A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1) (2024)

This book gave me a giant headache.

I really liked the beginning - I could see myself falling in love with the world that Kate Golden had created and I was even prepared to give this book at least 4 stars... but the author dropped the ball pretty fast.

The plot made no sense to me (especially the war). The world building was very lacking and there were many inconsistencies that frustrated me.

The main characters, Arwen and Kane, were very flat and one dimensional. I had a lot of sympathy for Arwen at the beginning but that quickly fizzled out. She's dumb af! In one scene she describes herself as being unsure if she can trust another character... And then proceeds to spill her entire life story. Girl, where are your self-preservation skills?? And Kane... Don't even get me started on him, he was absolutely pathetic. He was not charming at all.

(⚠️Mini rant with minor spoilers: ⚠️ I really don't understand how the hell Kane managed to lead his people with his immaturity and lack of military skills. We're told how everyone fears him and how he rules with an iron fist, but he acts like a teenager! Even I could've done a better job than him. And if I remember correctly the reasons behind the war wasn't even privy to his people, so how in the world did he rally support?? His whole spiel about killing innocent people was also super hypocritical too.)

Although I didn't find this book through Tik Tok... This book is basically your typical Tik Tok read - a bunch of tropes thrown together with no care for actual substance. For example, the only reason there was abuse in the story was so that the hero could have a "who did this to you" moment, which was super contrived and shallow! On top of all this, the dialogue between Arwen and Kane felt really cheesy and unnatural. They had no spark and I don't know what they saw in each other. I really wasn't convinced of their chemistry.

The secondary characters felt very one dimensional as well. They didn't seem like real people because they all had such distinctive purposes. Once they were used, they were discarded.

The twists at the end felt like they came outta nowhere because there were no hints or lead up. It left me feeling cheated. And the ones that I could guess were things you could find in a typical fae romance anyway.

I think I'm done with fae books.

Rating: 2/5

if youre a fellow mood reader and you are wanting a fantasy enemies-to-lovers romance set in the middle of warring kindoms and fae magic, then this book is what you need.

its a very “what you see is what you get” kind of book. its true to the genre and meets every expectation it promises. i do think i would have preferred for the story to feel a little more mature and less YA, but perhaps that feeling might come as the series progresses.

overall, this is a very decent first installment and has me excited to discover how the story will continue.

a big thanks to the author, kate golden, for providing a copy!

↠ 4 stars

“I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices,” he purred. “And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.”

4 Heart Pounding Stars!

This was such a gem of a debut! I immediately loved it. It's such a comforting feeling when you're in the mood for something and you pick up a book and it delivers in every way that you wanted it to.

╰┈➤ The world building is nothing over the top (which I don't mind extensive world building but just saying) and very easy to follow. It was enough to satisfy me, but for readers that prefer a less complicated world building - this hits that sweet spot. You spend a good amount of the book getting to know the characters and focusing more on their relationship or lack there of in the beginning. So, a bit more centered around the romance than the fantasy element to start.

In a nutshell - the Onyx Kingdom has captured our FMC Arwen because her brother has stolen money from them. Arwen makes a deal that she will be their healer (magic healing abilities) if they don't harm her brother or other family members who managed to escape capture.

The king agrees and from there it's off to the races. There's so many twists and turns. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoiling anything.

But the banter is great, the side characters are all well rounded and lovable. Very important - The FMC is not annoying and I actually like her a lot!

╰┈➤ Fair warning 🚨, after finishing this book you are going to want to jump right into book two so plan to have it lined up so you can go right into it. This book definitely leaves you wanting more, more of the story, more answers - just more!

I think that if you enjoy Fae, magical kingdoms, kingdoms at war-and I'm going to just say it, I think fans of ACOTAR will really enjoy this one.

╰┈➤ 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝓔𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽

💜 Enemies to Lovers to Enemies
💜 Forced Proximity
💜 Slow Burn
💜 Secret Identity
💜 Hidden Magic
💜 He falls first
💜 Who hurt you

I was provided a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✅ Captor / Captive
✅ Sexual tension
✅ Kind of hate to love / No insta-love!!
✅ “Who did this to you?”
✅ Walking in while she’s in the bath
✅ There is only one horse
✅ Magic / Healer
✅ Pace and plot
✅ World-building
✅ Twists and secrets (and some betrayal)

Strong 4.5 stars

_______________________

Second read: I noticed some aspects of the plot that were a little weaker this time around, but it was still an addictive and engaging read, and I am so glad I got an ARC of the second book, so I can start it right away!

_______________________

Wow, I was excited to read this book and hoped it would be as good as the blurb promised, but I was not expecting it to be this good and addictive! I got sucked in from the very first chapter and just couldn’t stop! I had a bad syndrome of “just one more chapter with this one”!

Now would be a great time for that optimism I’d been told I had in spades.
But I feared there was no positive spin for flying via massive, horned dragon as a prisoner into enemy territory. I looked down at the land below me, cloaked in darkness, and watched the only life I’d ever known disappear from sight.

Arwen spent her whole life in her small village, caring for her sick mother, and secretly using her healing power to help her people. The past year has been rough for her mother, her younger sister, and her because her brother was forced to enroll in the army to fight against their enemy from the kingdom of Onyx. When Arwen’s brother unexpectedly comes back with stolen Onyx gold, they only have a few minutes to pack up and leave for another kingdom where there is no war, before Onyx’s soldiers catch up to them. Everything does not go according to plan, and Arwen finds herself a prisoner of the Onyx army. She ends up first in prison and then forced to work as a healer for Onyx, and that is how she meets the famous and feared king Kane Ravenwood.

Arwen is such a lovable and relatable main character! She is strong, resilient, and driven, but also flawed and not amazingly good at everything she does as soon as she tries it. She is kind and intelligent, while also being snarky and fierce. Overall, she felt very human and real. She is thrown into a new country with her enemies surrounding her, and she is afraid, but that’s where her strength shows and her bravery shines. There was a time or two when she made choices or had reactions that annoyed me a little, mostly when she acted like a jealous teenager wanting to mark her territory with Kane, even though they were not involved romantically or physically together, but as I said, she is not perfect and I like that about her. Besides those few rare instances, she was amazing and I can’t wait to see more of her and see how she continues to grow and gain confidence in the next book.

“You met King Kane Ravenwood? And spoke to him? What was he like?”
“Horrible,” I snapped. “And miserably handsome. An awful combination.”

“You’re hurt. Why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s nothing, just a bruise.”
Anger simmered in his eyes. “Who did this to you?”

I love Kane, he is a great character and love interest. He is protective, but not over the top and too controlling, and he is very devoted to Arwen and her happiness. He supports her and her ambitions, and he encourages her to become better, stronger, and be able to defend herself instead of just deciding that he will be in charge of protecting her. His support and the way he treats Arwen as a valued equal were very attractive. Much more than just being gorgeous and having a 6 pack and a chiseled jaw, as is sadly often the case in YA or NA romances. I also love that Kane has a manipulative side and that he has to lie and keep putting his kingdom first, that even if he is attracted to Arwen, he can’t allow himself to get involved with her, and he has to deceive her at times. It created some tension, especially near the end of the book, and the sequel promises to have some drama and groveling so I am very excited to read it.

I had never been so outspoken with anyone in my life. I hated him, I didn’t respect him, I didn’t trust him, and I could not for the life of me keep my thoughts off him and his smug, cruel words.

“I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices,” he purred.
“And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.”

“What do you want? I have a patient to tend to.” I hoped my breathy voice might be accredited to shock.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
I swore steam was curling out of my ears “Could you be any more self-obsessed? This man is dying.”

I loved the romance in this book. It’s a slow burn full of sexual tension and sassy banter. I do love the “captive in the enemy hold” trope because it often goes hand in hand with a hate-to-love romance. Sadly it too often ends up with insta-love, but not in this book! Arwen truly despises the King, not only because of the rumors she heard about him but also because of his behavior toward her, and his lies. Honestly, their relationship reminded me a little bit of Rhysand and Feyre in ACOTAR and the first part of ACOMAF. Kane doesn’t hate Arwen, he is intrigued and interested in her, but she is afraid of him and hates him because of his bad reputation, and because he goads her and pushes her buttons every time they interact. What would have made it even better would have been a dual point of view. I was dying to know what was going on in Kane’s head, but at the same time, us not knowing allowed the author to give Kane a hidden agenda that wasn’t revealed until the end, and I liked that too.

Mari is also a great secondary character who had a use besides supporting the main character in her quest. She is fiery and bubbly, and I really loved her too. Overall, the characters were all well developed and fleshed out, and the author did a great job with the dynamics and the relationships developing in this book, but she also left room for more relationship-building and more character development in the next book. Griffin is also a secondary character that intrigued me, and I am curious to see more of him and his grumpy behavior with Arwen (I am also shipping him and Mari).

Halden’s storyline felt weaker now that I am reading this for the second time and could focus more on the details, or maybe it’s more that there is a lack of backstory there. He didn’t want to fight at first and was forced to enroll in the army 2 years ago, and now he is part of one of the King’s secret elite groups. How did that happen? Why was he chosen when he didn’t care about the war? I would have needed more details to truly believe his story and be more invested in his plotline and how it affected Arwen. I hope we will get those details in the next book if he is still a part of the plot.

This book was mostly about Arwen trying to survive the predicament she found herself in and trying to thrive in her new environment, but the next book will clearly be more about her taking her destiny into her own hands, and even being in charge of what happens to a certain extent, instead of letting Kane decide of her fate because he is the King. I am very curious to see how her relationship with Kane will progress. There was a lot of flirting and sexual tension between them in this book, but not a lot of smut (I am not complaining), so it built up even more sexual tension and now I am eager for them to do something about it too, but with the way things were left between the two of them at the end of this book, I am not sure love will be in the air at the beginning of the second book (and the angst-lover in me is overjoyed by the promise of angsty groveling).

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"𝗔𝗿𝘄𝗲𝗻," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. "𝘼𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮."
𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩. "𝙉𝙤, 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩."
𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙩����𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧."

A Dawn of Onyx is another amazing debut fantasy romance that I devoured. Arwen is a human living a kingdom at war with Onyx, a dark and violent kingdom. When her brother escapes battle with stolen Onyx coin, Arwen is caught in the crosshairs and offers herself to the Onyx kingdom in exchange for her family’s lives. When thrown in the dungeon next to a handsome af stranger, she knows he’s the only one who can help her escape.

This book was such a fun read. The world building is so well done. The romance? The will they / won’t they, TENSION, enemies to lovers was so perfect. Kane, the mmc, is broody and secretive; Arwen is trying to figure out where in the world she belongs. I loved the two of them. Alsoooo it’s grand because he falls first.

It’s definitely a slow burn and felt like a first novel in that you are getting to know the world and the characters, but I was never bored. AND THE ENDING? THE CLIFFY? Pls I was on the edge of my seat.

My only real complaint is Arwen. She’s naive and reads really young for a new adult romantasy. Some of her decisions made me want to head bang the wall. But with the epic ending, I can see how there’s so much room for character development. By the last chapter, she’s already changing into what I can guess is a total bad ass. So patience I have.

Thank you so much Kate Golden for an arc of your debut! I can’t wait to continue reading Arwen’s story. This book is out now!

Read if you love
🖤 enemies to lovers
🖤forced proximity/captivity
🖤 hurt/comfort
🖤 who did this to you
🖤 touch her and you 💀
🖤 one horse
🖤 found family
🖤 fae, witches, monsters, & dragons
🖤 prophecies, hidden identities, & betrayals

🌶️ PS this is slooooow burn and low spice as of right now. It’s more tension and then a little pay off.

I was furious with the man. So, so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Spice Meter: 🌶️

❗This review contains some spoilers❗

Well...I guess it isn't as bad as I imagined. I won't say I wasn't prepared for what was coming, I saw some quotes and experts on social media indicating its quality, but I was curious. I kept seeing it here and there, and I wanted to see for myself what it's about. To be fair, it isn't all that bad. The story is engaging, the romance is cute at times, and I genuinely found some moments humorous. Also, the lore and the world-building, in general, are based on precious stones, as most of the locations in particular are named after them, that are fascinating and original. Nonetheless, aspects of the book such as the writing, especially the dialogue, come off as cheesy and mediocre. I can excuse that to a certain extent, however. This is the author's debut novel and these qualities are actually somewhat expected in such cases. Who knows? Maybe the second book will be significantly better than the first one. 🤞🤞

Moreover, I can't say that the characters are much better than the rest of the book. Admittedly, they can be charming on occasion. Arwen Valondale, the protagonist, is determined, compassionate, and kind. She is interesting enough to read about, however, she is also fragile, often childish, and in desperate need of a backbone. Her constant over-sharing makes me deeply uncomfortable, as well. Yes, loneliness does that to a person but, speaking from a personal experience, one tends to develop a filter after a certain age, at least to an extent. Even if they don't, Arwen's uncontrollable blabbering about her deepest, darkest secrets and insecurities to anyone who'll listen for more than five minutes is juvenile and irritating. It honestly still bothers me thinking about it.

Furthermore, as for Kane Ravenwood, the love interest, there is nothing in particular that stands out about him in terms of fictional boyfriends. He is charming, flirtatious and says a few mildly swoon-worthy lines that I have found myself enjoying, in spite of the cheesiness and the cliché surrounding the story. Also, he has those tortured-hero vibes that, while not as attractive as those of a morally gray character or a villain, he pulls off with elegance. Basically, he is your average, sexy, fictional boyfriend. Nevertheless, I admit I delighted in the romance between him and Arwen. It can be cringy and unoriginal at times, but it's not nearly as constant or as intense as it can be in any other aspects of the book. There is even some light, soft-core smut that is tastefully done.

In any case, when it comes to debuts, I tend to give them another go before I say definitively whether they are good or not. Therefore, I plan on continuing the series for now. I'm curious to see how it progresses both in terms of the storyline and the quality. Hopefully it will improve as it goes.

So what do you think?

3.5⭐️

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DNF @ 17%

The FROM BLOOD AND ASH comparison people are making for this book is actually very on point, and I wish I'd seen that this book was being touted alongside that and A COURT OF MIST AND FURY because I'm not a fan of either of those books and I would have saved both the author and myself some trouble otherwise. But alas, I did not see those reviews until it was too late, and I had already started buddy-reading this book with my friend, Heather.

Here's the thing: if you like fantasies with contemporary-sounding, accessible dialogue and heroines that are basically just self-insert vehicles for moving the plot towards the villain-but-not-really love interest, this is going to be your jam. It's a very marketable jam and I'm jealous of the people who have a taste for it because they look like they're having fun when they read and squeal about these books with their friends. But I do not like the jam.

The cover game is on point, though.

2 stars

ㅤㅤㅤ “And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.” - my mood while reading

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ━ 1.9 - 2.1 ☆ ━
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⊱ ──── might contain spoilers ────⊰

ㅤㅤIn fact, I am having trouble coming up with anything to talk about in this particular review since, similar to this book, I really don't have anything to say. To be completely honest, I didn't have great expectations going into this, but for some reason, it still severely disappointed me—clearly not an easy task. As a result, this review may only be brief.

ㅤㅤA Dawn of Onyx follows Arwen, a healer from a small village in one of the many kingdoms of Evendell which is not a peaceful world, but rather one ravaged by war. War is exactly what causes Arwen to find herself in the claws of the wicked King of Onyx, the evil and merciless ruler of the Onyx Kingdome, the kingdom responsible for the war in the first place. As her healing powers grow, she starts to realise the Onyx kingdom is actually beautiful, with its ruler being probably the most beautiful thing of them all. But the war is far more complicated and Arwen finds herself in the middle of some horrible political intrigues that bring to light facts about herself she would have never guessed. This sounds like an interesting plot, right? Too bad it is actually rather badly executed.

ㅤㅤSo let's begin and try to find anything to analyse in this book.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ world-building, writing and action ༺ ˎˊ-

ㅤㅤWhen I am usually starting a fantasy book, as a huge fantasy reader, the thing I am looking forward to first is the world-building elements. Because, of course, how can you create a fantasy world if you do not offer enough attention to the universe you are creating, right?. Unfortunately, apart from the kingdoms existing, the war and its true reason and some pretty flowers being scattered around a gloomy castle, you do not get very much in this regard. So, what could I comment upon it, right?

ㅤㅤI need writers to understand that when they decide to write a fantasy book, writing style and register is insanely important in creating the correct atmosphere of the book; and writing is especially important for me most of the time. I do have books that I read mainly for entertainment, but this was a bit too much even for that. The writing was very confusing and badly structured with medical elements rather belonging to a way more advanced world than the medieval-like one in the book, lots of dialogues that were bordering on childish and cliché and lines that belonged into a high school romance book rather than in a fantasy one.

