Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3) 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?"
Title: Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Series: DoS&B #3
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 613
Ages: 14+ Just because it's so condense
My Rating: 4.5 stars
One Word: DAMN
Fave Quote: (in review)

Review
Oh my LAWD. I've never read a book with so much in it. I despise long books because they are usually filled with fluff and could be easily trimmed down. This book, however, is as condensed as a brick I'm not kidding you. I'll also be honest that it was tough to get through, with about 50 different things going on at once, I had to read very slowly and it took me exactly a month to actually read this with all of my school work going on.

So like I said, this book has A LOT going on. I usually don't even know where to begin when I write book reviews but with this book I literally have no clue what to even talk about.

First off I'll say that when they mentioned Stormhunters in the novel, I kind of imagined Appa from Avatar the Last Airbender.


He's so ADORABLE



And as far as relationships go, Mik and Zuzie are going to forever be on my top fictional couples list. They are just hilarious with everything they do. I laughed out loud several times. Especially with the Stormhunter part, but I don't want to give anything away.

"'Now, let's not be hasty,' said Mik, holding one of the saucer-broad wishes in his hand. 'What exactly is a samurai, really? Do you think that's something we should know before we wish it?'
'Good point.' Zuzana held a matching wish on her own palm...'It might turn us both into Japanese men.' She squinted at him. 'Would you still love me if I were a Japanese man?'
'Of course,' said Mik, without missing a beat. 'However, as cool a word as samurai is, I don't think it's what we really mean. We just want to be able to kick ass, right?'
'Well, don't phrase it that way. We'd probably just become highly skilled at kicking people in that ass. Don't turn your back on them,' she intoned. 'They never miss.' (449).

Liraz and Ziri are also tear-up worthy with how they never been with another person before. Then there is Akiva and Karou. After being with them for three books, you'd expect the reader to get sick of there relationship because really how much more is there to describe besides them loving each other? Well, Laini Taylor has a mind of a genius because I melted everytime they were mentioned together, and I was virtually screaming towards the end of the book. In my imagination, I can expect lot of cake for Karou and Akiva after they kick monster asses.

The storyline was so brilliant. I can't even say "storyline" because there were multiple storylines, each one in another. I'm almost convinced that Taylor did not just think of this entire world-no worlds-no Continuum-in her head. I mean, every little detail with the Stelians the Stormhunters, the characters, the resurrections. It makes you wonder if maybe there is something beyond the world where revolutions and new beginnings are being created.

I wish.

A mind can only dream *sigh*. If it were real, I'd be there in no time with Karou and Akiva kicking some ass and maybe get a little angel guy myself *wink*. Oh and lots of cake. And chocolate. (for Zuzana of course)

Okay my mind has wondered away, but honestly Taylor created the story so realistically, yet so not realistically because realistically how can one tame a Stormhunter or wish upon a gavriel? Yet with Laini Taylor's writing, I was ready to jump into the portal myself to Eretz.

I have to stop writing this review or sooner of later I'm going to be listing off ideas for a gavriel wish or deciding whether to be a Chimeara or Seriphim. So I'm just going to say READ THIS BOOK AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Oh and I'd want to be a Chimeara obviously.
★★★★1/2

Days of Blood & Starlight (DoS&B #2) by Laini Taylor

Synopsis: "Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?"

Title: Days of Blood & Starlight
Genre: fantasy, action, romance
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Pages: 513
Ages: 14+
My Rating: 5 stars
One Word: HeartbreakinglyBeautiful
Fave Quote:
"As ever when their eyes meet, it is like a lit fuse smearing past through the air between them. These past days, when this has happened, one or the other would turn quickly away, but this time they rest and let the fuse burn. They are filled with the sight of each other. Here in this cavern, this extraordinary gathering-this seethe of colliding hatreds, tamed temporarily by a shared hate-could be their long ago dream seen through a warped mirror. This is not how it was meant to be. They are not side by side as they once imagined. They are not exultant, and they no longer feel themselves to be the instruments of some great intention. They are creatures gasping at life with stained hands. There is so much between them, all the living and all the dead, but for a moment everything falls away and the fuse burns brighter and nearer, so that Karou and Akiva almost feel as if they are touching" (512-513).

Review

I'm still in that shocked phase one has when they've ended an amazing book; that phase where you are living and breathing, but you're mind is in the world of the book. It's that amazing phase where you're still in the story without reading the actual words on the page. I've never been left this shaken and emotionally distressed before. Do I only get that phase when I read such breathtaking books.

Never in the world had I loved a book so much. This book doesn't even compare to any other book I've read. I even cried at the end for it's beauty (still crying). Everything, I can't put my finger on it, just everything about the book makes me so confused and mixed with emotions, yet I still love it, just as Karou is with Akiva.

How on earth do you make a book this beautiful? I can't even fathom it. I wanted to strangle the book (if I could) when Karou wasn't telling Akiva the truth. I wanted to cry when Karou was being hurt, or when Issa came back. I wanted to do so many things because of this book, but it wasn't until the end did I break.

The end, the end, the end. The end, but not the end. After everything that happened in the book, the end was my salvation. So beautiful because Akiva never gave up on Karou, so amazing because he faced "Thiago" to compromise. All because of Karou. I broke down at the end because the love written on those pages was so real and so unmistakingly perfect.

And as if that wasn't enough, but Zuzana and Mik. I love them so much it hurts. Zuzana's funny but caring personality, and Mik's love for Zuze. Amazing book, amazing. I can't even comprehend words.

This book I can really describe with one word, heartbreaking. More like heartbreakingly beautiful because of just everything, Zuzana, Mik, Issa, Ziri, Liraz, Akiva, and expecially Karou, who has probably faced the limit of pain and loneliness anyone could ever take. My heart broke a thousand times during this book, which only made me love it more. There are times like these where I realize I could never ever write anything as good as this. Now, if only Brimstone were back...well, we have the third book for that matter.
★★★★★