Book Series Review: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn

I have been tragically late on this review, but it's finally here.

I'm really excited to put these two books in the same post because of their parallel story lines. I would like to take this moment to comment on my annoyance in the cover change that happened for Tower of Dawn. Don't get me wrong, the artwork itself is gorgeous and I absolutely love it, however completely running off the rails in consistent covers is a pet-peeve I think a lot of readers can agree with me on.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

❤❤❤❤❤

Title: Empire of Storms
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side, and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, and dark forces become poised to claim her world, the only chance for salvation will lie in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

In this breathtaking fifth installment of the New York Timesbestselling Throne of Glass series, Aelin will have to choose what—and who—to sacrifice if she's to keep the world of Erilea from breaking apart.

Review*:

  This book is definitely a pivotal point in the story we've gotten so far. To kick it off, Empire of Storms starts off back with Gavin and Elena fighting Erowan the first time and seeing the pair prepare for the butchering their armies are going to be walking into and the choices they made that leads us into our current events with Aelin and what must be done to defeat Erowan. It's clearly started as the beginning of the end and starts tying everything together that has been laid out up until this point.
  A lot of the romantic pairings that had been hinted in this book start to really build some foundations. Aelin and Rowan finally take the next step by really solidifying how they both feel for each other. Up until this point everyone was aware that Aelin and Rowan kind of had a thing for each other, but after almost losing each other in the battle at Skull's Bay it's 100% OTP time. This was nice, but the relationship didn't have as much of a build up as we see in a book like A Court of Mist & Fury where it was very... carefully? built up with a nice burn. It's nice to not see something repeated, however it makes the relationship less fun to read up until this point. I'm hoping that post-mating Aelin/Rowan is where the real affection is.
   Another pairing, that doesn't necessarily become a full relationship is the sexual frustration between Lysandra and Aedion. I appreciate the narrative this pair has taken because there is a little more of the build up that makes relationships so fun involved. Aedion doens't understand his feelings for Lysandra, sure she's beautiful and 'lust-worthy' but Lysandra is exploring her life as not being an object of lust but being her true self. Lysandra is a character that when I first read through Empire of Storms, which was before diving into Assassin's Blade, I really liked because of the self reflection she does. She has such an open book for a story and what she can do and where she can go, but by staying with Aelin she grounds herself to a future. Aedion claiming that he will marry her was a total example of the "typical territorial fae male" that is groan-worthy in SJM books, but it was left so open ended. Aedion understands that Lysandra is enjoying her freedom as a woman capable of making her own future when that previously wasn't an option to her. 
   Manon and Dorian's relationship is a slow one, at least for me and it has this fun alternative mirror to Elide and Lorcan. Both relationships have a little bit of a Hade's & Persephone vibe in the fact that one partner seems like the less "menacing" but is ultimately super powerful and the other is intimidating right off the bat. It's minor to their story lines but considering I'm trash for that dynamic I'll fucking take it. Dorian ending up with Manon has this odd feeling of a sigh of relief compared to his previous romantic partners. He found his equal in rank and power and the pair of them can be themselves without having to worry about the consequences, specifically with Dorian. Elide and Lorcan's banter is super cute and although breaking down the "bad boy barries" may be over-done, it's not a repetitive theme in this story so it becomes more of an interesting dynamic.
  Aelin & company making it to Terrasen and the "welcoming" they received I think was the arrow for the story line. She sort of expected to come back to Terrasen to resume her throne and having Dario, who is a complete fuck head, give her a little bit of a reality check set us up for a super dynamic struggle in the story. Aelin now has to earn her seat on her throne and we are brought back to the characteristics in Aelin that were really interesting and dynamic at the beginning of her story. She has to be resourceful, she earns it through power and cunning wit, she builds alliances and utilizes people in her favor. We even get a cameo of Celaena Sardothian. She is sitting at Rolfe's desk who has banned her from the island and she's in typical arrogant Celaena, introducing the Queen of Terrasen who Rolfe doesn't know is Aelin. Total mind fuck played on him which is my favorite scene so far in this story.
  As everything comes together and the crew figures out what needs to be done, we see more than just these key players like Maeve and Elide/Lorcan come together. At this point, you may be kicking your own ass for not reading The Assassin's Blade because all of Aelin's past comes back to help her. It's a really great moment because despite how much bad shit Aelin may have done and people *cough*Chaol*cough* like to dredge up, we remember back to when Aelin was Celaena and she chose to free 200 people who ended up as slaves kind of on a whim but mostly because she knew it was wrong. It feels like Aelin's arc as a character comes completely full circle and she can move forward onto this new chapter in her life. 
   The ending is pretty heart wrenching, especially if all of the pre-Kingdom of Ash release spoilers you got were reminding you that she's still stuck in a fucking iron coffin that she willingly went into. I would have liked a little bit more time with the characters in a not so action-packed moment but I think that was limited due to the fact that we get so many POV's in this series.

