Spoilers ahead! And keep an eye out for my take on the almond cookies baked at the Torre Cesme!
For wherever you need to go-- and then some. The world needs more healers.
After the battle at The Glass Palace, Chaol Westfall is broken-- mentally and physically. His only hope is at the Torre Cesme, home of the world's greatest healers. While there, he has been given an order by Aelin Galathynius to amass an army to back up Terrasen in the oncoming war. With Nesryn Faliq at his side, the two find themselves immersed in a world of competitive royals, human-eating spiders, and long-buried secrets.
Kashin had a self-satisfied look to him that he'd often glimpsed on Dorian's face. Once-- long ago. Before an assassin and a collar and everything.
REVIEW
Okay, gang.................I really wasn't expecting to care much for this book, and to be honest I'm still not sure I do. Well, I did like it. I just don't think I would read it again if I ever re-read the whole series. I don't know, I've got mixed feelings about it. I found it to drag in a lot of places, but at others I was at the edge of my seat, so it's hard to decide which of those things I want to focus on. Plot-wise, it was really almost entirely exposition. And the few key points we get are definitely vital to the story, but I think we could have potentially learned them without a full novel to get us there. I like to think that maybe there was a lot of hidden information that I don't yet recognize to be vital.
And part of Yrene wondered, as she trudged through the palace, if Lord Chaol had not asked her to stop not just because he'd learned how to manage pain, but also because he somehow felt he deserved it.
I went into this book having no interest in Chaol, especially after he was so awful to Aelin throughout Queen of Shadows. I was also pretty mad at him for a good portion of Tower of Dawn because of his views on having a disability. He thought of himself as less of a man and felt embarrassed and useless while in his chair, and that really frustrated me. I was afraid that the book would end with him fully healed and never acknowledging how awful he was when he couldn't walk. However, over time it became easier to see that he was putting his energy into hating his injury instead of focusing on why he was actually angry. I didn't like to admit it when he was being rude to Aelin, but I am forced to admit it now: Chaol has gone through some shit. Yes, he was privileged and fairly sheltered before, but a lot of awful stuff has happened to him in this series. He made a mistake that cost Nehemia's life, lost the girl he loved, lost his honorable position as Captain of the Guard, abandoned his best friend to a fate worse than death and faced the horrible consequences of that blunder, and unintentionally put his men a position that resulted in their deaths. He knows he's made mistakes and he loathes himself for it. No matter what he's done to upset me, I couldn't sit around and watch his own self-hatred tear him apart without feeling bad for him. If nothing else, this book absolutely helped me understand him better. He has his excuses for blindly following the king of Adarlan, but he's growing as a person now and that's something we should be encouraging, instead of giving up on him entirely for his past ignorance.
Not one. Not one of that core group he'd trusted and trained, worked with for years... not one had survived. Brullo, his mentor and predecessor, had taught him all he knew-- and what had it earned any of them? Anyone he'd encountered, he'd touched... they'd suffered. The lives he'd sworn to protect-- The sun turned bleaching, the gurgle of the twin fountains a distant melody. What good had any of it done for his city, his people, when it was sacked?
I would like to say that I really enjoyed the way Maas dealt with Chaol's injury. It was super interesting that she tied mental and physical wounds together. When Yrene chipped away at an old painful memory, a part of Chaol's feet or legs were mended as well. I think that was not only brilliant for the plot, but also a great message in general. So much of our body is tied to our emotions-- think about the tension you get in your shoulders when you're angry, or the tug in your gut when you're nervous. Your bodily health is entwined with your mental health in a million ways. Not to mention the fact that Chaol was just as much in need of emotional therapy as physical therapy. His legs not working was a tangible, real thing in front of him to focus on, but the source of his problem was the kernel of darkness spreading through his spine, feeding off of his self-hatred.
She added, more quietly but no less fiercely, "I once lived in fear of other people. I let other people walk all over me just because I was too afraid of the consequences for refusing. I did not know how to refuse." Her hand pushed down on his spine in silent order to rest his head again. "The day I reached these shores, I cast aside that girl. And I will be damned if I let her reemerge. Or let someone tell me what to do with my life, my choices again."
Yrene, my sweet, sweet Yrene!! I'm so glad I got to see how she's grown and changed from our little time with her in The Assassin's Blade. And it makes me SO happy to know that Aelin inspired that. If I hadn't already been obsessed with our fire-breathing bitch-queen, I would be now. But this paragraph is about Yrene! I can't get distracted!! Yrene is quite possibly the kindest, most sincere person in the entire continent, but it never becomes a weakness. I'm tired of seeing sweet, quiet, modest girls in books who wait around for someone else to save them. I think we're all tired of that. But for Yrene, her goodness is what keeps her strong. She knows what she wants and she never apologizes for it. She's got a love-sick prince chasing after her, the opportunity to become the Healer on High-- one of the most respected positions in Antica-- and yet she has turned it all down so she can go home and do her part in the war because she knows it's the right thing to do. Not only that, but once she realizes how large of a part she plays in the battle against the Valg, she does not shy away from it. She embraces her fear and continues to fight for what she believes in. I have the utmost respect for her and I'm so, so excited to see what is in store for her.
And she... she had crossed mountains and seas. She had done it on her own. Her hand stopped shaking. Her breathing evened out.
Nesryn and Sartaq also, must be discussed. I didn't really know how I felt about Nesryn when I first walked into this novel. I think partially because I knew that Chaol and Yrene were going to end up together, so I didn't really know where Nesryn would be in that scenario. It was so wonderful seeing her finally find her place in the world and getting to see her flourish while with her family and out on the ruks. Out of everyone in this series, she asks the least of people. She has been treated horribly in her life and yet she never asks anyone to pity her or apologize for it. She takes everything standing up and allows it to build her armor, all the while growing and training to be the most skilled marksman alive. Nesryn's presence in this war is not to be overlooked, and while she's over here turning herself into a living legend, a PRINCE is falling in love with her. Sartaq didn't seem to have much of a personality to me, but I think he's more like one of those tall, dark, and thoughtful hunks. His declaration of love kinda came out of nowhere, but I was still dying over it, and I guess that's the end goal anyway. BUT I JUST HAVE TO SAY: Nesryn grew up obsessing over stories of the Antica royalty, and meanwhile the Heir to the throne was hearing stories about her and falling in love before they even met. How cute!? She deserves it!
His dark eyes met hers. There was no fear in them. Sartaq said to her, clear and steady, "I heard the spies' stories of you. The fearless Balruhni woman in Adarlan's empire. Neith's Arrow. And I knew..." Nesryn sobbed, tugging and tugging. Sartaq smiled at her--gently. Sweetly. In a way she had not yet seen. "I loved you before I ever set eyes on you," he said. "Please," Nesryn wept. Sartaq's hand tightened on hers. "I wish we'd had time." A hiss behind him, a rising bulk of shining black-- Then the prince was gone. Ripped from her hands. As if he had never been.
I have to talk about the plot of this book really quick. There was a lot of information that is vital to how this series moves forward, so I figure it would be helpful for me to put it all in one place. Before I do that, though, can I just say that the amount of geography in this novel actually destroyed me? I am so bad with real geography, and the fictional kind is about ten times worse. I got to the point where I wanted to shout "YES, I KNOW THERE ARE MOUNTAINS AND NEAR THOSE MOUNTAINS ARE OTHER MOUNTAINS, PLEASE CAN WE MOVE ON???" but as I have three roommates, I felt it impolite to shout such things at 3am. Alright, plot stuff now: Maeve is a Valg queen? Uhhh holy crap??? Not to mention that healer's can rid a host of the valg, so people who have been infected are not lost causes! These are war-altering secrets hidden away in here. If you had no interest in reading this book-- because I have heard that a lot of people skip this one-- I do think it's pretty vital to the overall story and shouldn't be ignored. Yes, there's a lot of stuff that might not be super important to wade through, but eventually you get to the highly necessary tidbits and your mind is blown.
An assassin who had found his wife, or they had found each other, two gods-blessed women wandering the shadowed ruins of the world. And who now held the fate of it between them.
The final thoughts spilling around my head are hard to put into words. I am mostly motivated by the quotes I pulled from this novel, so I will try to find a way to make sense of my thoughts with them as my guide. I wanna talk first about Chaol's relationship with Aelin, which somehow manages to grow stronger even though she is not present. I briefly touched on this in my earlier paragraph about him, but I have made it no secret that I don't love the way he treats her. Of course, she's morally flawed. How do you escape several layers of hell without turning into a bit of a beast yourself? However, I do think his judgment of her is unfair. We learn in Tower of Dawn, though, that a lot of the distrust and dislike he feels for her is partially meant for himself. He's projecting because it's the easy thing to do, it's a simple way out. However, while he is being healed, Chaol goes on what I can only describe as a mental journey. While Yrene battles the darkness crawling inside his spine, Chaol is shoved through memory after heartbreaking memory, forced to deal with his inner demons. He never forgave Aelin for the brutality she showed her enemies, but more than that, he never forgave her for not being the girl he thought she was. He hated her for lying to him about her past, lying about always choosing him, and moving on from him before he was ready. He's been feeling guilty about not officially ending things with Nesryn before moving on with Yrene, and his brain let's those feelings fester into anger at both himself and Aelin. It is only when he acknowledges and accepts that she changed during her time in Wendlyn (and that changing is okay), that Chaol finally admits he can forgive himself for what happened between him and Nesryn.
