People skip Tower of Dawn? Truly, they skip this book?

Could never in one million years be me. Never ever. First of all, the book is so much fun I forgot fantasy can be so vibrant and delightful. Second of all, it's got essential information in it to the series. Like. Critical reveals happen in this book. People skip this?! Grow up.

Chaol apologist until I die. I loved his arc in this. Coming to terms with his injury and his own limitations in a physical way was so great to see for him. He blamed himself, but really he could never have known. Aelin and Dorian were around the king, too. They didn't notice how evil he was - and he was Dorian's dad! We never talk about that! Everyone shouts at Chaol for following orders (doing his job! Which most normal people would do in his situation!) and that he didn't notice the king was hella evil, but they forget that was Dorian's actual father. Dorian saw him more than Chaol ever did and in way more contexts.

He had been That Way for all of Dorian's life, so Dorian wouldn't have known better, but he had also been that way for all of Chaol's life, too. People ignore the fact that Dorian and Chaol are the same age! Chaol is held to a much higher standard than anyone else in the King's orbit, which is so ironic to me it makes me actually laugh about it. That's his trauma - he holds himself to a much higher standard than everyone around him, his dad held him to a much higher standard than everyone around him. Readers who hate Chaol are doing to him exactly what his dad and he himself does that traumatizes him in a specific way!

Okay, back to Tower of Dawn because I could go on about Chaol for hours. I love him, he's the best, beloved household name here.

I love Yrene. Love, love, love the addition of her to the story. She is fierce and strong and perceptive and kind. She understands kindness versus niceness so clearly. Nothing about Chaol gives her pause and she sees him immediately as he is when she meets him. She doesn't care about his limitations, she just cares about him getting better.

I loved their mirror arcs in this, too. Yrene processing her hate and rage, Chaol processing his self loathing and disappointment. It was so great to see them together. And the yearning really got me.

This was the book I felt SJM had the most fun writing. It's buoyant, but fast-paced and gives you so much without burning you out. Nesryn and Sartaq are so fun together, too. Nesryn learning to be put first and her whole calling back to her homeland? I loved that. As someone who feels lost and struggles to articulate that I don't feel "home" anywhere, that really resonated with me. I'm always looking for wherever it is I am "meant" to put my roots down. I get her in a very personal way and loved her learning she was always meant to be back in Antica.

The story in this was delightful. A friend described it as "very Temple of Doom" and I felt that so hard. The library scene was stressful, the hidden-in-plain-sight twist was fantastic, and the red herrings were actually subtle and well done. That surprised me. I think this was SJM's strongest-written story. The romance felt authentic and organic, it's very much what two people in this situation would probably experience.

Sometimes, I will admit, I feel a little caught off guard or like the romance develops too quickly for me to not be skeptical about a couple or two. This one? I liked this one. I am very cautious about love and attraction, so I find that a slower-paced romance lands much more realistically for me. The story itself was very well put together and its message and themes felt distinct from the main arc. It did drag and repeat itself or get into loops a few times, but I didn't mind that too much. When it slowed down, I just relaxed into the story and focused on the characters' behaviors more. I think we could've axed like... 50-100 pages and had a much tighter story but I'm not an editor so take that with a grain of salt.

I walked away calling this an "asterisk book". This is Throne of Glass and this is HUGE for the main story, but it's its own thing. Does that make any sense at all? I hope so.

Her reveal, though. That big one? The Maeve of it all? That was wild. It actually made me feel a little bad for coming for Aelin's neck honestly. Yes, I want her to experience consequences to force her into processing her trauma, but I meant a wrist slap! I didn't mean this! I regret putting that into the universe, guys. I'm sorry.

I needed the world without Aelin for a while, that's what I learned from this. It was such a spark to me, Tower of Dawn. I had so much fun. This one was the breather and the new life into the main story I really needed to no longer feel like I was oversaturated. EOS and TOD? Tied for favorite to me. Which is hilarious because they're the tandem books.

This has been one of the most fun, enjoyable, rewarding community experiences reading a series I've had in a really long time. If anything, I'm loving this series because of how active and engaged I've gotten to be with the TOG community during my read through. That, alone, has made this experience so special so far.

I'm not ready to be done. I'm not ready to leave the world. But we've got a future Queen to save, so we do what we must.