Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Tower of Dawn

I read Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn as a tandem read, as requested by most BookTokers I've seen out there. Many recommend this because they love Aelin and Rowan and didn't want to be a part of them for one whole book; plus, there will ALWAYS be Chaol haters. I honestly don't care much about Aelin and Rowan (sorry!), and I am notoriously known for thinking there is more than meets the eye with Chaol. But, I will admit it: the tandem read slightly improved my experience with my Throne of Glass journey. While reading nearly 1400 pages, give or take, seemed daunting, I did fly through this read (these reads?).

Set up: The main characters are thrown into every direction as war breaks out between citizens and the infamous Vlag. Empire of Storms follows Aelin, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, Lysandra, Aedion, Elide, Lorcan, and others we know and love. Tower of Dawn follows Chaol and Nesryn as they trek to the southern continent to, hopefully, gain support from the kaghan there in the upcoming war. Also, to see if they can get Chaol walking again. In this book, we meet Yrene again after briefly meeting her in The Assassin's Blade.

What I liked: Lysandra. I also enjoyed Elide's and Lorcan's characters. I liked their romance. Theirs didn't feel forced per se, but their POVs were sometimes redundant. Finally, I was invested in this plot. I wanted to see how SJM wove in all the moving pieces and how it would end. I was invested. I didn't see TOO many plot holes. This is some decent high fantasy plotting.

What I didn't like: Aelin. Always. She's so annoying, even if she spouts some funnies occasionally. I didn't enjoy Rowan and Aelin either. "Just bang!" I would say throughout this novel, and THEN they did, and I was underwhelmed. Something about velvet-strapped steel also just....yuck.

"She really tortured them, she realized, by shoving her way into danger whenever she felt like it. Perhaps she'd try to be better about it if this dread was at all like what they felt." LOL, yeah, AELIN.

This (these) book(s) also did teeter on the ROMANCE scale so much. I was finally glad not to have a love triangle anymore, and thankfully, those (kinda) went away, but everybody is paired with somebody. I'm not sure why it annoyed me because I've read other books where this happens (Roots of Chaos - Samantha Shannon), but I don't think anybody quite hypes it up and makes it a considerable plot point like SJM. I also wished I counted how many kisses characters gave at the "corners of mouths."

"She thought of the new, delicate scars on his back - marks from her own nails (*cough* sex *cough*), that he'd refused to heal with his magic, and instead had set with seawater, the salt locking the scars into place before the immortal body could smooth it over. Her claiming marks, he'd breathed into her mouth the last time he'd been inside her. So he and anyone who saw them would know that he belonged to her. That he was hers, just as she was his." WHAT. First. What? Second. How would people look at his back and be like THOSE ARE FROM F'in! Third. What. Fourth. The dramatics. Fifth. What. Lastly, they can do that with salt water? Since freaking when? This internal monologue was also the start of a BATTLE IN WAR. Lol. Just lol.

Lastly, there is a plethora of toxic perseverance and the glorification of war, which is something I must get used to with SJM writing. In addition [I'm putting a spoiler on this just in case], but

kind of healing Chaol's injury wasn't done super well in my opinion. He was disabled and then "magically" healed, yet still tied to Yrene's life and it can still go wrong? It's honestly a cop out of him being healed enough to still be mr macho man yet then things can go wrong? I don't know, it didn't quite sit well for me.

Overall, though, it was fine. This was a solid read (reads). However, I have officially decided that my TBR is too long for any more SJM. I will finish this series with Kingdom of Ash, and I will stop reading her works. Fated mates, toxic perseverance, and unnecessary romanticism of war simply isn't for me and I will officially put the books down after.

Content Warnings

infusionofviolets's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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annabeth_jackson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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itsebrumutlu's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I'm so angry that Tower of Dawn was the best book of this series because I truly detested Chaol. Correct, past tense. I no longer detest Chaol. He's an obedient chucklehead who had to realize so many things, especially about Aelin, until this book but I'm glad that he finally did.

The reason I loved this book was actually other characters. First, Yrene. She and Chaol made sense, sure. But she's still too good for that chucklehead.

I knew that Nesryn was too good for Chaol even before and this book ensured me. And Sartaq. My lovely, brave, stupidly in love with Nesryn Sartaq. I freakin' love him. His crush on Nesryn long before meeting her was heartbreakingly good. I went "Aw" so many times.

Borte and Hasar just HAVE TO meet Aelin. Especially Hasar would love Aelin (at least, after a while). I think Borte would stress Aedion all the time like Aelin does. And I think Aedion and Sartaq would like each other very much.

I already cannot wait for Falkan and Lysandra to meet. When I realized that Falkan was related to Lysandra, I was so happy. Damn you, Maas for getting me all invested in all these characters. And making Chaol bearable.

I'm already anxious about the Kingdom of Ash. But I'm starting the book immediately at the same time.

Content Warnings

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked this book up as my continued effort to read the Throne of Glass series this year.
"Tower of Dawn" continues on in the Throne of Glass series, but it is from Chaol's perspective. Chaol has always been a fearless leader, and he has prided himself as one, but that is put to the ultimate test when he is severely injured following a particularly challenging battle. He now has to rely on one of the best healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica, Yrene, to help him get his body working again. With war on the horizons, the stakes are even greater.
I am so happy I did not give up on this series because I really, really enjoyed this book. Chaol is kind of a toxic male with his attitudes towards Yrene and everyone else. He is very preoccupied with how he appears to other people, and he does not like for people to see him struggle now that he is injured. However, I think this depiction is true to his character, and it was his fixation on protecting his manhood that ultimately made him focus on working through the pain to heal. I loved being given the opportunity to be in Chaol's head and really seeing there is so much more to him than people think.
I loved Chaol's and Yrene's dynamic together. They really know how to push each other's buttons, but they also see other for who they really are. They are the dose of reality the other needs.
I think this was the change in pace I needed to stay invested in the story and I am now so excited to pick of "Kingdom of Ash" and see how this all ends.

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imds's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

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nshocklee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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kat1105's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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