It's Finally Out!!!! Tower of Dawn Commentary (YAY)

Hey all,

So, as you may know, I started giving book talks/reviews on this blog right after I finished the second book in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass book series. I believe my first book talk was on both the first and second book, even though I had read the first book about three months before the second. I wasn’t even going to continue the series, until my friend, who was on the third book at time, told me to do otherwise. I became a fan of these books about a year ago, and haven’t really been able to put them down since. I bought Empire of Storms when it first came out earlier this year and read it every chance I got (I posted a book talk about it so go check it out for more information), even if it meant reading in class.  I really enjoyed it, though some thought it fell short and what not.

However, for those that think EoS fell a bit short, Tower of Dawn, Maas’s most recent (as in it has been out a week recent) installment in the Throne of Glass series makes up for it. Coming from me, if any of you did in fact read my comments on what I thought of the series as a whole, you’ll know that my opinion is pretty valid because I really did not like Chaol Westfall as a character. I felt that he was a very static character, while everyone around him was always changing. To me, he wasn’t really main protagonist material, so when I found out that the next installment was just going to be following him, I was a little shaky on the matter. Still I bought it anyway, especially after reading the ACOTAR series.

I am very, very, very glad I did. Tower of Dawn was much different than I thought it was going to be, which is a really good thing. Through the introduction of so many new characters so late in the series, I thought that the novel had many chances to dive in way over its head, but Maas does a fantastic job of developing the new storyline. I was thoroughly entertained and did not want the story to end. I found all the new characters enjoyable, with a few exceptions. Arghun, one the Great Khagan’s children, was probably my least favorite character because I could feel the oiliness of his personality through the pages and descriptions.

One of the things that I felt was probably the novel’s strongest feature was the newest sub-protagonist, Yrene Towers. I think she may have made her way into my list of favorite characters. Before I even read/purchased Tower of Dawn, I had heard so much about Yrene that I wasn’t sure if she would be likable to me. However, for whatever reason I was under the impression that she was old, most likely because when they say the best_____, it usually means they have been doing it for a while. It was probably the biggest surprise, to me, just to find out that she was really young and had only been at it for 2 years. Of course, it all made sense later, but I am going to try to keep the spoilers at a low number. Regardless, she was one of my favorite characters just in general. I really liked her personality and felt that she didn’t really wallow in her past, which is a trait that many of Maas’s characters tend to have and that I don’t really care for because I am just not one for wallowing in anything really.

Overall, I just felt that the character development was much better than I had anticipated. Had it been just a novella as she had originally planned, I think that the book would have lacked some of the depth that it had. I will say the one thing I didn’t really like about it was the fact that the end was a bit predictable. I did say I would try to keep the spoilers on the DL, so I will just say that I had everything figured out before the book even ended, without cheating and reading the end of the book like I usually do. But, in all, I felt that the book was probably the best one out of the whole series.

Well, that’s all I have for right now. If you happen to be a fan or have read the book, feel free to send me an anon or contact me through my Tumblr @magicalbooksandthings. Feel free to give me a follow as well if you enjoy books, writing, or just randomness. I can’t wait to read the next book in ToG in 2018, but until then, I’ll be making my way through a few other books I’ve picked up over the past few months.

Au revoir :)

NM Black <3