Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas: book review

Synopsis (Goodreads)

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent’s mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined

My review:

As much as I will try to avoid adding any spoilers I might have to add some in order to get my point across. If you haven’t read this book yet proceed at your own risk. You have been warned.
Is anyone as mind blown as I am right now ?? I have been waiting for this book for a long time and I think most people will agree with me that it was worth the wait. Sarah J. Maas is pure genius!
This book focuses on Chaol and Nesryn on their journey to Antica. Chaol needs help from the healers of the Torre Cesme and they also need an army to help in the oncoming war. Things don’t go as planned as Chaol and Nesryn end up on different paths and both make discoveries that will change everything.
First of all Chaol was never one of my favourite characters in this series. I really needed this book to change that. Of course I wanted to read this book because I will read anything from Maas but I didn’t know if I would enjoy anything focusing on Chaol. I don’t know how many times I rolled my eyes whenever that self loathing surfaced but that was all I didn’t like about him in this book. Everything else was great. Everytime the POV changed I wanted to get back to Chaol and Yrene as soon as possible. Those two are really cute! I’m glad Chaol found a way to forgive himself. It was time.
Yrene was definitely my favourite in this book. I liked the attitude and Damn! This girl is brave! From the moment the note Aelin gave her was mentioned I was dying for her to show it to Chaol. I knew he would recognise the handwriting. I’ve always liked Yrene from the novella and her showing up again was really cool. There is nothing bad I can say about Yrene. I really like her.
I found most of Nesryn’s chapters boring..until the hearth-mother showed up. Nesryn made some huge and very important discoveries and well I think towards the end of this book my jaw droped after every chapter. It was insane. I wasn’t a big fan of her relationship with Chaol so thankfully that is over.
Now on to these new characters. I really hated this royal family at first. Some of them managed to redeem themselves…others? Not so much. Kashin and Sartaq are the only two I can tolerate. The rest are all annoying power hungry and scheming idiots. Hasar might be Yrene’s friend but she is a bitch. When Yrene threw her in the water..well that was one of the best parts in this book.
The ruk riders were a great addition and the fight between the ruks and the wyverns is going to be very interesting.
I liked the constant updates on Aelin’s whereabouts and the way the people in this book reacted to her actions. I really want these royals to meet Aelin. That will be very interesting.
Somehow i remembered Falkan from the novella and that was a big surprise. Obviously I didn’t think he was that important at the time.
This book was full of OMG moments and writing a review while trying to avoid spoilers is a bit difficult.
All the plot twists just had me thinking now this is what I live for I like the plot twists that you can’t see coming. Those are the best and Maas pulled it off. If anyone was still debating on reading this book I will tell you right now that you need to read this. Not only is it a great read but it has some of the most important revelations that will change everything.
Guys I cant recommend this book enough. If you haven’t read this series yet you really need to. You will thank me later.

xx fayetino