Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor {A Review}

Title: Dreams of Gods & Monsters
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: April 2014
Source: Own
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 stars

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?

  

So during my hiatus from here, I still updated Goodreads as I read. Here's what I wrote there:

While overall I really love this story, this writing, I struggled with this one. It took a while to get into and I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I had before. I could attribute that to the fact that there was such a long time between the reading of the second one and the reading of this one. Or my lack of big chunks of time to dive into the novel. The many different pieces of the story - all the details, the different races/species/etc, the characters, the worlds, the connections to be made... I sort of wished I had taken notes from the start so I could remember it all. All that being said, though, it still adds up to me not loving this as much. I definitely intend to reread this entire series, back to back, and see if that makes a difference. I really think it would. *And*, I imagine I would see so many things I missed before. It's a very richly told story... it's not too detailed by any means, but there's SO much going on and SO much to keep track of.

I definitely look forward to reading lots more by Laini Taylor.

All that definitely still stands. Taylor's storytelling abilities are stellar and definitely love her writing. There was just so much to this story that I wish I had waited until all three were out before reading them, so I didn't have a huge gap between the second and the third. But I'm more of an instant gratification person. I'm not good at the waiting thing if I want it now. I definitely wouldn't have gotten the factory in Willy Wonka... I would've gone down the bad egg chute. Or the juicing room.

Anyway.

Have you read the series? Did you enjoy it?

Smiles,
B

Days of Blood & Starlight: A Review

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?

 

Brandy

Allow me to introduce you to another book I loved. Meet: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor. A-MAY-ZING. This world is so dark and gritty, so fantastical yet real, that it just blows me away how badly I want to stay in it. Note: If you have not read Daughter of Smoke & Bone, do not read on unless you want spoilers for that book. I repeat, do not read on.

We begin right where Daughter of Smoke & Bone left off (my review of that one), with Akiva and Karou at odds with one another after she learned of his involvement in the horrific fate of her family. Within the magic of the wishbone, Karou remembered her life as Madrigal, complete with her love for Akiva and their plans for a better future. Then Akiva told her about what happened after she saved him from The White Wolf's torture. How he, in his grief, despair, and anger over losing her, and his brother and sister were the ones that marked the doorways and burned her family. He didn't know that Brimstone had saved her. How could he?

There is just as much mystery in this second installment as in the first. Thankfully, Taylor brought back Zuzana and Mik, showing just how strong a friendship can be and how loyal Zuze really is. We see Akiva attempt to repent through his actions the deeds of his past. He can't change what he did, and he knows that, but he can try and change the future, still. 

A major difference between the first and second installment in this series is the darkness surrounding the story. There is definitely a lot more blood than starlight in this one. It definitely sets the tone. I love love love that there isn't a clear cut right/wrong, good/evil. There are elements of each of these on both sides. 

The world Laini Taylor builds with her writing is one I want to come back to. She brings things alive in a way that makes me want to live there, breathe there, and rarely leave there.

I am sad I have already read these. For one, I can't go back and have a first time with them, ever, again. For two, now I have a long ass wait until the third one comes out!!!  :(

Malissa

How long is the wait for Dreams of Gods & Monsters?! No release date yet? Damn! Are you kidding me ...

This series is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I enjoyed Daughter of Smoke & Bone then waited a bit to read this one. I probably shouldn't have. It took me a little while to feel totally engaged with this book but by the end the hubby was asking what was wrong with me because I was, apparently, gasping out loud at random ... I mean, you'll have that, right?

Thoughts, also possibly at random (don't read them unless you're read book one...):

It took me a while to realize that this book had a lot of elements of high fantasy or epic fantasy. Not sure why I suddenly realized that, but it struck me. I think it's perhaps because the setting is somewhat different (and very original, in my opinion) than a lot that I've read. After book one, I would have probably leaned more toward modern fantasy (even similar in feel to some urban fantasy) with heavy use of inventive mythology. Maybe it was the lack of dragons and elves and orcs and wizardry that you often see in high fantasy. I Don't know. I don't suppose it really matters, but I like that this series is a bit hard to pin down in terms of genre.

I liked the relationship between Karou and Akiva. Or perhaps lack thereof. It was such a big part of book one where Karou was figuring out who she was and who they had been, and I had a little bit of trouble totally buying into their love. There was the obvious connection that she didn't understand herself and then the revelation at the end about her past when her memories came back, but we had no time to process that (nor did she) before she learned all that Akiva had done in the past 17 years. So a romance in this book would have rung false to me. I think the time the two of them have spent apart will set the stage for them to fall in love all over in book three. We shall see.

The blood. Oh. My. Goodness. Days of Blood & Starlight indeed. I think gallons and gallons of blood were spilled in the course of this book. Starlight, I saw little of. It didn't bother me, and it sets the stage for change in book three, but I wasn't quite prepared for it. Again with the similarities to much epic fantasy I've read. Think along the lines of all the battles in The Lord of the Rings. You know the main character and at least some of her close companions are going to pull through, but most other bets are off ...

I love the way this series seems to explore or questions the ideas of good and evil (but not in a heavy handed way). The battle between good and evil is usually a big part of epic fantasy, but you usually have a blatant bad guy who is pure evil. Not so here. Sure there are characters who are evil, but the other side of the war isn't, and that's a big part of the story. And I love that our main character is on the side that humanity would clearly label the "demons." It's so much more common to see the good guy as the bright and shiny side like the seraphim rather than the "beasts." But that would he boring, right?

