Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 613 Pages
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Narration: Third Person: Numerous
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Paranormal Type: Angels/Chimaera
Source: Library

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series
Book One: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Book Two: Days of Blood and Starlight
Book 2.5: Night of Cake and Puppets
Book Three: Dreams of Gods and Monsters

Order On Amazon: Hardcover
                               Kindle
Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover and Nook

Author's
Goodreads  Website  Twitter

Goodreads Synopsis:

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?

My Review:

Holy crap that was the longest book I've ever read. No, really.

"There is the past, and there is the future. The present is never more than the single second dividing one from the other. We live poised on that second as it's hurtling forward-toward what?" Pg. 79

One thing that I loved about this book was that it took a reasonable amount of time for the seraphs and the chimaeras to unite against a common enemy. It wasn't just a magical "OMG, we have to fight together to stop the end of the world, and then be best friends forever" sort of nonsense. Bad blood doesn't disappear that quickly. It was a gradual, quite excruciating climb toward not friendship, but acceptance. There were so many obstacles in the way. Every time something happened to impede the united front that Karou and Akiva dreamed of, I flinched and wanted to cry big, fat, ugly tears. And even though it was physically painful for me, it was realistic, and that's what counts in the end. This is no fairytale. It's life. And life? It ain't easy.

"Absence has presence, sometimes, and that was what she felt. Absence like crushed-dead grass where something has been and is no longer. Absence where a thread has been ripped, ragged, from a tapestry, leaving a gap that can never be mended. That was all she felt." Pg. 497

Laini Taylor has SUCH a magnificent way with words. She uses a lot of similes and metaphors in her stories, and I absolutely love them. Some authors utterly fail at this style of writing, but Laini? She's a pro. The images her words brought to life in my brain were stunning.

“You are a conniving, deceitful hussy. I stand in awe." 

"You're sitting."

"I sit in awe.” 

And then there's the humor. Hilarious, dead-pan humor. Zuze is the best possible friend any protagonist could ever have.

Now you may ask, if I loved the story so much, why the four stars? Well, for one thing, I'm not too big a fan of Karou. She was awesome in the first book, especially the opening scene, but throughout the series, she's grown more and more obscure. I'm not saying she's a weak character, because that definitely isn't true. She's intelligent and brave, but I still expected more from her, some character growth. For the majority of the novel, she was like this shy, delicate flower who blushed every time she was in Akiva's presence. *Eye rolls* However, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy the romance. In fact, I loved it. This series is the epitome of star-crossed lovers. Not slight star-crossed lovers or intentional-but-not-really-star-crossed-lovers, but true, hard-core star-crossed lovers. It pained me to see all the events that tore these two people apart. My soul and body literally ached for them to find any kind of happily ever after.

Just a warning for all of you out there, this novel has a huge amount of different POVs. For the most part, Laini handled it well, but I still found that it detracted from the story. I always knew who was talking, but the constant character shifts threw me off balance.

If she wanted to, Laini could write a fourth novel in this series. Probably not gonna happen, but I would like to see the war against the monsters of the outer realm.

On a totally unrelated note, Akiva. Is. Such. A. Badass. Had to get that out there.

Karou- 4/5
Akiva- 6/5
Romance- 5/5
All of the romances in this novel were phenomenal.
Action- 4/5
Lost my attention once in a while.
Writing- 5/5
Overall- 4/5

Hidden by Marianne Curley

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 336 Pages
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Narration: First Person: Ebony, Jordan
Genre: Paranormal/Angels
Challenge: Paranormal Challenge
Source: Netgalley

Order On Amazon: Hardcover

Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover

Author's
Goodreads  Website  Twitter




Goodreads Synopsis:

For as long as Ebony can remember, she's been sheltered. Confined to her home in a secluded valley, home-schooled by her protective parents, and limited to a small circle of close friends. It's as if she's being hidden. But something is changing in Ebony. Something that can't be concealed. She's growing more beautiful by the day, she's freakishly strong, and then there's the fact that she's glowing. 

On one fateful night, Ebony meets Jordan and she's intensely drawn to him. It's as if something explodes inside of her--something that can be seen from the heavens. Ebony still doesn't know that she's a stolen angel, but now that the heavens have found her, they want her back.

My Review:

Note: Since I did not finish this book through choice of my own, my review will only reflect the portion that I did read, and will exclude the parts that I did not. 

Status: DNF, Gave up at 25%.

The summary isn't anything I haven't come across before, and if that was all I had to go by, I wouldn't have given this novel a second glance. However, the cover is absolutely stunning, and I love the fact that they strategically placed a feather over her eyes, as if she was hidden (Wink, Wink ;) from the outside world. A concept that is focused on in the story itself. If someone had described this cover to me before I ever saw it, I probably would've written it off as corny, but with it right in front of me, I can see that it actually ties the whole novel together. Give yourself a pat on the back Bloomsbury! Superb job with the cover. :D

Onto the actual story. *Cringes* As soon as I read the first sentence, I knew this couldn't end in anything but disaster. It's not that the writing is horrific per-say, it's just more accurate to say that it's a wee choppy and awkward when the words take form mentally, worse if you read it out loud. Part of the reason I was unable to get sucked into this novel might have been because the Galley version had so many glaringly obvious spelling mistakes. Hopefully, they'll fix all of those little quirks before actually releasing the novel.

Another aspect of this novel that I had trouble with was the two different narrators, Jordan and Ebony. I have to admit, although I do feel a bit stupid for saying it, that I didn't even realize the story was told from two different perspectives, until the fourth or fifth chapter. How's that for unobservant? In my defense, I was a bit distracted that day... Anyhoo, their tone of voice sounded so much alike that if they were both the same gender, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. If they had admirable characteristics and attributes, then alright, fine, I'll deal with it, but their personalities were so bland, flat, and annoyingly lifeless. To be honest, if one of them wound up getting driven over by a truck in the end, I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to care. Of course, since Ebony is some freakishly strong angel, I guess it wouldn't do much, but you get my drift.

The love triangle. Since I stopped at 25%, I hadn't reached the point where the second love interest made an entrance, but one Insta-Love moment was definitely more than enough for me. The moment Jordan and Ebony met was basically one of those wretched, "For a moment, the earth seemed to stop spinning and the room blurred until we were the only two left standing," kind of moments. Excuse me, while I repeatedly bang my head against a wall. *Insert hilariously funny gif here* Since I'm feeling lazy at the moment, you'll just have to use your imagination for that one. xD After reading some other reviews to find out if I was the only one who felt this way about Hidden, I discovered that the romance with the second love interest was, yet again, kick-started by another Insta-Love connection.

I understand that the beginning of a novel is usually a bit slow paced for the purpose of introducing all of the new characters, describing what their like, and giving some background information, but the amount of action in the first 25% was actually laughable. Nonexistent might be a better word to describe it. I actually found my attention drifting to a butterfly whilst one of the characters was dying.

Overall, Hidden was a huge disappointment, at least for the amount I read. Maybe it gets better as the story progresses, but sadly, I'm not motivated enough to finish it. There's a possibility that I might get back to it if I have nothing else to do, which is very unlikely, and hear nothing but raving reviews come in, but at the moment? Nope.

*An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

Heroine/Hero- 1.5/5 Boooring. *Yawn*
Romance- 1/5
Sick and tired of Insta-Love connections.
Action- 1/5
Writing- 2/5 
Not horrible, but a bit choppy.
Overall- 1.5/5 For first 25%.

