Tower of Dawn

Title: Tower of Dawn

Author: Sarah J.Maas

Published: 5th September 2017

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction

Pages: 660

Start Date: 25th August 2022

Finish Date: 26th August 2022

Summary

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to ally 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 honour it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

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

Review

After the way things left off at the end of the fifth book, I was sure that this book would pick up where it had ended. I expected to dive right back into Celaena's current predicament and have a front-row seat as she managed to battle her way out of captivity. That didn't happen. This book was not the book that I thought I'd be getting. That isn't to say that it was a let down though, it wasn't. It just wasn't at all what I was expecting.

Tower of Dawn explores an entirely different aspect of this complex story. This book focuses on Chaol and his exploration of the Southern Continent.

Let me be upfront about the fact that I was not the biggest fan of Chaol. In fact, over the past few books, I had grown to detest him. He is a character that went from being a favourite of mine to one that I loathed. I wasn't sure that there would ever be any redemption for him. Incredibly, Sarah J. Maas has managed to work Chaol back into my good graces with this book. I wouldn't have believed it was possible, but she made it happen. This book showed a softer, more vulnerable side of Chaol. I even felt bad for him at times. Little by little, I found myself warming back up to him and understanding why he did some of the things that he did before.

Wounded, Chaol and Nesryn seek out the legendary healers of Torre Cesme in Antica. If anyone can cure Chaol of his paralysis, they will be found here. However, his mission is two-fold. He hopes to also gain additional support for the campaign in the North.

Begrudgingly, Yrene is tasked with healing Chaol. It will be her greatest achievement if she can overcome her deep-rooted hatred for Chaol and the kingdom that he represents. Yrene suffered greatly as a result of the King that Chaol fought for. She's faced with an ethical dilemma of epic proportions.

The two eventually strike up an unlikely friendship. While the memory of what Chaol represents is never far from Yrene's mind, she finds herself seeing him as more man and less monster as time passes. Their relationship grows slowly and steadily, each trying to hold back their feelings until it eventually becomes impossible.

As Chaol begins to heal, he starts questioning what he wants. He feels remorse and shame for some of his past actions. With Yrene, he finds forgiveness and revived humanity.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Throne of Glass book if there wasn't plenty of danger and action. There was no shortage of adventure and heart-stopping situations. Expect a strong dose of the supernatural. Around every turn was the possibility of destruction as this battle between good and evil continues.

My only disappointment was that I was dying to pick up where the last book left off. Unfortunately, I am still in the dark, along with a million other readers. Aside from a few very brief mentions at the very end of this book, Celaena, Rowan and Dorian are noticeably absent from this book. We'll all have to wait for the next one to get our questions answered.

The reason, I didn’t give this book 5 stars is because there was a lot of fluff. All the unnecessary scenes made the book slow, which is why it took me fifty million years to finish it. I feel like it should have been at least 200 pages shorter. You can tell the idea for this book started as a novella but then got stretched a bit too much in my opinion. Even so, I found myself completely lost in this book. It was worth every minute. Honestly, if I weren't so bitter about the fact that I'm still left in the dark about Celaena's fate, I'd probably say this was a 5-star read. I spent a lot of time waiting for her to make an appearance before finally realizing that it wasn't going to happen and just enjoying the beauty of this book for what it was.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️