“Do not be afraid of what makes you shine brightly.” ~ EoS
“A gift. A gift from a queen who had seen another woman in hell and thought to reach back a hand. With no thought of it ever being returned. A moment of kindness, a tug on a thread.” ~ ToD
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BOOK 5: EMPIRE OF STORMS
BLURB: The long path to the throne has just begun for Aelin Galathynius. As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?
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BOOK 6: TOWER OF DAWN
BLURB: 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.
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BOOK REVIEW
GENRE: YA Fantasy
You will like this if you like:
~ complex characters
~ intricate plot lines
To Note: Books 5 and 6 in Throne of Glass series.
Empire of Storms:
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5 /5
Writing Style: 5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 4.5 /5
Overall Rating: 19/20
Tower of Dawn:
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Overall Rating: 20/20
We are at books 5 and 6; deep spoiler territory! So this will be a very vague review. I read both the books concurrently. And I personally found it a fantastic reading experience. It meant there were never any slow sections. And considering EOS ends on the mother of all cliff hangers I would NOT have appreciated another 672 pages (ToD length) between me and answers in Kingdom of Ash!
Having said that I absolutely loved Tower of Dawn. Along with Heir of Fire and EoS I would say ToD is my favourite out of the series. I loved the influences of the different cultures ( quick search states Maas used the Mongolian Empire as inspiration)
EoS has all of our players and their stories slowly converging. And I loved getting more back story/ plot focus on some characters that in previous books have been on the periphery. Ive discovered Maas has the ability to lay out a complex back story within a few short paragraphs that delivers such a punch it leaves you heartbroken. It's extraordinary. We see a lot more of Manon, the 13, Dorian and others.
We are also introduced to a whole host of characters in ToD. Yrene was my absolute favourite ( Im going to say it: she's my favourite female character! Sorry Aelin et al!) ToD as a whole had a different feel to it, the central mystery kept me hooked. I really enjoyed reading about all the information that was being uncovered, all those nuggets that we know will be so useful to Aelin and her gang if only they could be told!
There were so many twist and turns in both books that I could not keep up! I again switched between audio and books and though it was harder to switch between audios. It was still worth it! Writing the review has got me wanting to read them all over again! Highly recommend
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