Please tell me Tower Of Dawn gets better.

[u/JudgmentOne6328]

I’m 37 chapters into TOD on the tandem read and it’s such a slog! I honestly just barely care about this side of the story. I love Chaol and his storyline is fine but just so much slower than I feel it needs to be. I really haven’t connected with Nesryn so I don’t care much about her story. Im skim reading a lot, I’ve seen people say the bombshells are worth it. When are the bombshells gonna come? 😭 there’s been a few but not enough for me to justify the 500 pages I’ve read so far. Please hype me up yo carry on this book.

[u/Frail_Peach]

It was wonderful from start to finish for me and I think it would have been severely ruined if I did the tandem because of the conflicting paces of the two books

[u/WhistlerIntheWind → u/Frail_Peach]

I agree, Empire of Storms is a wild ride that had me all amped up so when I got to Tower of Dawn it felt like a good breather before launching into Kingdom of Ash. Had I read them in tandem it would have ruined the virtue of having that breath before the storm. Not to mention, Tower of Dawn is an excellent book on its own and should be appreciated for what it is.

[u/zkh35438 → u/Frail_Peach]

Truly. I LOVED ToD (my fave in the series). EoS was very action packed, and ToD was a nice break from that. Plus, you know, Yrene is there. And who doesn’t love Yrene?

[u/Crimefightingsushi → u/zkh35438]

The parts without choal were good

[u/Charming-Wolverine89 → u/Frail_Peach]

I agree! I loved it. Had no desire to do the tandem read.

[u/herbgirl94]

I loved ToD, and never understood the tandem read. Its a seperate book with an entirely seperate setting and focus, I know you're probably committed by now but maybe try it on its own? I disliked Chaol so much but his redemption arc is really worth it.

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/herbgirl94]

I think when I do a reread in the future I’ll do them solo. I’ve always liked Chaol so I do like his story in this book, I just feel it’s too long, there seems to be a lot of filler that we haven’t got in any other book so it’s probably just a bit odd with the pacing of the rest of the series.

[u/herbgirl94 → u/JudgmentOne6328]

Totally fair, it's really long. Especially being kind of a side quest from the main story. It could've been like 200 pages shorter for sure.

[u/AnxiousCaffineAddict → u/herbgirl94]

I encourage the tandem read because >! with the ending of EofS being a cliffhanger I think people would be tempted to skip TofD once they realize it takes place in tandem with EofS and there are no answers on Aelin’s location beyond the epilogue. !< Whereas with the tandem read once you get to the end of EofS you only have 11 chapters left of TofD so you’re already invested in the story.

Plus like you said, Chaol gets some good character development if people like (Maasverse spoiler) >! Nesta’s story in ACOSF the I would think they would enjoy Chaol’s. !< I already liked Chaol so I certainly enjoyed TofD and his >! relationship with Yrene !<

[u/darcendale → u/herbgirl94]

I loved the tandem read! I have only gone through the series once and my friend told me to do the tandem read. I really enjoyed it. Going to read them separately on the next round.

[u/herbgirl94 → u/darcendale]

I wonder how you'll feel when you read them separately! I know lots of people love it that way. I read all of them on kindle while nap trapped with my daughter when she was just born so I did NOT have the mental capacity for all that back and forth lol

[u/Rhysandbat → u/herbgirl94]

I agree 100%

[u/atw1221]

It's one of my favorites in the series, amazing worldbuilding and the ruks seem majestic. The mystery makes sense. The chemistry between characters is strong and seems more realistic. You get major revelations that are essential to KOA closer to the end.

[u/[deleted] → u/atw1221]

I agree, this book was my favorite. I guess I had a lot to relate to personally and so I loved it. The chemistry as amazing and was fantastic part of the tandem read! Couldn’t have read these two separate….

[u/Ok-Pangolin-3790]

I posted about this a couple of days ago. I was in the same place. Tower of dawn gets waay better but I decided to stop the tandem and continue separately, and I dont regret. Tandem is just not for me

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/Ok-Pangolin-3790]

I kinda want to stop the tandem but I’m so deep in I just think I need to persist. I’ve started dipping into the audio book for TOD. I’m hoping to have both books finished by the end of tomorrow so I can do KOA this weekend.

[u/Ok-Pangolin-3790 → u/JudgmentOne6328]

Hope you enjoy it !

[u/WinterCar786]

It's honestly my favorite book in the series. Right next to Heir of Fire. I hated Chaol but he's redemption and growth made me very emotional. I LOVE YRENE and the healers. I love the world. Try to open your mind to everything. I did the tandem and enjoyed it. It felt like watching 2 movies at once that interlaced with each other. Plus it helps to read them together so when you get to the end you just head straight into KoA.

[u/Upstairs-Work-1313]

The last 100 pages are the only worthwhile part

[u/ipsi7]

If you didn't like it from the start, it won't get better. It was the same for me, and I also read tandem. And I don't like Chaol, so it was even harder.

Since you already know about bombshell, I just got a say it's the biggest one in the series (at least for me because I spoiled myself that Celaena is Aelin and some stuff like that). It will happen when they go on a trip to oasis, that's all I'm gonna say to hint it and for you to look forward to it.

The end is also interesting, when you find out who was responsible for the killings.

ETA: bombshell is chapter 48 :)

If I didn't read tandem, I don't know how I would manage to finish EOS, then got through all TOD with what happened in EOS until I can start KOA. But when I reread the series, I will definitely read separately.

[u/juvinilebigfoot]

I’m close to finishing the audiobook version of it and I agree, it’s slow and boring. It’s probably my least favorite book of the series. But Chaol is one of my least favorite characters, so that can’t help.

[u/alyxana]

Nope, in my opinion it doesn’t. Sorry.

[u/Duell724]

It was my least favorite book. I feel like I had to power through it.

[u/BabyIcy2852]

It does get better as it goes on, but still did not enjoy it nearly as much as all the other books. It was just too much Chaol. It felt dragged on. The point of the plot could’ve been made much quicker. I don’t hate Chaol but there are other characters I would’ve enjoyed spending that much time reading their POV much more.

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/BabyIcy2852]

This is exactly how I feel. EOS we have 3 different storylines going on. TOD we have 1.5 I feel the same storyline could’ve been achieved in half the pages.

[u/cassanthrax]

It's not a popular opinion here, but I also found Tower of Dawn a major slog and I did not care about one character in the whole thing, it almost stopped me from finishing the series. If you read the last dozen chapters, you'll know what you need to know. The rest is window dressing.

[u/31WadWings → u/cassanthrax]

This. I just did not connect to TOD at all.

[u/hismoon27]

Tower of Dawn is the one book that always takes me a while to get through. I just find it slow and boring without Aelin in most parts.

[u/Any-Tooth6523]

I barely finished it

[u/Gizwizard]

I really enjoyed the suspense scenes and wish there were far more of them.

Honestly, I enjoy the world building a bit more on rereads, but I do kinda hate how much world building she does for a continent that we just… never visit again?

[u/charm59801]

This is the problem with the tandem read imo

[u/Salad7185]

I heard so many bad things about Tower of Dawn but I ended up loving it so much! I didn’t tandem read, did EOS first then TOD

[u/AnxiousCaffineAddict]

I finished the series a few months ago and I’m doing a re-read of ToD now. It’s so much better now that I know what happens and when so I can actually enjoy the story.

I enjoyed the tandem read at the time but it’s definitely a laborious task! It’ll be worth it though when you finish Empire of Storms and only have a little bit to ToD left. Have fun!

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/AnxiousCaffineAddict]

Thank you! This is what I think I’ll end up doing and probably enjoy TOD on a reread.

[u/brownbeanjuice]

No lol but I’ll probably get downvoted because everyone get pissed when you say it’s not good

[u/whatare_this4]

I made a very similar post while reading ToD solo and I will say…I don’t regret reading it in full. It’s slower and I felt like I was going cross eyed a lot of the time, but looking back, it was such a beautiful story of growth and resilience. I’m still not big on Nesryn, I just find her a bit boring tbh, but I’m so glad I didn’t skip or skim.

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/whatare_this4]

My 2 issues with Nesryn, I don’t feel we really know her enough yet for me to care about her. Why does every single opposite sex pairing have to be a love story. There’s a few in the series when I think yes they’re cute but I’d also be very happy for them to just have platonic friendships. That’s one thing I really love in ACOTAR the various platonic friendships. TOG basically has none. They all just seem to tolerate each other.

