Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Dreams of Gods & Monsters is the final book in Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

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 the horizon to horizon; the great winged stromhunters 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?

The Breakdown:
1.  Laini Taylor is a genius.  She writes so beautifully, and ended this trilogy just perfectly. She was a master of subplots, and had them come together so well at the end.

2. I loved the introduction of Eliza, and how she was integrated into the story. At first, it seemed as she was around to give a human perspective of the events, but Taylor did a masterful job of unfolding her true purpose.

3. Kudos to Taylor for not dragging out the truth of Thiago/Kiri between Karou and Akiva and not dragging out their angst feelings about their love.  The bathroom scene in Morocco between Karou and Akiva was one of my favorites.

4. I simply adore Zuzana and Mik.  They are terribly cute together, and very cunning.  I love that they can hold their own against chimeara and serphim.  Plus Mik was amazing in Rome.

5. Taylor does a marvelous job of adding some unexpected twist, and some unexpected love stories to the book.  I thought the ending was a beautiful realization of the dream that started with Akiva and Madrigal so many years ago.

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