Title: Tower of Dawn
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: September 5, 2017
Finally! I have finished this book!
I have attempted to read this about 3 or 4 times before finally just taking 2 days and forcing myself through it. While I love Sarah J. Maas and her writing and stories are amazing, I just cannot handle Chaol. Most times, I want to punch him in the face!
First off, this book takes a different turn from the others in the series. Instead of focusing mainly on Celaena’s/Aelin’s story, the focus is on Chaol. He and Nesryn Faliq travel to the Southern Continent (Antica) to try to convince the Khagan (their King basically) to lend a hand, along with some armies, to fight off the Valg and Perrington. Yet, one of the Khagan’s children, Kashin, thinks that their sister didn’t commit suicide, she was murdered. He enlists Chaol’s help to prove him right.
As much as the Khagan and his children would like the war and Valg to stay in the Northern Continent, it seems they have other plans.
As I stated, I just don’t like Chaol. He was never a character I really cared for even in the first book. Once I was in the third book, I really just wanted Chaol to sit in the corner because nobody cares about your problems. What annoys me about his character is that he acts like most entitled, white guys. He does grow and change throughout the book, but I didn’t care enough about him to care if he changed or not.
Thankfully, Sarah J. Maas his a fantastic writer and storyteller, so once I was into the meat of the book I couldn’t stop reading. I’m always amazed at how she weaves these tales and makes everything make sense by the end. I’m left wondering how did I get here. I also truly enjoyed getting to know Nesryn’s character more, away from the other characters. I love that she gets to see her family (ahhh, the reunion at the end, my heart, and all the tears), as well as have a romantic love interest of her own. The new character in this book is Yrene Towers, a healer at the Torre Cesme, the Academy of Healers and Physicians. She doesn’t take Chaol’s shit, and I love her for that. I also think her backstory matches up so well with Aelin’s while going on different paths (and even though I haven’t read Kingdom of Ash, I already know it was Aelin/Celaena who saved Yrene and gave her the gold). Aelin and Yrene both lost everything when the Valg and the King of Adarlan outlawed magic and started hunting down those who possessed it. While Aelin became an assassin, Yrene instead became a healer. However, neither of them gave up their femininity nor did they become doormats either (yes, of course, Celaena didn’t become a doormat). Yes, Yrene did need help, but afterwards she handles things fine on her own while in Antica. This is what I love about Maas’s writing; she doesn’t have her characters as these flat people but real and alive, with emotions, flaws, and representing every kind of woman.
I do hope that to see more of Hasar and Renia in Kingdom of Ash (going to finish it this week). I think that’s my only critique of Maas’s is that I do wish one of the main characters was somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Yes, Hasar and Renia are together, but I consider them only minor characters in this book, which is why I hope to see them more in the next one. But I’m always wanting more LGBTQ+ characters in books, so there’s that.
Happy Reading Darlings!
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