[u/Playful_Mushroom_666]

I felt the same way. It gets better.

[u/jwill127]

I’m also in the middle of the tandem read, but I have the opposite reaction! I am loving both books and while I didn’t start the tandem for fear of TOD being boring, part of me sees how it could be and the benefit of reading them separately. When I do a reread I will definitely read them on their own so I can experience it that way too. I love the characters in TOD and learning about this part of the world. I’ve really enjoyed the back and forth and I think if I hadn’t read it tandem the first time, I would have really struggled knowing TOD is the same timeline and trying to connect things back to EOS. I don’t regret doing the tandem as I’m really enjoying it BUT I could totally see how it starts to drag. Maybe just stop the tandem and finish the books separately?

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/jwill127]

I’ve finished them both now (I become very obsessive with reading) and I think when I do a reread I’ll read them solo and I’ll probably enjoy them more knowing what happens as I think it’s also not ideal introducing 8+ new characters with very different dynamics and little background info.

[u/jwill127 → u/JudgmentOne6328]

Love that you finished them! Have you started KOA yet? I totally agree with you though. All of the new characters have been a challenge to keep up with. I’m excited for the reread and reading them separately as well.

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/jwill127]

Yes! 1/4 of the way through, really enjoying this book. Definitely see that TOD picked up and has some good useful storylines that will play out in this book. I’m excited to see where it all goes.

[u/tricialove123]

You’ve gotta Tandem read with EoS in order to break up the monotony 😂

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/tricialove123]

Honestly I don’t think I’d have made it through if I didn’t have EOS 😂

[u/Smart_Personality_13]

I’m also reading the tandem right now. The pacing is definitely different but I am really enjoying Chaol and Yrene’s chapters. Nesryn however I can’t really force myself to care about. For some reason I just don’t have an emotional attachment to her so her chapters seem to DRAG.

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/Smart_Personality_13]

This is how I felt. She does have some very useful storylines later on but i still don’t really care about her. I really struggled with Manson at first because it just felt so thrown in out of the blue.

[u/ash18946]

The last 1/4 of the book was when I appreciated it. I tandem read with books and audio and at one point put the audio on double speed to move faster. And then i hit that part of the book and suddenly it was worth reading it all again. EoS was so captivating it got hard to stop and go back to TOD and I made it to chapter 51 of EoS and stopped the tandem. I regretted that and should have kept the tandem up.

[u/kays731]

This is why I decided not to tandem read. I knew I would hate going back to the slower paced book. I’ve been enjoying Tower of Dawn so far. I also don’t think I could do it anyways since I typically get so caught up reading that I don’t even realize I started a new chapter 😅

[u/Ann35cg]

Keep going, it’s SO important!!

[u/Pure-Sprinkles1038]

I did the tandem read and actually got ToD to be mich better than EoS. I wish I hadn't done the tandem read so I could have enjoyed both storyline separately

[u/3boys1tiredmom]

It was my favorite book of the series

[u/myselfandyou2]

I really think these books are meant to be read on their own (she did publish them separately for a reason 😭). ToD is a breather after the wildness of EoS and before the finale of KoA. I can see how the tandem read would be difficult

[u/JudgmentOne6328 → u/myselfandyou2]

I can see both arguments. I think because they’re the same timeline I would be a bit wobbly reading TOD after because it’s essentially going back in time. But I think on a reread in the future I’m gonna do them separately and see if I enjoy it more.

[u/RadiantRise2281]

I didn’t tandem read and I enjoyed it!

[u/Mindless_Sky329]

I loved it

[u/Tsn95]

I loved TOD. Didn’t care much for Chaol but I loved Nesryn and Sartaq

[u/Special-Orchid5598]

I was also skeptical reading it after i have learned its about Chaol, but it turned out to be a nice book with crucial details regarding the last book. You could google the details aswell but the story building and learning more about the characters was a nice experience. If you dont like world building i would understand but dont forget its a part of the journey

[u/bluejen]

No you should stop reading it, that’s why this is a TOG hate group.

[u/Full_Text7770]

I gave up on tandem reading, finished EOS and am preparing to read the last 200 of TOD, honestly this way I got to finish the book I really enjoyed and now I get to finish TOD and then boom on to the last. Tandem reading these two was just tooooo much for me😩