Title: Tower of Dawn
Author: Sarah J. Maas

The sixth installment of the Throne of Glass series is truly unlike any other Sarah J. Maas book I’ve read (and I’ve read them all.)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

This book follows Chaol Westfall on his adventure to the Southern Continent after the events that take place in Queen of Shadows. Originally intended to be a novella, this book clicks in at over 600 pages (and oh my god I would not of wanted it any other way).

Like all the previous Throne of Glass novels, this novel is told in third person limited POV. The entirety of the novel takes place on new territory with loads of new characters that will make you fall in love with the Southern Continent. Between the royal family (that Chaol is trying to woo into giving Aelin aid in war) and a healer of the Torre Cesme – who should not be a stranger to anyone who has read the series prequel – the newcomers in this book are going to be veryimportant in the series finale.

That being said, anyone who thinks they can skip out of this one and go on to the next one, I seriously advise you to reconsider. This novel isn’t just about Chaol, and it’s so critical to the future of Aelin and Co. that you’re going to need to read this one. I also don’t think it will disappoint.

This is one of my favorite Throne of Glass novels, they just keep getting better and better and I cannot wait for the next one (I cry when I think about it too much.) I didn’t love this one as much as Empire of Storms, and I will be honest it’s because my heart is literally aching for Rowaelin. However, the longer the book went on the more I kept having to move this book higher up my list of best books of 2017.

From here on out this review is not spoiler free!

“You would be surprised by how closely the healing of physical wounds is tied to the healing of emotional ones.” – Chapter 12

Chaol has a ton of baggage, and I am not talking about the multiple chests of jewels he brought to Antica. I have been anticipating it for a while now, just sort of waiting for him to snap because looking back at it, Chaol has been through A LOT (Like let’s not even count nearly dying and he’s still been through so much.) He’s on his way to becoming a cranky old man whose jaded and sour about everything and then in comes Yrene.

The healer from Innish who Aelin helped on her way to the Red Desert, oh I have never been so happy to see a character come back into the picture in my life! And to make matters even greater, she is awesome – in the badass way a woman who overcomes everything she’s been through and follows her dream and latterly becomes the successor to the healer on high in less than two years. It just makes me really happy seeing such strong female characters.

Together Yrene and Chaol work on fixing his spinal injury, which has plenty of revelations tied to it, and they try to get Chaol back to his normal self. During all of this Yrene helps Chaol not only come to terms with his disability, but also see it as normal. I can’t praise Sarah enough for how well this arc was written for Chaol. It is such an important milestone for Chaol as a character, and a monument in the series itself.

During all that healing there is a ton of tension, aggravation, and then pinning – all of which I absolutely love. Sarah J. Maas has a track record for making characters who can’t stand each other fall in love and I FREAKING LOVE IT. There is nothing better, in my opinion, then when characters who are just irked by the other end up falling for each other.

Not to mention, when Yrene was told by Hafiza she had to heal Chaol as a ‘test’ she genuinely hated the idea. Her development as a character to recognize that Chaol wasn’t a bad person, and actually someone who she could love is phenomenal.  

But Yrene isn’t the only strong female character.

I freaking love Nesryn Faliq, like words cannot describe. I won’t lie, when that ship with Chaol started to sink I was like “Wait, I didn’t want this.” – I was wrong, I wanted exactly that. Because Chaol and Yrene ♥ and Nesryn and Sartaq ♥

It was nice seeing Nesryn develop so much in this novel. She has become a huge favorite of mine. Not to mention she is right at home with her furry ruk and ruk riding prince (I’m sorry I had to.)

“Nesryn supposed that was why she liked the queen: there were plans so long in the making that for someone who let the world deem her unchecked and brash, Aelin showed a great deal of restraint in keeping it all hidden.” – Chapter 29

I don’t want to turn the focus of this review on Aelin and how cunning she is but MY GOD.

She had already written to Hasar (Who I have neglected to mention up to this point is badass.). She had already planned for so much. But I don’t think anyone planned for Maeve to be the Queen of the Vlag. I had to stop reading after that part because I got a little sick. I have no idea what this means but after the hell she put Rowan through and knowing Aelin is the key, it really makes me worry. I just keep imagining Maeve using Aelin to get rid of the Vlag, which would kill Aelin of course and I cannot accept that.

I don’t think there is enough time for me to go into detail about how much I love Aelin Ashryver Galathynius Whitethorn. Also, I can’t really think about it because then my mind goes back to Empire of Storms and I cry a little bit.

Back to Tower of Dawn.

There was so much tension in the novel, so much suspense. It was not as action packed as some of the other novels (HOF, EOS) but that did not hurt it one bit. This novel made me laugh, cry and left me wanting more. 

“He’d almost told the princess that she could keep Hellas’s Horse, but there was something to be said about the prospect of charging down Morath foot soldiers atop a horse named Butterfly.” – Chapter 68

Chaol has a horse named butterfly. Just you know, further proof he isn’t going to become a jaded cranky old man (Thank the gods for Yrene).

I don’t know how I’m going to wait for almost a year for this next book – probably by rereading Empire of Storms and crying. But at least I will have an ACOTAR novella to distract me.