ㅤㅤThe action was once again disappointing. I know the fantasy genre, especially the one that also focuses on romance, has some pretty limited and rigid rules sometimes; therefore it is expected for the action to not be 100% a novelty, unique. But putting a bunch of popular tropes and plot-lines together without offering them the necessary depth and connection to your own story, does not create a genuine novel

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ characters ༺ ˎˊ-

ㅤㅤThis might just be the shortest section of this review, because I honestly don't think I can find anything to say about these characters so far.

ㅤㅤ ⟡ Arwen - the only thing I hear in my mind when I think about her as a characters is "they could never make me like you". She is infuriatingly naive and inanimate in her own life. I genuinely thought she left her intelligence back in her village when she was taken by the Onyx soldiers, because there is no way for someone to actually be this dumb. This is officially the most dense and dull-witted FMC I've ever read about. Her so-called evolvement is absolutely unnatural and so forced. If she is responsible for saving the world, May God help us all!

ㅤㅤ ⟡ Kane - this man simply does not have a personality??? He had the potential to be an interesting aspect of this book, but unfortunately his only personality trait seems to be that he is somehow instantly in love with the most witless woman in the entire Evendell. Absolutely no character depth, no personality traits and no development.

ㅤㅤ ❧ This is the part where I would normally talk about the love story in this book, but it happens so fast that it is hard to understand how this man would suddenly give his life and risk the entire world for someone like Arwen.

ㅤㅤ ⟡ the other characters - it is not even worthy to mention them by name, to be honest, because they were simply there. They were nice at times, but they were mainly just there.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ ending and conclusions ༺ ˎˊ-

ㅤㅤI actually thought the writer was also bored with the trajectory of the book and was rather impatient to get to the second one where, hopefully, things will get slightly better. The ending was absolutely rushed with a battle dumped on the plot out of nowhere, with every possible villain abruptly making an appearance after complete silence and a revelation that suddenly inspires the FMC to give up her ignorance for the benefit of becoming some kind of warrior-martyr. For short, the ending was as bad as the rest of the book

ㅤㅤI do think this book had some possible potential, but nothing from it felt authentic enough to actually also feel genuine to the reader. I finished this book, having no idea why the the kingdoms are named after stones or why this series is even named The Sacred Stones. Or maybe my brain was just too much in denial to actually memorise this information.
ㅤㅤWill I continue reading this? Absolutely, bring me the second book right now, because my last hate read was Bride and I genuinely kind of miss the feeling. 🤍

ㅤㅤ────────── 　༻✧༺　──────────
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ.˚౿ Pre-reading ࿐ ࿔*:･

ㅤㅤBack to picking random numbers from my TBR list since I am apparently unable to pick my next read myself. So let's go number 145!
ㅤㅤBeen hearing a lot about this one 👀

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5/ 5 stars | 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5 spice
Read this book in a single sitting, would recommend to those who love a good enemies to lovers romantasy. Detailed review and chapter by chapter recap is available on my blog if you want a refresher before reading Book 2 releasing this month 😀

Synopsis
"A Dawn of Onyx" follows Arwen Valondale, a healer living in the Kingdom of Amber. When war breaks out with the menacing Onyx Kingdom, Arwen's world is upended as her brother Ryder and friend Halden are conscripted into battle. Amidst the chaos, Arwen finds herself captured by Onyx soldiers and taken to the Kingdom of Onyx. Forced to use her healing abilities to survive, Arwen navigates her capture in the kingdom while looking for a path to escape. Along the way, she meets Kane, igniting a forbidden romance between captor and prisoner.

My Favorite Quotes - Convincing you to read based on my favorite lines:

“She uses me for my fur and then kicks me to the curb. Women…”

“I love to listen to you explain medical practices,” he purred. “And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.”

“I was furious with the man. So so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck. It was complicated.”

“Perhaps I just like to watch you squirm in my presence.”

“Secondly, Arwen, having only lived a ‘tiny suffocatingly safe life’ for 20 years, never having seen anything, been anywhere, felt any man… What could you possibly know at all”

I’m on BookTube now! =)

* I got an ARC copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much, Kate! *

”I was furious with the man. So, so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck. It was complicated.”