Shadows In The Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 469 Pages
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Narration: First Person: Ellie
Genre: Paranormal/Angels
Challenge: Paranormal Reading Challenge

Angelfire Series:
Book One: Angelfire
Book Two: Wings of the Wicked
Book Three: Shadows In the Silence

Order On Amazon: Hardcover
                                Kindle
Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover and Nook

Author's
( Goodreads ! Website ! Twitter ! Facebook )

Goodreads Synopsis:

Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .
Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

My Review:

I was beyond excited when I received a copy of Shadows In The Silence! My fingers have been itching to get a hold of this book for what has seemed like forever. And when my greedy fingers finally got what they desired, I felt a pang of both giddy joy and a overwhelming sadness when I realized that this was the final ending to an explosive, mind blowing trilogy. It seems like just yesterday I cracked open Angelfire, unsure of what I was going to find on the other side.

Ellie, although still as brave and sacrificing as ever, didn't move me or bring me to tears as she did in the first two novels. I don't feel like she's grown in character throughout this whole series. Yeah, so she isn't as squealey about proms and buying shoes as she used to be. So what? There is a fine line between courage and stupidity, and she crossed it more than once. Alright, stupidity is a little too harsh a word. Let's just say, for all intents and purposes, that she was rash in her decision making skills. Since spoilers are a huge no no for me, and I try my best not to reveal anything even accidentally, I'll keep my lips sealed. xD

Even though I wasn't a huge fan of Ellie's character this time around, she still retains many of her redeeming qualities from prior novels. Despite the fact that Ellie's cold, unfeeling archangel side is trying to take over, she is still as compassionate as ever, maybe even more so! She was willing to give up her life in order to save all of mankind, all of humanity, which is a super admirable characteristic in a protagonist. However, I felt like Courtney was trying too hard to push us to remember this fact by stating it over and over again. We all remember Ellie to be the girl to always fight for a worthy cause, no matter how impossible it may seem to others, and finally achieve it in the end. But in Shadows in the Silence, Ellie just gave up. Although she was against the idea of dying, she never fought for a way out or desperately searched for any kind of loophole. She accepted the fact that she was destined to die and that was the end of it.

The romance was sweet, but I wasn't feeling the sparks! At least not like I used to. :( Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed reading about it, and was very relieved by the fact that her love for Will didn't change the core of her being. She wasn't a lovey dovey girl who followed her boyfriend around like a sad, whimpering puppy begging for attention. Thank God! The only part when I really really felt the romance aspect of their relationship was near the end when that.....thing..happened. You'll see what I mean. xD

The writing! Agh! I don't know if it's just me, but I felt like this novel was surprisingly lacking in this department. I'm not sure if it's because of the absurd amount of reading I've done between this year and the past which maybe somehow changed my views on writing styles or if it was just the novel itself. The sentence structure felt abrupt and choppy. Because of this, I was unable to become fully immersed into the awesome world Courtney created. I had to actually put the book down or reread a whole paragraph either because I couldn't understand what she was trying to imply or just because I couldn't get into my reading zone.

I loved the different events and revelations that transpired during Shadows In The Silence. The interesting new take on biblical events and intriguing background information made the story feel real. However, I was not too happy with the execution of these events. It seemed to me, that every single mini journey Ellie and Will embarked on ended waaay too easily. I was literally staring at the page, thinking to myself, "That's it? No scandalous betrayals, cleverly hidden loopholes, or startlingly revealed secrets? Nada?" I wasn't surprised by how the book ended, nor was I shocked by any of the events that occurred. It was all very meh. Buuuuuuut! I did enjoy that final battle scene near the end of the book, even if it was predictable.

Overall, I was not satisfied with the finale to this otherwise brilliant angelic series. I loved the background information and the phenomenal story Courtney weaved, but the writing style was bland and abrupt, which sadly ruined my overall enjoyment of the story as a whole. I don't regret reading it, but I won't be picking it up anytime in the nearby future.

Heroine- 3/5
Romance- 3/5
Action- 4/5
Comedy- 2/5
Writing- 1/5
Overall- 3/5

Click to Watch Book Trailer