Tower of Dawn

This review includes my review for Empire of Storms and refers to prior books in the series, so don't read this if you don't want any spoilers! It's also hella long, so its probably TLDR, but whatever. Maybe Sarah will read it. ;)
Pardon me, but jesus christ Sarah. I'm angry and in awe of your ability to craft these stories. I picked up Throne of Glass on a whim after it was released, because it was displayed on a "recently released" table at the library by another book I wanted to read. I've been holding onto my butt since I finished it. I didn't love ToG, but its world intrigued me. Caleana is such a fascinating character. Just her name, Caleana Sardothien, is cool. So I read Crown of Midnight when it was released, and I cried with Celaena when her friend was brutally murdered. I was also pissed about a love triangle, and I was uncertain of the ending and if I would continue on the with series. I decided to read the prequels and fell in love with Sam. I no longer cared about Chaol. Sam was the best, and I thought maybe it would be for the best if I stopped there.Heir of Fire came out, and I heard, before reading, there was *another* damn love interest, and I thought I had enough. I was already invested in Dorian and Chaol and Sam, but of course I read it. I sobbed buckets (and I have every time I've reread it) when Aelin's sitting at the cliff crying because she's so alone and just broken (*tearing up as I type this*). I fell in love with Rowan too, but there were also new characters added that I didn't really care about. I thought Aedion was interesting, but I loathed Manon. I did not give a crap about her struggles or the other witches. Yet, the emotion conveyed in that book really hit me, and I ultimately loved it, even if I only skimmed the Blackbeak sections.While I waited for Queen of Shadows, I reread HoF, and I grew to like it even more. Then I listened to the audiobook, which made me really listen to Manon's growing story, and I was glad I had listened (though I did not regret skipping the parts on my first read where Abraxsos had been chained and tortured). I cried again. And again when I reread it.QoS finally came out, and it was amazing, even though there were MORE new characters. Lysandra--someone I had forgotten about--was great. She added so much to the story, and I fell in love with her too. The other new characters were meh. Nesryn, well, I could do with or without, but I was glad Chaol had a friend. Elide was hit or miss, but I really felt her pain as she tried to deal with her chains and injury. Lorcan was a jerk, and I wanted to punch him in the face, but he was kind of what was expected as one of Maeve's warriors. I didn't think we'd see much of him again. Then Manon and Dorian had a flirtation, Manon and Aelin fought, Manon ultimately saved Dorian by way of her message, and I was on board.Ultimately, I really loved the story in QoS. It was long, and as someone with zero patience and known to skim books as "reading" them, I continued to get annoyed at the continuous plot twists and turns, but the ride was worth it. I reached the end and, though there were still stones left uncovered, I thought I could stop here. And I did for a long time. The year between QoS and Empire of Storms had dulled the story. Knowing there were still more in the series after EoS to come made me hold back.When I finally picked up EoS and saw the story's length, I was put off. I'm fickle like that. It'd been a while since I'd read HoF and QoS, and I had been so satisfied at the end of QoS that I wasn't sure I wanted to continue, especially knowing in advance how EoS ended. How did I know? I'm a spoiler whore. I love reading but am very particular about reading for entertainment. I read all day at work, and usually unpleasant stuff, so I want to read happy and smexy stuff in my free time. Did I mention I'm fickle and singular? Life's enough of a downer, and, as someone who experiences chronic depression, I don't need any additional weight to drag me under. Thus, when deciding what to read, I want to know in advance if its what I'm in the mood for, which is usually dictated by the ending. I might read something that makes me cry, but so long as it ends on a happy note, I'll carry on. But if it doesn't, or if it's a series with cliffhangers, I can wait until I'm in the right mood or until the whole story's finished. So I skimmed EoS, read the parts I anticipated -- Aelin and Rowan, Lysandra and Aedion, and called it a day. I remember very little from that "reading."Tower of Dawn came out a year later, and, damn it all to hell, it was all about Chaol (so I thought)! Having read the Game of Thrones series, I thought Sarah was just following George RR Martin's lead, a development that I was NOT at all happy about. There are already enough damn characters in the series. Did I really want to read another 600 pages about a character that I had already put on the backburner? No. No I did not. I marked it "To Read," where it's stayed until this week.Knowing book 7 comes out soon, and being at a place where I could restart ToG, I started over with the audiobooks. Again, I LOVED HoF and QoS. I fully listened to EoS, and it was awesome, of course, just long. Finally, on to ToD. Not only did I love it (and the new additions), I didn't realize how much was added to the overall story--and the backstory of the Valg/Maeve--I had missed. Totally worth it. I kind of felt like Chaol today, when I finished the book. There was a lot of heartache to get to this point, but all of it was worth it to get here.

I don't know how Sarah has invented such an incredible world and cast of characters, along with the continuous twists to the story. Some of the story can feel a bit predictable, but there are enough, “Holy Sh!t, I did NOT see that coming,” to make it worthwhile. Ms. Maas, I bow to your talent. Do not stop ever writing