Review - Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3)
by Laini Taylor
Date: 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 624
Format: e-book
Source: library

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?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Well, that was... epic.  I don't know if I've ever enjoyed the final book of a series or trilogy so much.  If I have, it's been a long time since then.

Laini Taylor did an amazing job of building these fantastic worlds, populating them with remarkable characters, and setting the story in motion through a complex web of events that could have easily been one big chaotic mess in the hands of a lesser author.  Resolutions that might have seemed like cases of deus ex machina made perfect sense in light of the groundwork that had previously been laid.  New characters that were introduced didn't seem like conveniences so much as essential parts of the story that fit perfectly into the puzzle of the whole.

While Daughter of Smoke & Bone was mostly Karou's story, and Days of Blood & Starlight really belonged to Karou and Akiva, Dreams of Gods & Monsters switches between even more points of view, bringing minor characters into the forefront.  I thought the characterization of Karou and Akiva did suffer a little bit because of this, but since we already know the main characters from the previous books, it didn't have a huge detrimental effect.  I honestly don't know how else the story could have been told; it was huge and ambitious, and limiting the points of view to just the main characters would have done the whole book a disservice.

I did have a couple of minor complaints.  One was to do with the English language as a default (which I also noticed in Days of Blood & Starlight).  Some of the plays on words simply would not be possible in languages other than English... and yet, there they are.

My other complaint was the length.  I can't really think of what could have been cut (since cutting anything would have sacrificed some beautiful writing), but I found myself a bit bogged down at times.  At upwards of six hundred pages (making it about 100 pages longer than the second book and 200 pages longer than the first), it's a bit intimidating... especially when Taylor's immense vocabulary forces you to the dictionary every few pages.  For that reason, I might hesitate to recommend this book to younger YA readers, particularly if they didn't absolutely love the first two books.

Setting those two small issues aside, I really enjoyed the whole series.  It's intelligent, thoughtful, imaginative, romantic, emotional, and satisfying... which is something I've been looking for in a YA series for a while.  I hope Laini Taylor continues to write and grace us with her beautiful imagination.

Quotable moment:

The feeling, it was the sense of waiting drawing to an end. Not dread waiting, but excited waiting of the best kind: waiting for magic.

Recommended to: fans of the first two books; readers who like fantasies with amazing world-building and well-developed characters

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4.29 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Days of Blood & Starlight

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)
by Laini Taylor
Date: 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 513
Format: e-book
Source: library

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?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

You know when you read the first book in a series and get all excited because it's so wonderful, and then you read the second book and you feel like you've been duped because it's so boring and awful and you wonder if the author suffered a head injury just before they wrote it?  Well, you can relax.  This is not one of those second books.

I think I actually liked Days of Blood & Starlight more than I liked Daughter of Smoke & Bone... and I liked that one quite a bit.  The characters keep developing, the plot gets more wonderfully convoluted as it goes along, and there are just enough twists and turns and surprises to keep the reader guessing.

My one (very minor) complaint has to do with the languages in the book.  English comes across as the default, even though characters are supposed to be speaking Czech or Chimaera.  (I'm thinking of a scene where characters are spelling words to each other.)  Some actual foreign language might have helped push this book into solid 5-star territory for me.  But, as I said, it's a minor quibble.

If you're looking for fantasy with amazing world-building, awesome characters, and lyrical writing, look no further than this series.

Quotable moment:

It was one of those dreams that invade the space between seconds, proving sleep has its own physics--where time shrinks and swells, lifetimes unspool in a blink, and cities burn to ash in a mere flutter of lashes.

Recommended to: fans of the series

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing & Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4.71 out of 5 ladybugs

Tea Party Blog Tag

In celebration of their 3rd blogoversary, The Notebook Sisters are hosting a week-long Alice in Wonderland-themed blog party.  To begin the festivities, they've invited other bloggers to play Tea Party Blog Tag.  Check out their blog to learn how to play.


Let's have some tea!

1. Just Alice: What book cover(s) has made you super curious?

Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg.  A YA paranormal romance without a girl in a pretty dress on the cover?  Colour me intrigued.

2. Mad Hatter: List the craziest character(s) you've ever read.

I would, but the telling you about the craziest character I've ever read will be a huge spoiler if you ever read the book.

3. Red Queen, Off With Your Head! What book have you felt like beheading?

Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle.  My review sums up why I hated this one so much.

