Review: Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff

Fuck. My. Face. I can confidently say that I have never felt so betrayed by an author as I did while reading Empire of the Dawn, and I love Jay Kristoff all the more for it. This is a finale of bloody epic proportions that delivers all the heartache, tragedy, sacrifices, banter, betrayals, revelations, melodrama, and bittersweet pay-off you could wish for, and it all just hurts oh so damn good.

“This has never been a story about whether I won or lost, Historian. It’s about the price I paid for the lie of victory.”

Even though the start of Empire of the Dawn eases off the gas a tiny bit compared to the relentless rollercoaster that was Empire of the Damned, I was more enthralled than ever before because of the deadly levels of tension and addictive sense of anticipatory dread that drip off every single page. The unreliable dual POV narration from everyone’s favourite duo of toxic siblings that Kristoff introduced halfway through book 2 reaches its peak brilliance here, with two clashing narratives full of secrets, lies, and brutal betrayals culminating in what has to be the biggest “OH FUCKING SHIT” ending I have possibly ever read.

Seriously, if you thought a framed narrative or prophecy lowers the stakes or makes a story predictable, you better think again. The entire way throughout the first two books, we’ve been teased with hints about the tragic ending of Gabriel de León’s tale, and now it’s finally time for answers. We know he killed the Forever King, we know he is the Last Silversaint remaining, we know the Holy Grail is gone and their doomed quest to end Daysdeath ultimately failed, we know he got captured by the vampire Empress… but we also know he is an unreliable narrator, so how in the ever living fuck did it all really go down?!

“The Last Silversaint and Last Liathe are serpents, filled with the same rank venom. Their fondness for deceit is equaled only by their hatred for each other.”

In Empire of the Dawn, Kristoff delivers on every single promise that was made along the way, even the ones you might already have long forgotten about. Just like our dastardly Marquis Jean-François, I was frustrated, confused, and moved to tears more than once by Gabe and Celene’s retelling of their harrowing journeys that ended them where they are now. Seriously, after the infamous chapter “The Worst Day” all the way back in Empire of the Vampire and then the diabolical gutpunch of an ending of Empire of the Damned, I thought things possibly couldn’t get any worse, but I should have known that my heart and soul were not safe. Because let’s be real, when it comes to Kristoff, it can always get worse, and he will cruelly smile in your face while twisting the knife just a little deeper every time.

From the emotional torture of following Gabe’s tale while he is under the impression that Dior is dead and all hope is lost, to the painful inner turmoil while he fights against his increasing bloodlust, to the tragic revelations about Celene’s backstory with the Esani, to the crippling pressure on Dior as she carries the fate of the world on her shoulders, to the heart-pounding and bloody battles, to witnessing the loss of the most beloved companions, and to all the many more unimaginable horrors; there is truly no shortage of tragedy and misery in Empire of the Dawn, and each new emotional gutpunch had me more distraught than the last, especially with so many of the most devastating sequences being depicted in the drop-dead gorgeous illustrations that make this story even more immersive than it already is.

“He was reminded of her words again— that no man was whole alone. That we are not made broken, but born broken. Yet if we’re blessed, if we’re brave, we might find those few whose edges fit against our own. Like pieces of the same puzzle, or shards of the same shattered blade. Those people who, in their own broken way, made our broken edge complete.”

And yet, in some miraculous way, the darkness never felt ‘too much’ to me because Kristoff never loses sight of the characters and relationships that lie at the heart of this story, with the father/daughter dynamic between Gabe and Dior obviously being the most heartwarming and heartwrenching of all. Like, Gabe is not just a daddy, he is the Best Dad Ever, and he proves it more than ever in Empire of the Dawn as we see him tearing his soul to pieces to protect the ones that make his life worth living. And then add to that all the heartfelt friendships, complicated sibling bonds, and various romances ranging from wholesome to twisted to tragic and to sinfully sexy, all of which made me feel so much more than I thought my cold dead heart could ever feel.

It also definitely helps that Celene and especially Gabe both have a strong flair for the dramatic that makes both the lows feel so low but the highs feel even higher, with all of their emotions just bleeding off the page. But the true magic for me? That’s the fact that Kristoff is just a damn funny man, and he knows it. The dark humour, searing sarcasm, knife-sharp banter, and iconic one-liners shine brighter than ever before, and for each tear there was also a chuckle, grin or full-out snort-laugh. Especially Jean-François’ constant witty remarks, dry observations, and delicious yearning (because holy shit, is the sexual chemistry between Gabe and JF at an all-time high here) had me cackling, and I loved how all the recurring inside jokes made me feel like I was truly part of this story myself. Thank all that is holy I am not though, because I would be so dead.

“I was beginning to think it some morbid jest on your part. About the only occupation in Elidaen more dangerous than Horse With a Name is Woman Who Slept With Gabriel d—”

Now, I feel like I have been incoherently gushing without actually saying much of substance, but I just don’t know how I can adequately put into words how much I adored this reading experience, especially without spoiling the entire thing. I constantly found myself torn between the urge to suck this book up like a bloodthirsty vampire and the desire to savour every single second of this enthralling emotional rollercoaster. Okay and maybe I also slowed down because I was terrified Empire of the Dawn would be the end of me before I could reach its end, which it very nearly did.

Eventually my self-restraint just completely failed and I literally could not stop myself from devouring the last 200 pages in one single frenzied reading session, but I honestly have zero regrets. I mean, initially I wasn’t even totally sure if I was fully on-board with every aspect of the ending, but I am ultimately just so deeply in awe of how Kristoff took the concept of the unreliable narrator to a whole new level and pulled off all the bold twists and turns that I can’t give this masterpiece anything less than the 5 stars it so deserves. This is one of those series that is breathtakingly brilliant on first read, but I just feel in my bones that it is going to be even more satisfying on re-read when you can pick up on all the masterfully planted pieces of foreshadowing, misdirection, and scheming that I foolishly missed along the way.

“Sometimes life changes us for the better. Sometimes the worse. But everything under the sky is in the process of becoming something else. Something new. This is a world of butterflies.”

Empire of the Dawn will undoubtedly be a divisive finale, but I love it in all its bold, brutal, and messy glory. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, and I cursed Kristoff more times than I can count, and I truly don’t know what to do with myself now that I have finished this new all-time favourite trilogy (or did it finish me?). This wasn’t just another reading experience, it was a journey that I lived and breathed right along with these characters, and they will all live rent-free in my soul until eternity. So yes, invite this story into your home and let it sink its teeth in you, I promise it’s worth the pain.