Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3
Publication Date: April 8, 2014
Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads: 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?

Rating: êêêê

Review
3.5 Stars

I am struggling to come up with an overall feeling to describe this book. The beginning and the end were amazing, but there was a bit of a drag in the middle. Things in this book get complex. A lot of the history is explained and a lot of questions that you have from the first two books are answered. There is also the introduction of new characters, which was a bit confusing at first, BUT it comes together in what teachers like to call an "ah-ha moment". Every detail in this book is important, I cannot wrap my head around how an author could possibly keep so much information inside their head while writing such a complex story. Laini Taylor has truly impressed me with her skill and her beautiful writing.

Akiva and Karou basically stay true to themselves as characters, with a little growth and learning about themselves. There is some awesome secondary character growth. Liraz for example, is probably my favorite in this sense. I think there is something important to be learned from who Liraz was in the first book and who she is at the end. I am still a bit confused about the Stelians and feel like maybe we didn't get enough information on that front.

While I love the world and feel that the world building was excellent, there was this overwhelming feeling that it might be too big. I also felt like the ending was epic in terms of finishing the story that was started in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, left quite a bit of room to either continue the series or write a spin off.