Shame pressed on him, sickening and oily. He had called her a monster. For her power, her actions, and yet … He did not blame her. He understood. That perhaps she had promised things, but … she had changed. The path had changed. He understood.
Chaol's relationship with himself also drastically changed. I mentioned earlier that I was worried he would be physically healed and never address his horrible views on being disabled. He saw himself as less than everyone else because for the first time ever he had to look up to speak to people instead of looking down on them. I understand that it’s a horribly drastic change from what he was used to— being the poster child for physically fit. However, he kind of needed a reality check, and that spine injury did the trick. Yrene, as well. He no longer had something or someone to fight for because he had given up, but she reminded him that strength comes in many different packages. So when Chaol loses partial control over his legs again after being fully healed, he is not afraid.
“Using the chair is not a punishment. It is not a prison,” he said. “It never was. And I am as much of a man in that chair, or with that cane, as I am standing on my feet.” He brushed away the tear that slipped down her cheek. “I wanted to heal you,” she breathed. “You did,” he said, smiling. “Yrene, in every way that truly matters … You did.”
Chaol is broken down and built anew in this novel. I loved parts, I hated parts, but I am content with how the pieces have settled. There’s a beautiful lesson in not only self-love in here, but also self-forgiveness. Sometimes it is easier to forgive an enemy than it is to forgive yourself. But we are all worthy or forgiveness if we are truly striving to better ourselves.
This was not the end. This crack in him, this bottom, was not the end. He had one promise left. To that he would still hold. It is not the end. He smiled at Dorian, whose sapphire eyes shone with joy—with love. “I’m coming home,” he whispered to his brother, his king.
The final piece I want to leave with you is what I was desperately waiting for throughout this entire novel. If you didn’t know, Yrene was in a small chunk of The Assassin’s Blade. Aelin came across her in danger, saved her life, showed her some self defense moves, and gave her enough gold to make her way to the Torre Cesme to become a healer. Upon their parting, Aelin left a note for Yrene that said “the world needs more healers” and Yrene kept it with her all these years, having no idea that it was Aelin Galathynius who she met. I needed Chaol to see the note and realize who had saved his future wife. It finally came full circle at the end and ripped my heart into pieces. Joyful, fulfilled pieces, but pieces nonetheless. The most beautiful part of it is that Aelin had no intentions for the future when she helped Yrene. She had no idea that this woman could be the other half of the key to defeating the Valg. She was just a woman helping another woman. But fate likes to play tricks on Aelin Galathynius. In the final chapter, Chaol sees the note and immediately realizes who the mysterious girl was that saved his wife’s life, in more ways than one.
Chaol looked up at last, blinking away tears as he scanned his wife’s face. Every beautiful line, those golden eyes. 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 … And even Aelin could not have known that in saving a barmaid from those mercenaries, in teaching her to defend herself, in giving her that gold and this note … Even Aelin could not have known or dreamed or guessed how that moment of kindness would be answered.
THE TORRE’S ALMOND COOKIES
Yrene touched the acolyte on the shoulder and whispered, “Cook made almond cookies this morning. I smelled them on the way out. Tell her I want six, but take four of those for yourself.” She winked at the girl. “Leave the other two for me at my room.”
There were a few vague pastries mentioned in this book, but almond cookies caught my eye first! I thought they sounded yummy so I gave them a try and WOW! Here’s how mine came out:
There were a lot of different recipes for me to choose from, but this one intrigued me so I couldn’t resist. They tasted so yummy— they are the perfect amount of sweet without being too intense, they have a nice crumble but also melt in your mouth, and you get a good taste of the almond without it being overwhelming. Definitely recommend this recipe for those trying to get a little of our their cookie comfort zone. They were also incredibly easy to make and have very few ingredients.
Almond Cookie Recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/buttery-almond-cookies/
I also had a cup of peppermint tea with honey on the side as that’s what Chaol and Yrene drank after their healing sessions!!
If you didn't know, I bake something from a book every week and post live updates on my Instagram. Tune in to @picklesandpages on Wednesdays to check it out!
NEXT READ: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
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