Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

10 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Did I like this more than Empire of Storms?? Crazy. It was definitely slower paced, but felt very cohesive. I also loved that Chaol had a beautiful redemption arc- I hated him the last few books and this book actually changed my mind. I really appreciated getting to see the nuance and inner turmoil of his character. I adore Yrene and I also love Nesryn and Sartaq and felt like I was interested/invested in every plot line of this book. It ends much more hopeful than EoS so I feel like it fits in the series better before EoS if you don’t want to do the tandem read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Torture, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, and Alcohol

merrow's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

An almost relaxing turn in the midst of this series, but still maintaining the mystery and global stakes. The book feels generally hopeful and introduces a new part of the world well, and is only let down by the characters’ very occasional childish behaviour.

Yrene is a very engaging character, and Chaol and Nesryn both grow to find their places in the series. Very interesting revelations and the setting contrasts very well with the northern continent.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

barbarianmissy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

How do I only have one more book to read in the SJM universe??? I’m quite cross. SJM, write more pls cause I’m gonna spiral after Kingdom of Ash. Thank you. 

As for Tower of Dawn! When I first realized this was an entire book about my enemy ka-Chaol and his gal pal Nesryn, I wasn’t thrilled. But, in the end, I was pleasantly surprised! 

This book wasn’t a crazy action packed story necessarily (mostly cause Chaol could not walk through most of it) but it was really cool going to a whole other continent and dipping my toes into a cool, complex, kind of off-the-chain culture that hadn’t been affected by the turd that is the King of Adarlan. There was a lot of political intrigue and world building that I thought was super cool. I wanna live in Antica! I wanna ride a big bird! 

As for the new characters, I loved the royal family. I loved how they were all so different and sneaky and had defined personalities and roles. I loved the different relationships and banter between them all and how they used their influence for their own gain. I’m happy they’re coming to Tessaren, I’m excited to see how they integrate with our OG team.  

I know we briefly met Yrene before but Yrene is very cool now. I love her, she fixed not only Chaols lil legs but also his shit personality. She said “I can fix him” and was one of the few women on Earth to prove herself right. She’s also just a badass on her own. Good for her! 

The love stories in this one were really well paced compared to some of the more rushed ones in Empire of Storms cause the lack of 27 main characters and different storylines, so they were really able to make it focused on them. Was it a smidge slow at times because of that fact too? Yes. Did I enjoy it overall? Also yes. 

Also, side note. I know they are side characters but I love Borte and Yeran. Their love/hate relationship is wonderful and I just like em. 

Now, for the finale of all finales…. ITS TIME FOR KINGDOM OF ASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

anguawolf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Slavery, Pregnancy, and War

mcpopish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of my favorites of the series so far. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I've always had a soft spot for Chaol, and it was cathartic to read through his emotional and physical healing. I appreciated how his injury/disability was handled: as something to work through and around, not a problem to be solved. His "sleuthing" with Yrene to find answers was fun, and I liked that this warrior still had trouble dealing with all the politics.

But the reason I loved this book so much is Nesryn's story. It was refreshing to have a BIPOC FMC with so many connections and interesting characteristics not become the "love interest" side character for Chaol's MC.

I love that she chose herself over their relationship, and she chose to fight in her own way for help and answers in this war. Also, I love her being with Sartaq.

She made meaningful choices, had interesting adventure and action sequences, and came away with arguably the most important hidden information in the series:

Maeve's false identity and purpose in Erilea.

I read this book in tandem with Empire of Storms, and I think both books benefited from that choice. It helped the narrative flow well, giving the reader time to react to both sides, as well as balancing the heavy action of Empire of Storms with the lore of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Infidelity, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

kathrynok's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nerdkitten's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

gracegeeks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.75

i was initially bored by this book because it is a SLOW one but i found so much joy, peace, and hope in its pages. the representation is incredible and so close to my heart and the world-building absolutely shines 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy

kat1105's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism