Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini TaylorMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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. Karou, however, didn't seem to add anything new. My favorite development was Liraz, and probably my favorite character to read about was Ziri. 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.
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 and the action just seems to not go forward. I feel like it could have been half the size and the whole story would still be there. 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". 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. In the end, it does make sense, but I still feel like it wasn't very subtle. This also leads me to the ending. I thought it was over when (view spoiler) 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. And the insertion of Eliza in all of it, and Akiva's truth and what he had been doing and all that stuff... Since the main plot (Seraphs vs Chimaera) was already solved, I just couldn't get my mind to get interest in it. If you see the signs, all of this 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, and the new deepness to Akiva was perfect, the character development of Liraz was spot on, even all the side characters. The ending was what we all (I think) wanted and it made me happy, but still bittersweet because (view spoiler). Basically all the reasons I stated for book one and book two still apply here. I just got a 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.
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.
View all my reviews
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário