Hi everyone! Happy October!! School is absolutely insane, but I’m going to try and post something at least every month. I recently read the sixth installment of the Throne of Glass series, Tower of Dawn, and it brought out a lot of ranting. Tower of Dawn follows the story of Chaol and Nesryn, and lies parallel to the events in Empire of Storms. The final book comes out in May 2018. Here is the review:

  • 4 stars out of 5 stars
  • Ages 13-unlimited! (I really think anyone would enjoy this book)

I loved this book. It was written fantastically, and made me accept a character that I had previously hated. I had some issues with the novel, and it’s these criticisms that make me love it all the more. I would sincerely suggest not reading this review until you’ve read all of Throne of Glass, but you do you! Enjoy the spoilery section!

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THIS BOOK AND ALL PREVIOUS SARAH J MAAS BOOKS:
Warning: I have no chill in this review, so sorry if the all-caps gets a bit intense. Also, when I say Kale, I mean Chaol; I just prefer to call him Kale. It’s really fun.

I must say that I was highly, highly apprehensive about this book. Like most members of the fandom, Chaol is not my favorite character. I haven’t liked him from the very beginning, ever since that fated day he waltzed into Endovier. I disliked the way he disdainfully treated Aelin, from his first meeting with her to the way he screamed in her face after she arrived back from Wendlyn. The latter moment was when I decided that he was my least favorite character. Needless to say, I was quite nervous to read this book; fearing that I would be turned off of the rest of the series because of him.

After having read the book, my opinion about Kale hasn’t changed all that much. I still think he’s a selfish, self-pitying, idiot and that’s without even taking into account the events outside this book. Yet the book was absolutely amazing. Yrene more than made up for the entire 650 pages of his nonsense. She was amazingly written, and she felt real, not like one of those step-in blank characters who make no real contribution to the plot. (ahem, Nesryn anyone?) I loved her (her as in Yrene). That scene at the very end, where Kale recognized Aelin’s handwriting on the slip of paper, gave me life. I’d been waiting the entire novel for that moment, and Maas did not disappoint.

I enjoyed the book. It was well-written, like all of her books, but I feel this was even better than Empire of Storms. The way that these intense scenes were described was the whole appeal of the novel. It certainly could have become tedious (like Empire of Storms was) even with large amounts of action, and it did not. I was genuinely invested in Kale’s healing, the story of the king and his family, and Yrene’s life background. Her healing was written beautifully; I could really feel her personal struggles and who she was as a person.

By far, the best moment of the book was when the spiders explained who Maeve was to Nesryn and Sartaq. Let me just say this: MAEVE IS THE VILLAIN!!! SHE’S THE VILLAIN!!! AELIN HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE VILLAIN OF THE ENTIRE STORY!!!! THEY DON’T FREAKING KNOW MAEVE IS THE VALG QUEEN!!!!
Okay, I’m done. But you see what I mean, right? It was the biggest plot twist that none of us really expected, but made so much sense after reading it. I was half terrified and half so incredibly satisfied after reading that scene. It was just beautiful. After they escaped the cave, I wanted to thrash Nesryn and Sartaq for not flying back as soon as possible, because AELIN IS IN MAEVE’S HANDS!!! Not that they knew that. But as a reader, it was still frustrating.

Many people mentioned that the book was intensely sad, but I didn’t cry at any moment. The only section where I felt remotely upset was when they mentioned Aelin, and I was aching for them to sail back to find her missing and trapped by the VALG QUEEN.

I gave Tower of Dawn four stars mainly because of the last fight scene, (which I found boring, overly dramatic, and so cliche’) and my acute dislike of Nesryn. I feel like she was such a flat character, a useless one, and created just for the purpose of a love drama and family connection. I really dislike her. At least Kale is a three dimensional human being; Nesryn is just so uninteresting.

I still love this series, obviously, and cannot wait for the next one in May. Seven months will pass by too soon, and I must say that I really don’t want it to end.

Thanks everyone! I hope you enjoyed this rant. Please leave a comment own below about your opinions on Tower of Dawn. Check out my review of the full Throne of Glass series!!