Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

If you are reading the Throne of Glass series and haven’t read Tower of Dawn yet just consider this entire post a spoiler, please and thank you! 

Chaol fan or not a Chaol fan? Either way, I don’t see how you could skip this book!

I actually really liked Chaol in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. Even though I loved Dorian’s character, I didn’t think he and Celaena would end up together, so I guess I was technically team Chaol. 

I’m not really a fan of continuous sulking, so once I hit Queen of Shadows, I was really ready for him and Aelin to make up already. For the Chaol haters out there, I get where you are coming from, I really do! BUT think of the character development! Think of the upheaval this man went through. Think of the mistakes he made and how tried to make up for them. Everything he knew and stood for was turned upside down. And all of his losses! 

“I loved you before I ever set eyes on you.”

And honestly, probably not a popular opinion, but I kind of like that Chaol gives us an outside, no-so-admiral look at Aelin. His relationship with her and his perspective of Aelin is completely different from the others, and you get to see how her character looks from the outside. I love that despite what they have been through, he still respects and counts on her. I also think her transition from Celaena and Chaol to Aelin and Rowan really helped me separate and accept the finality of her and Chaol’s relationship. 

 Add in Yrene Towers, Ruks, and Sartaq, and I was hooked on TOD after chapter two! And does anyone know if we get more of Borte and Yeran in Kingdom of Ash because colour me intrigued by those two! 

I think Chaol, Yrene and Nesryn all experienced their own “healing” journeys in this story. And despite having read ACOTAR and most of TOG, SJM just continues to drop bombs that I never see coming. 

I’m sure feathers will be ruffled, but this was one of my favorite books in the series! And now I’m attached to more characters and will be considerably upset when SJM inevitably breaks my heart. That is all. 

Tropes 

Enemies to Lovers, DUH! 

Characters 

Yrene: I thought Yrene was a refreshing fmc. I loved her for Chaol and the full circle of their story and Aelin was really satisfying to me. (I love when worlds collide, ya know?) I consider her and Chaol’s new connection similar to a bond, and even though it wasn’t specifically stated, I wonder if it’s similar/the same? Since she is magical with her healing powers. TBD!

Chaol: You guys already know how I feel about my guy, Chaol. And yes, I definitely mispronounced his name from the beginning and he will forever be “Coal” to me. 

Nesryn: Oh Oh Oh, I loved Nesryn’s love story in this book because, Sartaq!!!!, everyone. Not only did she find her Prince but she also found her home with the rukhin clans.  

The Khaganate Siblings: I won’t lie, keeping track of all the siblings was not going well for me at first. Once we got into the story line it definitely got better. Hasar was my least favorite, and when it was insulated we would see more of her in KOA I wasn’t the most thrilled. But, we did get this line, “Gods help him when Hasar and Aedion met.” so that gave me something to look forward to! 

Themes (Spoilers!) 

Forgiveness: TOD is filled with themes of forgiveness from Yrene’s ability to love Chaol despite who he is (forgiving him for his involvement with the kingdom/men that killed her mother), to Chaol’s entire healing journey. 

Quotes

• A gift. A gift from a queen who had seen another woman in hell and thought to reach back a hand. With no thought of it ever being returned. A moment of kindness, a tug on a thread.

• I will cherish it always. No matter what may befall the world. No matter the oceans, or mountains, or forests in the way.

• Every step. Every curve into darkness. Every moment of despair and rage and pain. It had led him to precisely where he needed to be. Where he wanted to be.
  
• It was like waking up or being born or falling out of the sky. It was an answer and a song, and she could not think or feel fast enough.
  
• “This will be the great war of our time,” Kashin said quietly. “When we are dead, when even our grandchildren’s grandchildren are dead, they will still be talking about this war. They will whisper of it around fires, sing of it in the great halls. Who lived and died, who fought and who cowered.”

• “I loved you before I ever set eyes on you.”
  
  

Good Reads Synopsis 

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea’s last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

In this sweeping parallel novel to the New York Times bestselling Empire of Storms, Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene will have to draw on every scrap of their resilience if they wish to save their friends. But while they become entangled in the political webs of the khaganate, deep in the shadows of mighty mountains where warriors soar on legendary ruks, long-awaited answers slumber. Answers that might offer their world a chance at survival—or doom them all . . .