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Dreams of Gods & Monsters is the final book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, concluding the story of Karou and the war between chimera and seraphim. I really enjoyed the previous two books in the series and was ultimately disappointed by Gods & Monsters.

The greatest part of the Smoke & Bone series is Karou's voice. Laini Taylor makes her a sympathetic character with agency and maturity. I also loved that Karou's focus has always been on her people, the chimera, and how best to ensure their survival instead of being a lovesick teenager. Most of this is intact but Karou spends a lot of time yearning for Akiva in this book, which became tiring.

Gods & Monsters also suffers from bad pacing. New plot points are introduced early on, adding to the plots from the previous book but resolution is hard to come by. Not much happens for the first 70% of the book then things are wrapped up in a rush. The ending felt like it came out of left field and it wasn't earned. As much as Taylor likes to end every chapter on a cliffhanger/climax, there was no climax to the story. It just stops and things are glossed over in the epilogue.

I also have a problem with events happening off-page. Perhaps this is just a pet peeve or it might be a legitimate complaint, but you can't expect readers to care and be invested in things that they don't get to read about first hand. The character of Ziri for example: Karou tells the reader he is sweet and kind and a few years younger than she was when they were Kirin chimera together. Ziri and Karou have few interactions on page so there's no chance to really form a bond with Ziri as the reader. I had no investment in him other than being a plot device.

Taylor leaves quite a few mysteries hanging, to my ire. She never explains why the hamsas work against seraphim or what Yasri's message from Brimstone to Karou was (unless I missed it � I speed read the last 15% or so). Then she introduces an interesting, sci-fi element: (view spoiler)[the great All, different dimensions stacked on top of one another and how you can move between them. I would have LOVED more exploration and ideas about that and it's relegated to the last 25%. (hide spoiler)]

I did like some thing about Gods & Monsters. Taylor has a strong voice as a writer and she captured the voices of teenagers well. The worldbuilding is still great, particularly how the world would respond to angels clad in white descending from the sky.

I would still recommend this series to young adult fans. Karou is an independent, selfless character that everyone could learn something from. Unfortunately the pacing, story choices, and lack of a conclusion soured me on the series as whole.

C