing). Eliza was an enigma; I couldn't wait to figure out just what her terrifying dream encompassed and who the heck she was. And once I found out just who she was....whoah. I definitely wasn't expecting that! In addition to revealing Eliza's true character, the book also reveals Razgut's past. The reader finally gets to find out why he is a “fallen” angel.
A realistic struggle between two armies who were trained to hate one another. Chimaera and Seraphim must make a fragile peace in order to bring down a common enemy: Jael. I enjoyed the difficulties both armies faced as they shifted their worldviews and came together to fight.
Karou and Akiva. Together. Finally!!
A not so happy ending. Yes, Karou and Akiva finally get together. He finally reveals his true, beautiful smile, they kiss, and they make a home together, in heart and in life. But....there is still another fight coming. A fight against the real monsters that lurk on the other side of the Cataclysm. I love that while the main characters get their bit of happy, not all is necessarily right with the world. There is more to come.

The Bad

Honestly, there was really nothing bad about this book, but...it did feel a bit messy at times with all the plots going on at once and the shifting back and forth between Earth and Eretz. Minor though, compared to the overall awesomeness.

Overall Rating

5 out of 5 - I would love to have this book in my collection, and I would definitely read again. Would recommend to any fan of non-traditional YA fantasy.

Quotes

“It was a new idea for him, that happiness wasn't a mystical place to be reached or won – some bright terrain beyond the boundary of misery, a paradise waiting for them to find it – but something to carry doggedly with you through everything, as humble and ordinary as your gear and supplies. Food, weapons, happiness.” Akiva p.445

“Warm with wonderment, a smile so beautiful it ached. It crinkled his eyes, and shaped his beauty into another kind of astonishing, a better kind, because it was the astonishment of happiness, and that reshapes everything. It makes hearts whole and lives worth living. Karou felt it fill her, dizzy and delirious, and she fell a little deeper in love.” p.543

This review and others can be found on my blog: electricYAWP

Oh, wauw. Zoveel tegenstrijdige gevoelens bij deze finale.

“And strangely fold the hours as the end draws near.”

Het meest prevalente, direct na het uitlezen, was toch, jammer genoeg, wat ontgoocheling.
Dit voelde niet echt als een climax of eindstrijd, maar eerder een opzet voor een nog groter conflict, dat uiteindelijk niet wordt verteld, terwijl het idee ervan absoluut fascinerend is. Hierdoor voelde het eigenlijke conflict in dit boek een beetje jachtig. Alles werd heel snel, redelijk gemakkelijk en met weinig grote gevolgen afgehandeld.

“These were the godstars, who brought light to the universe.”

Tegelijkertijd heb ik enorm veel ontzag voor de opzet van dit werkelijke epische verhaal.
De voortdurende wereldopbouw is absoluut ongelofelijk. De verdere uitdieping van de mythologie was enorm fascinerend, maar ik wou er zo veel meer van dan de kleine fragmentjes die we kregen.

De nieuwe personages en de reden voor hun aanwezigheid was opnieuw een schot in de roos.
Geweldig bedacht om het boek te beginnen vanuit het menselijke perspectief, waarvan ik eerst dacht dat het maar een bijkomstigheid was, om het impactvoller te maken, maar wat achteraf bleek zo veel meer en belangrijker te zijn.

Opnieuw was de schrijfstijl sprookjesachtig mooi en waren er heel veel prachtige momenten met geliefde personages.

“It was not a happy ending, but a happy middle—at last, after so many fraught beginnings.”

Helaas werd veel hiervan overschaduwd door de grootse bijkomende ideeën, die op hun eentje geweldig zijn, maar te veel bleken om in dit ene, reeds gigantische boek, mooi en bevredigend af te kunnen handelen. Hierdoor geeft dit boek eerder de indruk een voorlaatste boek in een serie te zijn, in plaats van een slotstuk.

Het laatste hoofdstuk voelde ook veel te gehaast, waarbij ieder personage nog eens snel de revue mocht passeren en er eindelijk een semi- redelijk lauwwarme – conclusie komt voor het drie-boeken-lange-smachten van Karou & Akiva.

“Once upon a time,an angel and a devil pressed their hand to their heartsand started the apocalypse.”

Nu dit klinkt misschien allemaal heel negatief, maar uiteindelijk heb ik dit boek echt wel graag gelezen. Ik heb enorm veel respect voor Laini Taylors schrijftalent en haar uiterst unieke en hypnotiserende manier van verhalen weven.
Op zijn eentje is Dreams of Gods & Monsters dus echt wel een goed boek, alleen is het voor een finale ietwat ontgoochelend en onvolledig.

I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 for a couple of reasons.

I thought this was a little longer than it needed to be. I loved the other two books all the way through, but this one had some boring spots.

The ending. I didn't get the closure I was looking for. If other books are planned, then the ending is great. If not, I would've liked everything wrapped up.

Those things aside, Laini Taylor is a brilliant writer. She is in a league of her own.

You know that feeling, (You probably don't), when a limb has been torn from you. The first reaction is, obviously, pain both physical and emotional. But afterwards, after you are all bandaged and physically healed, you feel that emptiness and hollowness in you after a part of you has been torn off.
That's how finishing this book felt to me. And I hope I never feel the physical pain of a torn limb.
I even cried. Hands-over-mouth-tears-streaming-down-face kind of cry.
I will miss this series terribly emptiness
I will now go around life for the next couple of days, just staring at everyone, my face devoid of feelings. Complete apathy.

Love you, Laini!
And the imagination you have there, ughhh I Wanna kiss you! I am straight, but I will totally give you a full mouth lesbo kiss, just for you babe. wink wink.

BUUUUT, I think Laini had a hard time finishing this series because there are a lot of times where I figured she may be stalling. Some parts she just wrote TOOO MUCH , like too much feelings, too much description, and too much thought on the part of some characters, especially during conversations.

The kiss offer is still on. wink wink

lapses back to apathy mode

I really enjoyed this book and all the books in the series so far. Laini Taylor's writing is deep and rich and her characters are engaging. The main characters quickly become people you know, care about and root for their happiness.

In a story where the angels are the “bad guys” in a war that's gone on far too long, you can't help but wonder how Ms Taylor is going to give us a satisfactory ending, but she always does.

To be honest, I was disappointed. It's not that this book is bad, because while it drags on with vague scenes and alternating POVs, I still enjoyed the story... until about 85% into the book.

The first problem I've encountered with this book is Eliza. She appeared so suddenly, without any explanation about who she is and why we're switching to her perspective. I understand that her identity had to be revealed later on, but that also made it hard to care about her. It doesn't help that Eliza's scenes kind of overshadowed Karou's stolen moments with Akiva, especially when the story began shifting more towards her and her secret.

Speaking of Karou and Akiva, what happened with the war between seraphim and chimaera? It went well up to the part where they finally took care of Jael, but the... development? new plot? “bigger picture”? that comes after that makes this whole issue look so trivial. The previous 2 books were all about building this up. Akiva and the empire. Karou and the resurrections. It used to be about them, their story, and the war of their people... and yet I feel like this new issue completely thwarted it and threw it out the window.

Well, to be fair, there were some hints about this too. It's just they were so subtle, and the development came out so suddenly it left me all ? ? ? WHAT. That's also why the resolution feels more like deus ex machina than anything else, and it makes me sad because the plot was good until then. When the scope expanded with the Stelians and Faerers revealed, I feel that the story lost its focus and fell all over the place. It's like the important things don't really matter anymore, and trivial, unknown things suddenly become important. There are moments when Karou and Akiva got shoved to the background to make room for all these stuff.

I wasn't satisfied with the ending either. They called it a “happy middle” and not a happy ending, but I'm not sure if I'm happy with it. What about the dream shared by Karou, Akiva, and Brimstone? While they did accomplish the "beginning" they wanted to make, but it felt unfinished and small because of the issue with the beasts. It's very underwhelming, but guess I can take comfort in Karou and Akiva's happiness.

At first I considered rating this 2-2.5 stars because the twist near the end left a bitter aftertaste, but my favorite couple happened in this book (Ziri and Liraz) and they're super adorable, so I bumped it up to 3 stars.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had remembered what had happened in the last two books. Seriously.

I went to two (2) synopses sites and read the full posts for Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight, but I still didn't remember shit. The only characters I remembered were Karou, Akiva, Zuze (my fav), and Mik. Everyone else was a mystery to me, and that kinda decreased my enjoyment of this book.

Who knows? I might give this series a full re-read someday, but for now I'm very much done with this series.