Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

"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."

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 . . .

There will be spoilers throughout this review. If you have not read Tower of Dawn, please proceed with caution!

I'll be honest: this book wasn't perfect. I was doing the tandem read and therefore reading Empire of Storms at the same time, and if I hadn't been, this review might have gone differently. However, there were also numerous times when I did not want to put it down. So first, let's discuss everything that absolutely met the standard of a Throne of Glass novel.

First and foremost, Chaol and his character development were the shining stars of this book. Chaol is a character who usually gets quite a bit of hate from Throne of Glass fans, specifically due to some comments he makes about Aelin in Queen of Shadows. They revealed some significant character flaws of his, and we see them directly confronted dramatically as Yrene Towers works to heal his spine. Between his trauma with his father and the searing guilt he feels for abandoning Dorian and failing to save his men, Chaol is facing some serious demons as the story progresses. It's grueling to read, but in addition to seeing his journey of coming to accept his condition and to genuinely view himself as a good person, it hooked me. I loved all of Chaol's chapters, and by the end, I had gained immense respect for him.

Through Chaol's point of view, Sarah J. Maas also includes a lot of disability representation that is often so lacking in media and literature, which was a more than welcome addition.

Which now brings us to Yrene Towers, the healer we meet briefly during the Assassin's Blade. Now the apparent heir to the Healer on High, Yrene is a powerful character with a lot of influence in the Southern Continent, and I adored her. I loved her strength and determination, and her unflinching attitude was both refreshing and hilarious. The slow progression of her and Chaol's relationship was handled beautifully, and it was my favorite storyline of the book. Their beginning at odds with each other, especially on Yrene's end, made it feel realistic, much unlike my complaints regarding Chaol's insta love relationship with Aelin in the early books. I was originally concerned that I would not find their story as captivating as the other prominent couples, and that could not have been more false.

While Chaol and Yrene are possibly the strongest selling point of the novel, there were other elements that more than met the Throne of Glass standard. Tower of Dawn, in particular, is a very world-building-heavy book, as we are introduced to the Southern Continent and the family of the Khagan. As Nesryn and Chaol try to persuade the Khagan to provide aid in the coming war they are sucked into a world of deep politics. Princes Sartaq, Kashin, and Arghun, along with Princesses Hasar and Duva, were each fascinating in their own right. All with their own loyalties and motives, each interaction left me questioning who was friend or foe. When I read a book that has a mystery in its central storyline, I typically have it solved myself by the end. But when it was revealed that Duva was the one responsible for the killings, let alone that she'd been infected by the Valg the whole time, I was shocked. It was excellent writing.

Other shining examples of Sarah J. Maas's writing are the two scenes where Yrene is being chased by the Valg. As an avid horror fan, I felt like I was watching a scene straight out of a horror movie. The suspense when she first starts to feel like she's being watched, then the hints that she's being followed, to the all-out race for safety, left my heart pounding. The scene where she and Chaol end up barricaded in his room, in particular, utilized tension and suspense in a way that was especially anxiety-inducing.

On a similar note, the stygian spiders? Absolute nightmare fuel. I was traumatized.

Now, as for Tower of Dawn's weaknesses, I'm disappointed to say that the worst offender is none other than Nesryn's chapters. I enjoyed Nesryn as a character in Queen of Shadows, and I expected her point of view to be interesting, but it simply wasn't. Unlike Chaol and Yrene, there was little personality in her inner monologue or dialogue, and her chapters often felt bogged down by overly lengthy descriptions and unnecessary details. The introduction of Prince Sartaq and the rukhin helped some, but her narration left even that feeling lackluster compared to the other storylines taking place simultaneously.

Given how many characters exist in the Throne of Glass series, disliking a single one's POV isn't usually something that would make or break a book. However, with Tower of Dawn having fewer POV characters than other books in the series, having a significant portion of the book be narrated by an uninteresting narrator can become a major downfall. Luckily, I was also reading Empire of Storms, which added several other character perspectives that I did enjoy to the mix. If I had read them separately, Nesryn's chapters would have undoubtedly sent me into a reading slump, whether I loved Chaol and Yrene's sections or not.

If I hadn't done the tandem read, this book would have taken me much longer to finish, and my rating would probably have been significantly altered. But with the addition of Empire of Storms and Chaol and Yrene's storylines, I actually was able to really enjoy this book. Which brings me to my advice to any reader who is debating on how to tackle Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn: do the tandem read. It might look intimidating, but it lays out the timeline of events in a way that makes sense between both books and, overall, makes Tower of Dawn a far better reading experience.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars