Tower of Dawn Book Review – What I Thought

Young Adult Fantasy Book Review - Book Review Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas - Tower of Dawn Book Review
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In this Tower of Dawn book review I give my thoughts on the sixth book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. There are likely to be small spoilers in this review. For a spoiler free review of this series check out my Throne of Glass Series Review here.

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

Sarah J Maas, Tower of Dawn

I have mentioned in the past that I’m finding I don’t really like reading young adult books that much anymore. The last three books in this series have not felt like Young Adult. Sadly, the beginning of this book does.

I knew nothing going into this book. I had stayed away from Throne of Glass as a whole in order to keep spoilers away. So I had no idea that Tower of Dawn was not following Aelin and the squad, it was following Chaol. 

I contemplated skipping the book, but I knew I would end up missing something. The twists and turns that come about half way through the book are what saves this book.

Tower of Dawn Book Cover

Trigger Warnings

Since we don’t always get trigger warnings on books I like to give trigger warnings in my reviews. This can help people avoid certain triggers that could hurt their mental well being.

Possible Triggers in this book are:

  • Slavery 
  • Demons
  • Gore
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Violence
  • Death
  • Decapitation
  • Spiders

For a list of the triggers I look for you can check out this link here.

Synopsis and Author

Chaol is now the Hand of King Dorian of Adarlan and Nesryn is the Captain of the Guard. They take off for the southern continent and Antica where they can gather an army for Dorian as well as inquire about healing Chaol’s damaged spine.

Yrene is a healer in the Torre Cesme. Born in Fenharrow, she traveled to the southern continent a few years after the former King of Adarlan had her mother killed. She is faced with the challenge of healing the former Captain of the Guard’s spine.

Can Yrene move past her mistrust and hatred for the former King to heal a man who worked for that King? Can Chaol and Nesryn convince the Khagan to join their fight?

Tower of Dawn Reading Experience

Tower of Dawn has its location and settings on the Southern Continent and is from the point of views of Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene. When I first went into this book I had no idea we weren’t going to get a conclusion to the previous book until the next book.

I am not a fan of Chaol so reading this book at first was a bit of a chore. Luckily, we had point of views from two characters I do like so it kept the story moving through the beginning. Slowly it started to pick up and before I knew it I could not put the book down.

The twists in this book, the way I just fell in love with Yrene, and the characters introduced just really tie it all together nicely. This books theme is very identity and internal battles waged inside the characters. 

Writing Style

Tower of Dawn was 672 pages in 68 chapters that picked up speed until you were being flung around twists and turns. These twists just brought the whole story between the past and the present together beautifully.

The writing style of Sarah J Maas in this book… is much like when she writes the first book for a series. Starts off a bit slow with some excellent world building until she grabs you and doesn’t let go.

Once we got through that first part I couldn’t put the book down. Between the character growth, the dive into the history of the wyrd gates and the fae, and the big reveals that happen in this book it just all starts to make sense and build to that climactic point that we are going to get in the last book.

Tower of Dawn Book Review

Right off the bat I loved Yrene, she came across as a strong, take no bull woman. She pushed herself to rise above everything she’s gone through. Yrene was an instant favorite for me.

Nesryn is still the badass woman we know her to be, and she is really taking control of her life in this book. While she’s still fighting and doing her part for the upcoming war she’s not letting anyone hold her back while she experiences new things.

I love Borte. She is sarcastic, smart, strong, independent, and an amazing addition to the story. To be honest, if Sarah J Maas were to write more for this series I would love to see a Borte book or two. She’s a great character that we do not get nearly enough of.

Right off the bat I didn’t care for Arghun. He was just not a nice person.

Same goes for Hasar, except, the very end of the book has me falling for Hasar. She’s that person that you never want to be on her bad side, however she is the person you want on your side.

I didn’t really care for Kashin but by the end he grew on me a bit. Sartaq really grew on me and by the end I was cheering for him. Falkan was unexpected. When we first met him I was convinced he was an enemy, but then we found out some things about him and he just became someone I really liked.

I liked the new locations here, the world building was again fantastic. While I wasn’t pleased that it was a Chaol centric book at first it is such a necessary part of the series and I’m so glad I didn’t skip it.

My recommendation is based on the entire series. If you like flawed characters, the fae, mate romance, rebel and revolution stories, this series is for you.

TOG6 - Tower of Dawn Book Cover

Star Rating

Before I rate this book I want to give you a bit of background about what my rankings mean. I typically read books that I check out through the Libby app with my local library or through Kindle Unlimited. 

I rarely buy ebooks unless they are cheaply priced or on sale. I also very rarely buy physical copies of books. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I have to absolutely adore a book to buy a physical copy that will be proudly displayed in my home.

So my ranking system is as follows:

  • 5 Stars equals I am buying a physical copy of this book. I will read this book at least 10 more times, it is the best ever.
  • 4 stars equals a great book. I might buy an ebook version when it’s on sale so that I can re-read it at least one more time.
  • 3 stars equals a good book. I likely won’t read again but I appreciate the story.
  • 2 stars equals “Meh.” I will not read this book again, it had a lot of problems and I did not care for it.
  • 1 star equals a bad book. I barely finished this book and I will never recommend anyone waste valuable book reading time on this book.
  • 0 stars is a did not finish book. I will never finish that book and it is banished.

Tower of Dawn gets 5 stars from me. I didn’t think that I would give a Chaol centered book 5 stars but by the end of this book I was impressed. Between the character growth, the world building, and the twists and history that just enhance the series it is a must read.

Likes:

  • The character growth among several of the characters.
  • The change in location.
  • The big reveals in this book that had my mouth dropping open.

Dislikes:

  • The start was a bit slow.
  • There is one scene where something is undone that I just didn’t think was necessary.

Final Thoughts on Tower of Dawn

I actually feel like this is the book we needed and we got it at the right time. After whipping through three books I needed a bit of a break. I was reaching reader burnout and this book slowed me down while still moving the story forward.

Tower of Dawn is such a good addition to this series even though it’s not like the other books. It actually enhances the series and allows us to go into the final book a little refreshed.

Have you read Tower of Dawn? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite book boards.

Young Adult Fantasy Book Review - Book Review Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas - Tower of Dawn Book Review

Tower of Dawn Book Review - Young Adult Fantasy Book Review - Book Review Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

Book Review Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas - Tower of Dawn Book Review - Young Adult Fantasy Book Review

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