Haha! I told you I’d start my review with this quote because this is “A Dawn of Onyx” in a nutshell! *lol* No, seriously! I really enjoyed this book and had a lot of fun reading about Arwen and Kane. Those two were so much fun to read about and I loved their easy banter and little barbs. Their relationship dynamic was definitely enemies-to-lovers, but despite a couple of very intense moments this romance was actually pretty tame, which I loved?! I know! I’m at least as confused about this as Arwen was about her feelings for Kane. XD

”Kane placed his hands on either side of my head and leaned forward so that the water sprinkled along his hands and forearms, sparkling droplets like falling stars twinkling around us.
His eyes were all pupil as they flared at me.”

I mean that pond scene! Chef’s kiss when I comes to tension and pining. ;-) Still, even though this is pegged as a fantasy book I think the romance between the two MCs definitely outweighed the rest of the story and took a front seat. I mean we get a little bit of world building when Arwen is taken to the Onyx kingdom and we see how it works, but aside of that, the main focus is on the developing feelings between the two protagonists and that was totally okay for me. I think in the first book of a series it’s always important to get to know the characters because they’ll accompany you through the entire series. After you’ve established that you can tackle all the other things that make the world they live in so interesting. Plus, Arwen is a prisoner in the Onyx kingdom at first so it makes perfect sense that she wouldn’t be allowed to see a lot of it. So this is totally in line with the plot and the reader was at least as interested and curious about all the things that happen at the keep as the MC itself.

”You aren’t mine. You don’t belong to me. You can spend your time with whoever you please. All I hope is that they treat you with the respect you deserve, and I will try every single day not to think of ripping out their still beating hearts.”

Did already mention that this book had a lot of the tropes I like when they are done right? We have the “Who did that to you?” line, we got a good old alpha male who’d do anything to protect his girl and to round it all up we have the “Touch her and you die.” trope. XD And of course our heroine doesn’t take any of it. As she should. *lol* And can we please acknowledge that HE fell first?! Gah! I love it when that happens in books because I’m tired of swooning girls.

”I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices,” he purred.
“And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.”
He visibly shook, suppressing a laugh.

I really liked Arwen even though she had a tendency to get herself in trouble by doing extremely stupid things. Honestly, sometimes I just covered my face with my hands and totally felt with Griffin. Who was an amazing and fun side-character by the way. He appeared to be extremely stoic and very annoyed not only by Arwen’s, but also by Kane’s behaviour but I still couldn’t help but love him. I dig myself a silent, broody and eye-twitching handsome side character every once in a while and Griffin certainly fit that bill. ;-)

”I have no military training,” I said, turning back to the small crowd. “I’m not nobility, and I’ve only seen two maps of our continent in my life.” Beside me, Griffin placed his head in his hands. Kane stifled a laugh at his commander.

See what I mean? Griffin is fun! Haha! And I’m convinced he groaned as well, even though that was never mentioned on page. Speaking of which, I think there’s going to be a romance between Mari and Griffin and I’d totally be on board of this ship. They already gave me an enemies-to-lovers vibe as well and I think Mari would give Griffin a run for his money. That big gruff teddy bear needs someone who can handle him and I’ve no doubt Mari would be up to the challenge.

”Your hair is radiant. Like sunshine after a storm.”
Mari’s mouth fell open, and Griffin stood up abruptly, his too-long legs banging the table and making the cutlery jump.

But back to the plot and the actual story. I always like faeries in books and I hope to see more of them in the next instalment. Plus I want to find out more about all the other kingdoms and what makes them special. So far not a lot was said about all the others but since Arwen ended up being more “in the loop” while the plot progressed I’m pretty certain the world building will get an additional layer in the sequel. At least I hope so. Kate you did a great job with the characters, now I want to see the world they live in! I’m curious and that’s always a good thing. *lol*

”Yes,” he said, eyes still closed. “Why are you staring at me?”
I looked away instantly. “I’m not.”
“It’s only fair. I’ve stared at you. Most of the time I can’t seem to look at anything else.”

And of course I want more of our two love birds and the plot. I think now that many of the secrets were revealed and the basics of the plot line are established, the reader will get more information and things will be put in a new context and make even more sense. I personally wasn’t surprised by any of the revelations and plot twists, but I’m sure there will be readers out there that won’t see it coming. I’m just very perceptive and love to read mysteries and break my head over things so I usually call out plot twists very easily and see them coming from a mile away.

