I am utterly speechless. This book was stunning.

“Know that wherever the road takes you, however dark, you will be all right.”

Tower of Dawn is, possibly, SJM’s best work. It is a masterpiece of character building and world and plot building. This explores the grief and healing and souls of each one of its main characters in such a way that struck me so, so deeply. I might very well even call this a six-star read. Perhaps you don’t like this book, and to that I say; you might be wrong! But that’s okay!  I truly do not believe that this series could have been written to NOT include this book! This is not shit that happens off-screen!!!! There are some crazy ass reveals in this and the fact that some people want to skip it entirely just astounds me!!!

And now, to finish off this incoherent nonsense, some of my favorite quotes:

-“He wasn’t certain if he’d ever tried to swim. Not since that sword had gone into the river. Not since he’d left Dorian in that room with his father and told his friend-his brother-that he loved him, and knew it was good-bye. He’d. . .left. In every sense of the word.”

-“For it was love that shaded the entirety of the world here, gilded it. Love and joy. Happiness.”

-“Why does anything thrive? Plants grow best in certain conditions—those most advantageous to them.”

-“Even now, even so far from home, she had never once been alone.”

“This was not the end. This crack in him, this bottom, was not the end.”

“Life. He had life to savor, to fight for. And the breaking that had started and ended here…Yes, it belongs to him. He was allowed to break, so that this forging might bring. So that he might begin again. . .He surveyed the darkness, this piece of him. He did not balk at it.”

-“It was hope that stood beside him, hidden and protected these years in this city, and the years before it, spirited across the earth by the gods themselves, concealed from the forces poised to destroy her. A kernel of hope.”

I will admit that this book, while still absolutely amazing, fell a bit flat. Especially following Queen of Shadows, which was incredible. The journey in this book was thrilling, and I enjoyed seeing all the characters grow closer. I also love

when Rowan assembled all of those allies! That was such an awesome scene!

  The ending was heartbreaking, and I cannot wait (yet also dread) to read Kingdom of Ash. I'm not ready for it to be over, though, agh!

This was just marvelous. As embarrassing as it is, I’ve been kind of obsessed with the idea of welsh mythology since finishing the Raven cycle and I just …ah!
This was cozy, and cute, and everything I needed this week.
Tal and Ffion you will ALWAYS be famous!!

I will admit, a lot of things in this book were just a smidge too convenient, but like. Whatever!!!!

“It was like dying a little every day. It was like being alive, too. It was joy so complete it was pain. It destroyed me and unmade me and forged me. I hated it, because I knew I couldn’t escape it, and I knew it would forever change me. . .it was the most powerful thing I’ve ever felt, greater than rage, than lust, than magic” (Queen of Shadows, 634).

I am freed from my torment.
I did not give two fucks about any of these people or what might happen to them. I only started caring in those final ~60-ish pages.
What the actual hell was this book. Neil devoured, everyone else flopped

4/22/24: book so bad you haven’t stopped thinking about it. Book so bad you bought the second on your kindle. Book so bad you cannot wait to read more.

Yeah…I was not in the mood for this. This is a soft DNF, I tried, but it was just kind of…I’m not sure. What I told my mom was that it felt like it was trying too hard to be heartwarming, quirky book. I mean, I have no right to say anything, really, because I barely read 10%, but I just have to say: no thanks! 😊 

This book simultaneously increased my desire to become a professor while also dragging it down to the deepest circle of hell.
I so deeply identified with Elsie that I became genuinely irate during parts of this book. As someone who is very on-the-fence between English/literature and STEM, the misogyny in academia makes my blood boil just to consider for a split second. I am so entranced by Ali Hazelwood’s very intelligent yet silly, lighthearted writing style. She is who I want to be when I grow up, lowkey.

This book was too damn long. It really only picked up for me around the 70% mark, which is horrendous. SJM, babe, I love you, but what the hell 😭😭😭 
Anywho! I ❤️ Bryce, Hunt, Ruhn, and Lidia. Everyone else kinda sucked butt 😋

Oh my god

Read this for school. This was wacky, loved it!