my books. my life.

Read my reviews of the first two books: Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight.

Title: Dreams of Gods & Monsters
Author:  Laini Taylor
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Genre: Fantasy; Young Adult; Supernatural
Pages: 624
Audio: 18.2 hours
Year: 2014
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Source: Review copy from publisher
Book Rating: 4.5/5
Audio Rating: 5/5

Summary:

[Warning: Don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the rest of the first two book. The remaining sections are spoiler free].

Karou is still trying to find a way to move past Akiva’s destruction of her family, but the two must work together to unite the Misbegotten and Chimera forces to stop Jael from destroying Earth.

As Jael descends on the Vatican, with anything but angelic intentions, Eliza Jones, a PhD student with a past she’s been running from for years, must fight off her always-recurring dream of monsters.

As world’s collide, enemies become allies, and the real past, the one that everyone but Razgut has forgotten, must be told in order to protect the future of both Earth and Eretz

My Thoughts:

This is a rare day: I loved the finale of a series that is very dear to me.

First, these have got to be among some of the best-titled books ever. Daughter of Smoke & Bone? Days of Blood & Starlight? Dreams of Gods & Monsters? Fantastic, catchy, and appropriate.

As for the actual books, I just ate them right up. There is so much action, emotion, and tension packed into every page (or every minute of the mp3 in my case) that it forces the reader to race on. These are not short books (this audio is more than 18 hours long!) but practically every word is necessary. Taylor does write with a descriptive style, but not to the point where you’re asking the story to move along already.

The only fault I found in this one – and I felt it in the others as well – is that it jumps around from POV to POV a lot. I had to listen closely for fear of getting lost along the way and there was a fair amount of rewinding.

I am going to miss Karou and Akiva and Zuzana and Mik and Ziri. I am going to miss Eretz. I am a little devastated (if one can be a little devastated) that I don’t have another book to look forward to. But, did the ending hint at the possibility of more? I’m going to rest my hope on that.

Audiobook Thoughts:

Kristine Hvam is probably my favorite narrator. She continues to excel in the conclusion of this trilogy. She captures everyone, from human to angel to chimera perfectly. She is the kind of narrator who could make me pick up an otherwise questionable book.