Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini TaylorMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
REVIEW UPDATED ON 25/08/2017 because it wasn't a very articulate review (not that it is now but...)
Man, oh man... I have so many mixed feelings about this! I loved the first book and even more the second so I really REALLY wanted to love this one as well, but... it disappointed me in some manners. It got the ending I was expecting, so that wasn't the problem. But let's talk about it then. I gave it a rating of 4.5, but I really feel it is more inclined to 4 stars than 5 *sigh*
We continue where the second book left us, war between Seraphs & Chimaera (excuse me if some of these words are badly written and if this isn't the correct name, I read it in Portuguese), but this time, Seraphs are going to Earth to get weapons so they can conquer Eretz and rid it of Chimaera. The story makes you fall in love with it all over again.
Akiva makes you fall in love with him all over again. He was probably my favorite part of this book, it really gives an even bigger depth to his character than what it already had. Although he showed up too little for me (he showed up more than in the other books but I'm a strange one), his characters development was coherent and filled all the plot holes that had been left open from the other books and from this one as well. Karou, however, I felt like she didn't add much new. She had character development as well, of course, but not as deep as Akiva and even other characters. Still, she stays coherent all of the time, I just remember falling in love with her on the first book and not feeling that same magic here. But we also have to understand all the stress she was going through, all the emotional pain she was feeling, obviously she'd be a sadder person. Still, my favorite development was Liraz, and probably my favorite character to read about was Ziri. What a pleasant surprise, those two! Liraz is amazing, and her story was one of my favorites to read about throughout all the three books. She's absolutely amazing, and seeing her interact with the Chimaera and Zuzana & Mik makes my heart warm. Even with Karou, it was beautiful. Ziri, on the other hand, my poor boy! How can someone not fall in love right away with him! He's perfect, and everything he went through... He's so brave! Now, I don't know if something's wrong with me, but I feel like we had too much of Zuzana & Mik. I love them, but it seemed they had almost more spotlight than Karou. This seems weird but... they're main characters, basically but... they had so much spotlight... I know it was essential for the story but... Eh, I still love them, they still make you laugh and get all warm and feel like everything's going to be fine, but it got to a point where it... not exactly annoyed me, but felt like it was too much. I didn't feel the magic anymore. Enough is enough, as they say.
The problem for me with this book was that it just seemed to me like it was stalling. The plot was there, everything was there, but it just seemed like everything was kind of lost in description and feelings, which is good, but it seemed too much to me. There's too much explanation of everything, just like on the battle near the portal. It focused too much on details and description instead of in the battle. It didn't feel like a battle at all, but the battle scenes of book two were so good! And the action just seems to not go forward, I feel like this book could have been half the size and the whole story would still be there, details and all, and it wouldn't feel rushed. Don't get me wrong, I love Laini's writing style, but the first and second book seemed much "faster paced" than this one, I never got the feeling that it was "stalling" with the other two. Since it really didn't always grab my attention (it took around 200 pages before I got really interested and then I lost it again) I took a long time reading it because I never had the urge to pick it up again.
That was my main problem, but I had others, sadly! Eliza... I don't even know what to say about Eliza. I liked her character but.......................... did it add something? I mean, it does add something when you reach the end of the book, it does explain Razgut and it does explain the Stelian BUT. I don't know, at the beginning it felt to me like she was put there... to stall. Of course, she had to be introduced, she just couldn't be put in there by the end of the book. In the end, it does make sense, but I still feel like it wasn't very subtle. She could have been introduced before... or in a way that made it a little more interesting. It only got interesting by the time she went to the desert, in all honesty. Still, she was a nice addition, I liked her personality and liked how she put the entire story together, although I feel that she was used exactly to that purpose, to fill some plot holes. But it's better to have a plot hole filled by a new character than have the plot hole open forever. This also leads me to the ending. I thought it was over when they solved the main plot, but then we learn the truth about Akiva, but... so late in the book! I honestly felt somewhat annoyed? Surely my mood wasn't good to read this book. We had to know everything before the book ended, of course, but I feel like some things could have been said throughout this book and the second one. Of course, some of the characters to make it possible were only introduced now but... so much stalling for the first part of the book and then we have another major plot right by the end of it. And the insertion of Eliza in all of it which leads me again to almost feel like she was written just to fill plot holes, and Akiva's truth and what he had been doing and his family and what was happening to the world because of him... Since the main plot was already solved, I just couldn't get my mind to get interested in it, which is a shame. If you see the signs, all of it was there since book one, more consolidated in book two. So I really have no idea why I didn't care that much.
I feel like I've only talked bad about this, but I liked it as well, for all the reasons that I liked the first and second book. The writing is still marvelous, completely beautiful. The characters are all excellent, as I said before, and the new deepness to Akiva was perfect through the explanation of the true purpose of the Stelians, the character development of Liraz was spot on, even all the side characters were good. The ending was what we all (I think) wanted and it made me happy, but still bittersweet for obvious reasons for who read it. The world building is marvelous, and the new insight to the real Seraph's story is wonderful. So many things got explained, and not even one character didn't have a purpose in the books, even Razgut. All in all, every single plot hole was filled and you're left with a solid story since book one. I really can't think of a single thing that was left unexplained, which is extremely nice when you're living in a world where most things are left unsaid.
Basically all the reasons I stated to love book one and book two still apply here. I just got a tiny little bored. Keep in mind that I read this in Portuguese, so maybe something was lost in translation (but I didn't feel it happen in the previous two books, not to this extent).
I still really want to read Strange the Dreamer, in English, so I can fully experience Laini's writing style. I will still dream with Karou & Akiva for ages and this will still be one of my favorite trilogies, and Daughter of Smoke & Bone will forever be in my top 3 favorite books for what it made me feel. I was somewhat in a reading slump, I haven't read in ages, and DOSAB made me rediscover reading and every little feeling that you can feel when reading. It transported me to another place and made me extremely happy. I'll forever keep it in my heart, and I'll remember this one as well, as it was the (still great) conclusion to this amazing journey. Thank you Laini.
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