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

❤❤❤❤❤

Title: Tower of Dawn
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

In the next installment of the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, follow Chaol on his sweeping journey to a distant empire.

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

Review*:

   As I finished Empire of Storms, I really had zero interest in reading Tower of Dawn. I've outlined this so far in the series, but I don't like Chaol as a character. I can't say he's the worst character of all time or that I hate him, I just don't care for him. I sit on this weird fence where he's such an arrogant character that his actions and words are so terrible, but I can also appreciate him because of those traits as well. He's a different voice than the stereotypical ones we see in YA literature specifically who push our main protagonist. 

  I think it was January or February I finally said, you know what, I'm going to read this fucking book. I was having withdrawals from SJM's writing and the characters, I needed to listen to an audiobook. I finally caved and boy, am I glad I did.

   Tower of Dawn picks up where Queen of Shadows left off. Chaol is physically broken and needs to heal himself in order to properly aid his King. On top of that, Erilea needs aid from whoever is able to give it, so it makes sense that Chaol and Nesryn set sail for the Southern Continent. 

   Chaol is being fucking Chaol. Broody, stern, abrasive, and cold to our poor little Nesryn. Nesryn is happy to be back in her father's home country and so close to seeing her extended family, but also feels guilty for her actions when Chaol is so clearly broken. The conflict and the resolution are truly what drives this book and also makes it so worth the read for any ToG fans.

  Chaol is really good at holding grudges, like extremely freaking good that he would get gold in the grudge holding olympics. Now his anger is honed in on no-one but himself, which I think is why this book is so brilliant. He can't be angry at Aelin anymore, she's moved on and actually helped save Dorian. He can't be mad at the King anymore, he's gone and was possessed by a demon valg. He is left only being able to put any and all blame on himself for getting him to this point. This 'anger' is what changes him completely as a person and by the end of the book, it feels like this huge weight is lifted from Chaol and he can experience content and happiness. At this point is when I truly could appreciate Chaol as a character because he went through a lot of development from Throne of Glass and when he first meets Celaena.

   Nesryn also goes through what seems like a peaceful healing. She's not necessarily holding any anger like Chaol, and we truly didn't get a lot of her story up until this point. However being with her family, finding acceptance with Sartaq I believe really healed her spirit to where she also left for Erilea with a happy heart.

   In Empire of Storms, we left the last few chapters of the book with seeing all of Celaena's adventures from The Assassin's Blade come together except that healer she met in that shit-hole inn. However Yrene may play one of the biggest roles yet in the conclusion. She's become an extremely gifted healer, even considered blessed by the Goddess Silba herself. She didn't have much about her that stood out in her original appearance in TAB, but now we get to really know the healer. She's independent and stubborn, pushing Chaol and also trying to avoid a persistent prince, which are my favorite character traits. As a fellow stubborn and independent woman, I appreciate seeing characters that are the same which is why Yrene is one of my favorites in this series. I almost cried when she bound her life to Chaol's to save him, that whole moment was such a whirlwind of "Wait, what!?" She's so fierce and brave, I can't do much more than just gush about her.

   The last few chapters are really where our story ties back into the events that happened in Empire of Storms in a parallel universe. We find out that Maeve is actually a valg queen who has lied through the centuries to make everyone believe that she was Mab and Mora's sister. The port of entry for Maeve was on the southern continent and guarded by valg stygian spiders, which sound nasty AF. The intentions of Maeve become extremely clear at this point, although through EoS we're able to speculate. 

   I know a lot of people haven't or didn't read this book because when it was first released it almost seemed like it wasn't necessary. I was one of them that almost didn't, but I'm really glad I did, if anything just to get to experience Chaol and Nesryn's personal journies.

That's all for this review guys! I'll hopefully have my Kingdom of Ash review out by the end of 2018. I'm looking forward to not having to avoid spoilers for the series to see some beautiful fan art and to finish this journey.

Let me know what you've thought of these books below.