“His story wasn’t worth telling at all. Not a single part of it.” (181)

I wasn’t looking forward to reading this as Chaol was my least favorite perspective to read in from books two through five but this was great story telling and not only a redemption but a healing journey that was desperately needed. I was pleasantly surprised.

“This story of yours had better be worth it,” she said with a wry grin … “It is,” he said quietly to Yrene. “It is.” (658)

Honestly, Yrene carried this whole book on her motherfucking back.

I was very intimidated going into this tandem read with Empire of Storms, but I'm so glad I read these books this way. Despite the fact that Tower of Dawn is notoriously one of people's least favorite books (to the point that some even skip it...), I actually really liked it for itself. The love story between Chaol and Yrene and Sartaq and Nesryn was beautiful. Chaol is not my favorite character, but Yrene is a fucking BADASS. She's a very strong character who is not primarily an athlete. It took me a while to embrace the scenes with Sartaq and Nesryn because they're relatively new characters in the series. That said, I think they're a good break from Chaol's self-flagellating. His self-loathing did get a little tedious at times -- like we get it, you think everything is your fault, you were a dick to Aelin and people before you left for Antica. But seeing his transformation from wheelchair-bound to relatively functional and mobile was pretty neat. Integrating the mental and physical healing process in a fantastical setting actually felt weirdly realistic. It felt a little cliche, but oftentimes healing mental trauma is integral to healing physical when they occur at the same time.

Watching him have to swallow his pride and accept help was...hard. Hafiza and Yrene's approach to helping him heal, not coddling him, but also meeting him where he is made me respect them a lot. They try to coax him to accept help, but also understand how vulnerable he feels and how tough it must be to go from one of the fittest men to being confined to a wheelchair. At times, I did roll my eyes when Chaol had the attitude of I don't need to discuss my trauma. Let's just muscle through. When Yrene works on the spot on his back that contains the most dark magic, for some reason, I kept thinking about Avatar: The Last Airbender when Aang's chakras are blocked and then when he's fighting the Firelord, he hits just the right spot in his back to unblock them. In both instances, it was a blockage that had to be worked through, and it hurt. I could empathize with Chaol to a certain extent, even if his attitude and self-pity was a little annoying. I've never been in an accident where I was suddenly and unexpectedly confined to a wheelchair. Losing control for someone who is so used to always being in command must have been really hard. It reminds me a lot of my mom going from 100% capable and in control to being at the mercy of everyone around you to help you and feeling inadequate. Idk. It's frustrating and scary.

I could see how being taken out of the Northern continent with characters who aren't part of the main cadre (and arguably with one of the least favored characters in the series) right before the climactic finish to the series would be jarring and frustrating, which is why I think reading EoS along with this was a lot less jolting. I LOVED seeing Yrene after the novella in The Assassin's Blade. Her character arc was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how all the characters we meet in the novellas come back in ToD and EoS. Reading the prequel novellas felt integral to how much I enjoyed this book; without the background information, I think this book could've really fallen flat.

Hasar scared me. I'm wary of the fact that she's going with them to fight the war. Yes, she indebted to Yrene for saving Duva's life, but idk. She puts me on edge because I don't know how she'll stir the pot.

I enjoyed seeing how the lore about the Valg and ancient myths was explored in this book. It felt like everything was coming full circle. It helped give credibility to why the royal family ended up going with Chaol and Yrene to help. One thing that helped my enjoyment of the scenes with Nesryn and Sartaq was going to the clans in the mountains and meeting Borte and Houlun, as well as meeting the foils for the Ilken and Wyverns. I knew that Kadara was going to get help when she flew away but I wasn't sure who exactly was going to show up. Borte is hilarious and honestly the hearth-family is a really good balance to Sartaq's blood family.

I feel like I should've seen the reveal that Lysandra might be Falkan's niece coming, but I gasped when Nesryn told Falkan this. Like duh, they're the only 2 shifters we've encountered. I also enjoyed being surprised by the reveal that Maeve is the Valg Queen. It explains a lot.

This "review" has been all over the place. I mostly want to note things that are important for when I inevitably forget what happens in a year, but I'm also distracted and want to move on to the next book.