Laini Taylor's writing is just awesome. I think I've referenced this before, but she's said on her blog that when she revises she makes each word sing for it's supper, and you can really see that. There's just no sloppiness in her work at all. The story might be good enough to distract you from less than great writing, but it doesn't need to. Because with Laini Taylor you get over 500 pages of good writing. I just love seeing the way she strings words together.

I really can't wait for book three's release, and may even have to reread all 900+ pages we have so far in preparation. This series has a permanent home on my shelf.

Wishing & Waiting

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases we're excited about.

There are, as you know, books coming out left and right that we all want to read. One I am looking most forward to is...



I *just* finished Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) last nite, so I'm itching for this one already! Hopefully I'll be just as excited come next year when it finally graces us with its presence (according to Goodreads it's due out in April 2014).

Wishlist Wednesday is a meme hosted by Pen to Paper where you post a book that has been on your wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that you can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto your wonderful shelves.

What do I want to add to my shelf? So many choices. This time, I'll go with...



I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult, and I don't own this one... yet.  I haven't read it either, but that doesn't matter - it will be on my shelf someday. :)

What books are you wishing and waiting for?

Smiles,
B

Daughter of Smoke & Bone ~ Review

Title:  Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author:  Laini Taylor
Series:  Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:  September 2011
Source:  Own/Won
Rating:  4.5 stars

~ The Scoop from Goodreads ~

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

 

This book was refreshingly different for me. I loved the world that Laini Taylor built. I became fully immersed and had trouble leaving it and only did when I was forced to (you know, work, kids, dinner, etc). I really liked how Taylor was able to pair the real world alongside the mystical world in which Karou grew up. The writing pulls you in, chews you up, spits you out, then pulls you in again.

And her characters... I loved how they were all fallible; no one is ever perfect, we are all flawed. Karou is a strong willed young woman who doesn't understand everything but is willing to go to great lengths to get answers. Akiva stole my heart. His darkness, his brokenness, his protectiveness, his reasons. I love it all. And of course, just like tragic Romeo & Juliet, there's a star-crossed lovers appeal here. One of my favorites is Zuzana. Who doesn't want a best friend like her? Someone who accepts you no matter who (or what) you are, who will always tell it like it is, and who will be there, no questions asked. Such a strong secondary character and I hope we see more of her in the future.

The overall storyline captivated me from beginning to end. I wanted, like Karou, to get answers, to unveil the mysteries, if you will. I wanted to know the who, the what, the why. The connections that weren't there I wanted made. And I love that what you think you know you may not actually know. Taylor creates a story that keeps you guessing and theorizing until the bitter end. And, for me, the lingering questions: What makes someone evil? What makes them good? Can you only be what you were born to be? Can things change?

In this story, there's self discovery. There's longing, wishing, dreaming. There's chaos. There's war. But mostly, there's hope.

I am really looking forward to following Karou's story in Days of Blood and Starlight. :)

♥ Quotes I Liked ♥

"Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic."

"Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is accord. Harmony."

"Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic."

"Never repent of you own goodness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength."

Wishing, Waiting, Wanting, Hoping...

Wishlist Wednesday is a meme hosted by Pen to Paper where you post a book that has been on your wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that you can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto your wonderful shelves.

What do I want to add to my shelf? So many choices. This time, I'll go with...

Days of Blood & Starlight

Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2

By Laini Taylor

I recently finished Daughter of Smoke & Bone and really want to continue on Karou's journey.  

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases we're excited about.

There are, as you know, books coming out left and right that we all want to read. One I am looking most forward to is...

 

The Dream Thieves

The Raven Cycle #2

By Maggie Stiefvater 

I *love* Maggie Stiefvater and can't wait to read the next installment. I hate when I get into a series before they are all written and having to wait. But I am not one for delayed gratification. ;)

What books are you wishing and waiting on?

Smiles,
B

Memorable Monday ~ Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book. I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays. I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate? It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below. If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote. Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog. :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time. It's always nice to have visitors. There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks. Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice:
 
"She was lonely, and she feared the missingness within her as if it might expand and... cancel her."

~Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor 


 


What quote has struck you lately?

Smiles,
B

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

 

I am really enjoying this one so far! :)

Recently Finished Reading

Absolutely LOVED this one. Definitely on my faves list.

What I Might Read Next

 

I want to read Requiem, but before I do, I want to read this one. I haven't read it yet, and I figure it may get me back in the mindset. :)  I really want to know what happens next, but I'm scared. Not only will the series end, Lauren Oliver has a habit of breaking my heart into a thousand pieces.

What about you? What have you been reading?

Smiles,
B

Teaser Tuesdays ~ Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!  All you have to do:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page.
4. Be careful... do not include spoilers!!!  Make sure that what you are sharing doesn't give too much away;  you don't want to ruin the book for others.
5. Share the title and author, too, so other Teaser Tuesday participants can add it to their TBR list if they like what you shared.
   

 
"It's for everything. For the heartache that still felt like a punch in the gut each time it struck, fresh as new, at unpredictable moments; for the smiling lies and the mental images she couldn't shake; for the shame of having been so naive."

~Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor



What's your teaser? 

Smiles,
B