Hey Everyone,
I thought since both books are part of the series I would just mash them together in one blog post. I have soo many thoughts about these two amazing books.
Note: I will be spoiling the plot from both books. if you do not wish to be spoiled. I suggest that you bookmark this until you have read the Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash.
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas
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 Aelin shattered the glass castle since Chaol’s men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. Now he and Nesryn sail for Antica – the stronghold of the southern continent’s mighty empire and of the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme. It’s Chaol’s one shot at recovery, and with war looming back home, Dorian and Aelin’s survival could depend on Chaol and Nesryn convincing Antica’s rulers to ally with them. But what they discover there will change them both – and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.
Published: 5th Sept 2017
Publishers: Bloomsbury
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 660
Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Kingdom Of Ash by Sarah J Maas
Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…
With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defence to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.
And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.
As the threads of fate weave together, at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.
Published: 23rd October 2018
Publishers: Bloomsbury
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 980
Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Review
Oh Boy, this is going to be a long one. Grab yourself a drink and let’s go.
So after the events that happened at the end of Queen of Shadows, Chaol (which I am still struggling to pronounce his name) got injured at the glass castle, effectively making him paralysed. So Chaol and Nesryn travel to Torre Cesme, a city of Healers in Antica (Which I end up thinking of Tikka Masala, STOP THINKING ABOUT FOOD *stomach grumbles*). Not only are they going there to heal Chaol’s back, but they are also trying to influence the Khagan family to assist Aelin to stop Erawan. We are then re-introduced to Yrene Towers, a healer that Aelin helps out as Celeana in the Novellas. Yrene is a highly skilled healer who has a hatred towards the royal family of Adalard. When learning that she has to heal Chaol, she is angry and refuses. But soon they both get to know one another and soon learn more about the Valg.
I procrastinated to read this book for over a year. I expected that this book to be a novella like everyone else did and got a novel instead. In the beginning, I wasn’t interested in Chaol’s story but the sooner the release date of KOA and hearing that the book is an important factor I had to do it. Chaol wasn’t one of my favourite characters, I found him to be too much of a noble guy and a little bit annoying during QOS but in this book, I grew to like him. Chaol changes a lot after the end of TOD, he is not a Guard anymore, his hopeful dream to be married to Celeana is never going to happen and he is stuck in a wheelchair when all he wants to do, is get his back fixed and reunite with his Best Friend and fight in the battle against the Valg. I think one of the reasons why I liked him more in this book is because of the influence of Yrene. While they are both trying to find a cure for the dark magic that is inside Chaol, they soon grow to understand one another and form a friendship.
They then learn a lot more about the Valg as well, the introduction to the spider did creep me out a bit, not going to lie, I just kept imagining Aragog from Harry Potter. I also think the biggest shocker of all is that the spiders serve a Queen of Valg and the reveal that it is Maeve, the Fae Queen, hiding in plain sight, manipulating all the other Fae, I was literally going “What the Fuck!!”.
I did also like Nesryn and Sartaq, while I never was interested in Nesryn and believed that she and Chaol would be together, I found it very weird that they drifted apart so quickly like they practically landed with someone else.
“I think she was a god… I never learned her name. She only left a note with two lines. “For wherever you need to go – and then some. The world needs more healers.” – Yrene, about Aelin”
― Tower of Dawn
Now onto Kingdom of Ash…
AAAAHHHH!!!! I can’t believe it is over. After three years of my life, I have been following the Throne of Glass series and to know that it would finally end, I didn’t want that to happen. I am grateful towards Sarah J Maas for writing this series for 16 years of her life because with the time that was made to create this amazing series I am glad that she was able to get people to keep coming back for more. like myself.
KOA picks up three months after the events happened in EOS, with Aelin trapped by Fae Queen Maeve, Manon and Dorian searching for the Crochan witches and the third Wyrd Key, Aedion and Lyssandra keeping up appearances for the troops and Rowan, Elide and Lorcan trying to find Aelin.
I really loved this book, this series was one of the series that introduced me to Fantasy books, it felt weird to say goodbye to them. I kind of hoped for some sort of spin-off or something (please, please, please). This was a final book that I was very satisfied with the outcome, I am really glad that it was over 900 pages because it gave the audience more time to enjoy every moment of it and to not feel rushed. It felt weird to close the book and know that there won’t be another one, I felt empty somehow. It took me nearly a week to get over it.
Manon became one of my favourite characters after Queen of Shadows, at the beginning she was this witch who enjoyed killing people and riding on her Wyvern, Abraxos. But then soon learned about her heritage and the true villain in her Grandmother, she turned to Aelin and helped her claim Terrasen. I think she has changed the most out of all the characters, while Aelin has changed a lot herself in terms of becoming a powerful Fae, Manon has learned from Aelin and Dorian how to be more caring. While I will forever ship Manon and Dorian, I really loved their moments in the tent when it was just the two of them, talking about leading people and being Queen. I think the pinnacle point of Manon is her speech to the other witches about joining the fight against the Valg, I think that is one of my favourite speech’s throughout the book and also Manon’s influence on the Thirteen (still not over it yet) and to see how much of a difference that this character was from her first introduction.
One of the things, that I love about this book was that this series is like a retelling from fairytales. I already knew that Throne of Glass was a Cinderella retelling, but I also found out on Instagram that Manon is actually Little Red Riding Hood (huh, get it…because she wears a red cloak) and Mother Blackbeak is the Wolf, another reason to love this series.
This was a great book to fall back into the world of Aelin and friends and it was even sad that it had finally come to an end. It was satisfying and emotional. I already have plans to re-read the series, I am not going to do it this year, but I might do it sometime next year and annotate it because I’ve annotated Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash and I want to do it for the whole series.
If you have read the series what did you think? Do you love it? What are your thoughts of Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash? How do you feel after reading a series?
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Wow, that was a long one. I hope you go to the end. This was a series that prompted me to blog and discover more fantasy books. It’s sad that it is over but I can always go back to it. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, sorry about the length but there would have been a lot more to say and I don’t want it to be any longer than it already is.
Hope you are having a lovely day
Happy Reading!!
DreamingAndReading 