Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Tower of Dawn

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

14 reviews

barbarianmissy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

How do I only have one more book to read in the SJM universe??? I’m quite cross. SJM, write more pls cause I’m gonna spiral after Kingdom of Ash. Thank you.

As for Tower of Dawn! When I first realized this was an entire book about my enemy ka-Chaol and his gal pal Nesryn, I wasn’t thrilled. But, in the end, I was pleasantly surprised!

This book wasn’t a crazy action packed story necessarily (mostly cause Chaol could not walk through most of it) but it was really cool going to a whole other continent and dipping my toes into a cool, complex, kind of off-the-chain culture that hadn’t been affected by the turd that is the King of Adarlan. There was a lot of political intrigue and world building that I thought was super cool. I wanna live in Antica! I wanna ride a big bird!

As for the new characters, I loved the royal family. I loved how they were all so different and sneaky and had defined personalities and roles. I loved the different relationships and banter between them all and how they used their influence for their own gain. I’m happy they’re coming to Tessaren, I’m excited to see how they integrate with our OG team.

I know we briefly met Yrene before but Yrene is very cool now. I love her, she fixed not only Chaols lil legs but also his shit personality. She said “I can fix him” and was one of the few women on Earth to prove herself right. She’s also just a badass on her own. Good for her!

The love stories in this one were really well paced compared to some of the more rushed ones in Empire of Storms cause the lack of 27 main characters and different storylines, so they were really able to make it focused on them. Was it a smidge slow at times because of that fact too? Yes. Did I enjoy it overall? Also yes.

Also, side note. I know they are side characters but I love Borte and Yeran. Their love/hate relationship is wonderful and I just like em.

Now, for the finale of all finales…. ITS TIME FOR KINGDOM OF ASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Content Warnings

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I did the tandem read of this book and EoS and I’m very glad I did! As a non-Chaol lover, this story

was a nice comeback/character development arc for him.

I think I would have likely been frustrated and bored had I read this after EoS, so my more favorable review is likely due to my choice to tandem read. I feel like we already had plenty of characters and plot lines to keep track of, so I’m not sure we needed all these new characters (keeping all the siblings straight made my head spin at times) but I nonetheless enjoyed the depth and intrigue they bring to the story once they’re there. I am on the fence about Chaol’s

redemption arc

but loved the addition of Yrene and learning more about the healers. It was another compelling piece of the puzzle leading up to the culmination of the story in Kingdom of Ash.

Content Warnings

anguawolf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

sfdogmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ugh Chaol. I like Yrene. Gooped by the twist at the end.

Content Warnings

jijina's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked this book up as my continued effort to read the Throne of Glass series this year.
"Tower of Dawn" continues on in the Throne of Glass series, but it is from Chaol's perspective. Chaol has always been a fearless leader, and he has prided himself as one, but that is put to the ultimate test when he is severely injured following a particularly challenging battle. He now has to rely on one of the best healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica, Yrene, to help him get his body working again. With war on the horizons, the stakes are even greater.
I am so happy I did not give up on this series because I really, really enjoyed this book. Chaol is kind of a toxic male with his attitudes towards Yrene and everyone else. He is very preoccupied with how he appears to other people, and he does not like for people to see him struggle now that he is injured. However, I think this depiction is true to his character, and it was his fixation on protecting his manhood that ultimately made him focus on working through the pain to heal. I loved being given the opportunity to be in Chaol's head and really seeing there is so much more to him than people think.
I loved Chaol's and Yrene's dynamic together. They really know how to push each other's buttons, but they also see other for who they really are. They are the dose of reality the other needs.
I think this was the change in pace I needed to stay invested in the story and I am now so excited to pick of "Kingdom of Ash" and see how this all ends.

Content Warnings