(finished 8/24/15)
It's been a long time since I've finished such a huge book in such a short amount of time. 613 pages in two days. Even I'm amazed by that. It's felt like forever since I got through some 300 pages in a day.
This trilogy has definitely been memorable. Even though it's been so long between reading the books, I could still jump right into it without trying to remember who the characters were or what the conflict was. I didn't review the first book, but I wrote a mini-review for the second book in the final monthly review I did back in January.
And I gotta say, I was not disappointed by Dreams of Gods and Monsters in the least. It actually made me really happy, as much as a story about a world in a constant state of war can. Not fluffy-happy, but I am definitely very content with the ending to the point that I wish there was more to the series so we could enjoy more of it. I did not expect to receive such a nice ending. (Again, as nice as you can get within the context, but hey, I was definitely preparing myself for the worst, and for a couple chapters, it almost seemed like I would get it.)
Since this really the only opportunity I have to review the series (since I said so little in my only other review), I'm gonna go a little all-out. Bear with me.
First up: I love all the characters in the series. Even the heartless bad guys I can appreciate from a writer's point of view because we really get more than just Karou's perspective. The omniscient 3rd person past narration really lets you get personal with all the characters, which makes the bad guys' downfall all that much sweeter. (I also said that about Rook.)
I can't comment too much on Karou and Akiva's relationship from the beginning, because I don't remember too much from Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but dang can I appreciate their romance in the final book. They trust each other, treat each other as equals, and they're patient. They were willing to push their relationship to the side in order to focus on the threat of total apocalypse. That also made their ending that much sweeter (if that doesn't spoil too much.)
And Zuzana and Mik! And Liraz and Ziri! I am so incredibly grateful for Liraz's character growth and relationship, not only because she's essentially somewhere on the ace-aro spectrum, but that she got someone who cared for her and would respect that. I never expected to see Liraz the way she is by the end of the book. She really develops and I love that. Ziri also got to cash in his good karma by the end of the book and I am so grateful that it happened. I was so afraid he would just get the short end of the stick from fate, but he survived and was rewarded for it. Zuzana and Mik are definitely the best troopers in the world and not only do I love that, but I love their relationships with Karou and how they undoubtedly have her back no matter what. (And c'mon, Zuzana putting Mik up to three fairy-tale tasks, which he not only succeeds at, but does it amazingly?)
I was a little confused on how Eliza fit into the whole narrative, and I'm pretty sure she wasn't there the previous two books, but she never really felt added in at the last minute. I was really surprised how she ended up involved in everything that was going on, but hey, I really don't think I can complain with the outcome.
Like I said earlier, this series deals with a war between the chimaera and seraph races from a different universe, so there's a lot of dark stuff in the series. The biggest things that I can think of to warn you about are blood / injuries, death, and sexual assault. Those play a big part in the story as a whole and they aren't taken lightly, but some scenes are stomach-turning.
TL;DR the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy is amazing and I am highly satisfied with how it concluded. Please read it.
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