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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Torture, Pregnancy, Violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Medical content, Slavery, Ableism, Blood, Medical trauma, War, Animal death, Drug use, Sexual content, and Stalking
spatterson7's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Death, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Vomit, Alcohol, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Ableism
shannah_gone_bananas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
2.25
It’s very very slow. Compared to the other books in the series it is a hard read. Which is sad because I love Chaol’s character. He’s been one of my favorites.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical trauma, Child death, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Violence
Moderate: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Vomit
sammiejayne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Violence
jessikarose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Animal death, War, Blood, Pregnancy, Violence, and Gore
huddle_dragon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Murder, and Animal death
readwithde's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I've always had a soft spot for Chaol, and it was cathartic to read through his emotional and physical healing. I appreciated how his injury/disability was handled: as something to work through and around, not a problem to be solved. His "sleuthing" with Yrene to find answers was fun, and I liked that this warrior still had trouble dealing with all the politics.
But the reason I loved this book so much is Nesryn's story. It was refreshing to have a BIPOC FMC with so many connections and interesting characteristics not become the "love interest" side character for Chaol's MC. I love that she chose herself over their relationship, and she chose to fight in her own way for help and answers in this war. Also, I love her being with Sartaq. She made meaningful choices, had interesting adventure and action sequences, and came away with arguably the most important hidden information in the series: Maeve's false identity and purpose in Erilea.
I read this book in tandem with Empire of Storms, and I think both books benefited from that choice. It helped the narrative flow well, giving the reader time to react to both sides, as well as balancing the heavy action of Empire of Storms with the lore of this book.
But the reason I loved this book so much is Nesryn's story. It was refreshing to have a BIPOC FMC with so many connections and interesting characteristics not become the "love interest" side character for Chaol's MC.
I read this book in tandem with Empire of Storms, and I think both books benefited from that choice. It helped the narrative flow well, giving the reader time to react to both sides, as well as balancing the heavy action of Empire of Storms with the lore of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Death, Child death, Murder, Cursing, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Animal death, Ableism, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Alcohol
amanda_reads13's review against another edition
emotional
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
Chaol and Nesryn head to the Southern Continent in search of allies and healers.
Honestly, I struggled to get through 75% of this book. It was mostly Chaol journey to heal and their inability to get an audience with the Khagan.
Finally around 75%, the book picked up when Nesryn journeys with Sartaq to the Tavan Mountains and they come in contact with the Stygian Spiders. We learn A LOT in the interaction (see spoiler below).
We learn that there is an entity hunting Yrene, but they cannot figure out who or why.A Valg has been sent to capture her before she can find out the truth to her powers. All healing powers actually come from a legion of Fae who escaped Maeve. Healers, we find out, can vanquish Valg from their host bodies, much like one does to a parasite.
I highly recommend reading this in Tandem with Empire of Storms as the two stories overlap! Reading this will help you understand Maeve's backstory more when reading Empire of Storms.
Maeve's story:Maeve is not really Queen of the Fae, but the Valg Queen and was married to Erawan's brother. While trying to escape the demon kings, she pierced the veil between worlds and managed to came to this world. Her husband, learning that his wife left him, found a way to control the gates between worlds and made keys to control them, three of them, one for each brother.
Knowing her husband would search for her, she used her powers to make Mab and Mora believed they had an elder sister. She took up a role of power, disguised as Queen of the Fae, and has been slowly bidding her time.
Eventually her husband and his brother demon kings found the right world, but Maeve was disguised and they did not recognize her. She stole the keys from them and managed to send two of the demon kings back. Before she could send Erawan back, the keys were taken by Brannon. He build a lock to send the Gods back to their world and bind the keys' power. But Elena used the lock to capture Erawan, thus trapping Maeve and Erawan in this world.
Honestly, I struggled to get through 75% of this book. It was mostly Chaol journey to heal and their inability to get an audience with the Khagan.
Finally around 75%, the book picked up when Nesryn journeys with Sartaq to the Tavan Mountains and they come in contact with the Stygian Spiders. We learn A LOT in the interaction (see spoiler below).
We learn that there is an entity hunting Yrene, but they cannot figure out who or why.
I highly recommend reading this in Tandem with Empire of Storms as the two stories overlap! Reading this will help you understand Maeve's backstory more when reading Empire of Storms.
Maeve's story:
Knowing her husband would search for her, she used her powers to make Mab and Mora believed they had an elder sister. She took up a role of power, disguised as Queen of the Fae, and has been slowly bidding her time.
Eventually her husband and his brother demon kings found the right world, but Maeve was disguised and they did not recognize her. She stole the keys from them and managed to send two of the demon kings back. Before she could send Erawan back, the keys were taken by Brannon. He build a lock to send the Gods back to their world and bind the keys' power. But Elena used the lock to capture Erawan, thus trapping Maeve and Erawan in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
britwalsh16's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
I read this in Tandem with Empire of Storm. And I am SOOO glad I did! If I had to read this book between EOS & KOA, I would have died! & not enjoyed this book at all, I would have been obsessing over what’s gonna happen with the characters from EOS, & not able to take in all this book had to offer.
Chaol & Yrene are so sweet, & I think Yrene is exactly what Chaol needed. & though I rooted for them throughout the book, I felt bad for Nesryn. But when Sartaq came in, I was fully on board with that ship! And Nesryn deserves happiness with Sartaq, instead of being Chaol’s second choice. She was his rebound twice, & I think that just states how much they were not meant to be.
I enjoyed seeing the Southern Continent, & how they treat their people, & I hope that transfers over to the Northern Continent whenever this war ends & the good guys come out on top!
Chaol & Yrene are so sweet, & I think Yrene is exactly what Chaol needed. & though I rooted for them throughout the book, I felt bad for Nesryn. But when Sartaq came in, I was fully on board with that ship! And Nesryn deserves happiness with Sartaq, instead of being Chaol’s second choice. She was his rebound twice, & I think that just states how much they were not meant to be.
I enjoyed seeing the Southern Continent, & how they treat their people, & I hope that transfers over to the Northern Continent whenever this war ends & the good guys come out on top!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder, Animal death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: War and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy and Child death
cayleybp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Suicide and Animal death