4. White Rabbit: What books or series have been insanely popular but you've been "late" to pick them up?

I was late to the party for the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series by Laini Taylor.  I still haven't read the second book, even though I loved the first.

5. Caterpillar: What's the most confusing book you've read?

More Than This by Patrick Ness.  It was confusing because I was never sure what was really going on and also because lots of people think it's amazing.  Did I miss something?

6. Dormouse: What was the last book that sent you to sleep?

If a book is that boring, I generally won't even finish it.  However, audiobooks sometimes put me to sleep.  The last one that did was Gossamer by Lois Lowry.

7. Cheshire Cat: Book that made you laugh and smile?

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom.  I read it many years ago, and I still remember laughing out loud.  The sequel is also pretty funny.

8. Knave of Hearts: Most recent character who stole your heart?

I had to go all the way back to last September for this one: Li from The Lake and the Library by S. M. Beiko.

9. Jabberwocky: Best villain you've read this year?

Ty from Stolen by Lucy Christopher.  He was more than just a one-dimensional bad guy, and I liked that.

10. Down the Rabbit Hole: What's the latest book/series/author that's completely swallowed your interest?

I haven't been really sucked in by anything since I read Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies last year.  I'd love to read the prequel and sequel one day.

In My Mailbox (55)

Borrowed from the library:

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor

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?

The Sweet Dead Life
by Joy Preble

“I found out two things today. One, I think I’m dying. And two, my brother is a perv.”

So begins the diary of 14-year-old Jenna Samuels, who is having a very bad eighth-grade year. Her single mother spends all day in bed. Dad vanished when she was eight. Her 16-year-old brother, Casey, tries to hold together what’s left of the family by working two after-school jobs— difficult, as he’s stoned all the time. To make matters worse, Jenna is sick. When she collapses one day, Casey tries to race her to the hospital in their beat-up Prius and crashes instead.

Jenna wakes up in the ER to find Casey beside her. Beatified. Literally. The flab and zits? Gone. Before long, Jenna figures out that Casey didn’t survive the accident at all. He’s an “A-word.” (She can’t bring herself to utter the truth.) Soon they discover that Jenna isn’t just dying: she’s being poisoned. And Casey has been sent back to help solve the mystery that not only holds the key to her survival, but also to their mother’s mysterious depression and father’s disappearance.

Wild Awake
by Hilary T. Smith

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.
3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.
5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.
9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*
*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1)
by Laini Taylor
Date: 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 418
Format: e-book
Source: library

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?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I just have one thing to say about this book: How on earth did I miss this when it came out two years ago?

Okay, so I probably have more to say about it than that.  But I just finished the book, and I kind of feel like I've been hit by a truck.  Now that, authors, is how you end the first book of a trilogy.  Rip the reader's heart out and leave them begging for more.

This is an angel book.  I didn't really realize it when I found it at the local e-library.  I downloaded it because I'd seen the cover before and vaguely remembered some decent reviews... but mostly because it was one of the only books that was available for download that wasn't the second book in a trilogy.  Had I known it was an angel book, I might not have picked it up; I've read two books in this genre recently, and part of a third that I couldn't finish, and I figured I was suffering from angel fatigue.  But this...  Any book that can make me sit and read more than 400 pages in two sittings... I don't care what kind of supernatural beings it has.

Laini Taylor has one heck of an imagination.  The world-building was pretty amazing.  Between the fantasy world inhabited by the chimaera and the seraphim, and the present-day back alleyways of Prague inhabited by human creatures almost as fantastic, it wasn't hard to get a feel for every setting and every character in this book.  There is a history to everything, and it all unspools at just the right pace, revealing tidbits of information at the most exquisitely appropriate times.

Unlike the other angel books I've read recently, this one has angels as I imagined them to be: beautiful but terrifying.  I can safely say that Akiva falls into that category.  In comparison, he makes some of the other angel characters I've recently encountered look like petulant little boys with homemade, strap-on wings.  The author definitely struck the right balance with this guy.  He comes across as real.  All the characters do, really... even the ones who -- in the hands of lesser authors -- would come across as silly fantasy caricatures.

Readers who enjoy fantasy, paranormal elements, great world-building, and well-developed characters will probably find something to like here.  I'm just glad my case of angel fatigue didn't deter me from reading this one.  I really would've missed out.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5