Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
The penultimate book in Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series, Tower of Dawn is a Goodreads Choice Nominee and has great ratings on both Goodreads and Amazon. At this point, we are five novels and a collection of novellas deep into this series. If you need a little catch up before reading this book, check out our Throne of Glass series page which includes summaries for each previous book as well as spoiler free study guides. This book deals with ableism, bullying, death, violence, blood, vomit, kidnapping, grief, medical trauma, stalking, murder, pregnancy, fire, toxic friendship, colonization, war, and injury detail. And big ass spiders.
Chaol Westfall is badly injured after his battle with the King of Adarlan. He's confined to a wheelchair with no movement below his hips. He, King Dorian's Hand of the King, and Nesryn, Dorian's new Captain of the Guard, have been tasked to go to the Southern Continent for a few reasons. 1) Visit the Torre Cesme and ask the world's best healers if there's any hope for Chaol to regain the ability to walk. 2) Get them as many allies as possible for the upcoming battle with Erawan, King of the Valg. While in Antica, Chaol and Nesryn meet a whole new cast of characters, including Yrene - a young healer who has seen atrocities committed by Adarlan's old king. She's asked to help heal Chaol in any way she can but she's not sure she can handle it, not with an Adarlanian. Thinking to gain allies of the khagan, they are appalled to find out the Valg may have beaten them to Antica.
I have read comments online about skipping this book because the reader does not like Chaol or Nesryn and doesn't have any interest in reading a story focused on them. To those people I say - you need to read this book. This is my favorite of the entire series so far. Yes, it is not as exciting or action packed. But the character development in this book is unmatched by anything we have seen so far. The setting is beautiful, the writing is done well, the new characters are dynamic and varied - not all of them are likeable. And there are two twists at the end of this book that I did not see coming so, kudos to you Sarah J Maas. You got me.
I'm giving Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas 5 stars. This is the book that finally made me understand why this series is a fan favorite, I get it now. I am very excited for the last book, which I will be starting in a few days, so look out for that review coming soon. And it's not very spicy, but they do talk about erectile dysfunction a little bit which was funny.
For more from Sarah J Maas, check out her website at https://sarahjmaas.com/
Pairs well with giant carob cookies and visiting an oasis if you get the chance.
My favorite quote: "Every step. Every curve into darkness. Every moment of despair and rage and pain. It had led him to precisely where he needed to be. Where he wanted to be."
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