This said, I can’t wait to read book two and I hope Arwen as well as Kane will grow even more and have great character arcs. They already started to change and I’m convinced they’ll continue to do so in the sequel. Moreover, there is a lot of potential in this story and I’m so curious what Kate will do with it. Considering the ending everything is possible and I really like this! So many ways and possibilities in which the story and its characters could go and develop! ;-) All told, I had a blast reading “A Dawn of Onyx” and if you like a smug alpha male that is soft for his love interest and a strong heroine that fights him tooth-and-nail before she allows herself to fall for him, this book definitely will be for you. ;-)

___________________________________

This was a lot of fun to read and I loved the tension between Arwen and Kane!
Sometimes Arwen did stupid things and was very naïve, though. Still it was entertaining. *lol*
Very curious about book two which I’m definitely going to read once it’s out! =)

I’ll think about this one and write a proper review asap! For now all I can say is: RTC soon! ;-)

____________________________________

The author was so kind to give me a review copy of her book and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. So here I am finally tackling “A Dawn of Onyx”! This story just sounded too good. I love stories about fae and enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. Add to that a strong heroine that tries to escape into dangerous woods with a prisoner she doesn’t really trust, magic and beasts and I’m sold.

This sounds very promising and the many positive star ratings have me super intrigued.

Let’s go for this! I’m sure it will be fun! =)

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4⭐️
“I was furious with the man. So, so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck. It was complicated.”
….Arwen is me and I am her 🥲😭

An easy 4⭐️ read for me. Slightly predictable but not enough to diminish the value of the story!

——————————————-
Back in my romantasy era like I never left. Let’s go!

**I was provided with an ARC for an honest review.**

I gotta confess guys, it has been A MINUTE since I read something not pure smut and a new author worthy of 4 stars.

“We can’t just kill people whenever we feel like it, Kane.”
Griffin shook his head “No, now we absolutely have to kill them.”

But this one? Had me WHEEZING, CRYING, LAUGHING, HEARTTHROBBING! Featuring a unique world, hilarious character dynamics, and who doesn’t adore the grumpy x sunshine trope??

So lets get into it.

Our MC Arwen pulls a whole bullsh*t martyr-move for her family, only to get pulled into the very war she was trying to run away from… and of course she has a larger part to play. If only there was a hot a$$hole raven king to annoy, i mean help her!

Kane Ravenwood. Kane motherfreaking Ravenwood. How to describe this hothead manipulative powerful man with a good sense of humor and a killer crooked grin?

“What do you want? I have a patient to tend to.” I hoped my breathy voice might be a credited to shock.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
I swore steam was curling out of my ears “Could you be any more self obsessed? This man is dying.”

Every chapter had me begging for a dual perspective or even a glimpse into his secret filled mind. He would go from flirting bastard to mysterious prick and I frankly did not get enough of him. On the Punnet square, I think he is -looks like he can kill you, is a cinnamon roll-.

And sure, there were other well-developed characters from Mari sassy BFF with her own storyline. As the obligatory BFF I often have a low patience with book friendships, but Mari was a headstrong, thirsty for knowledge kinda gal who would push and encourage our heroine to make dangerous decisions!

“So you want me to ask him for it?
“No! Holy stones, Arwen, of course not. He’d never give that to you to to me”
I heaved a sigh of relief
“I want to steal it from his study”

Bahahah these girls are nuts !!

Commander Griffin who constantly gives MC sh*t, he was the typical quiet general loyal to a fault.
“I have no military training. I’m not nobility and I’ve only seen two maps of our contingent in my entire life”
Besides me, Griffin places his head in his hands. Kane stifled a laugh.”

Dagan grouchy old man, and a mysterious Lady Kleio who I think will return in sequel with larger part.

BUT WHERE, FOR THE LOVE OF BOOkTOK, WAS THE SMUT ?!?!

Im not kidding, 3/4 of this book was banter

“I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices” he purred
“And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff”
He visible shook suppressing a laugh.”

flirting

“Firstly you may call me Kane. King Ravenwood is a little formal from someone I’ve made blush as many times as you.”

And the last was just a bit of sexual tension

“I was furious with the man. So so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck. It was complicated.”

See what I mean? The chemistry was perfect but reading blueballs is real.

Overall, Kate Golden did a great job of building such a complex world in this series with intricate relationships spanning back CENTURIES of character development. This first book really just set up the heroine for an epic story. She went from just trying to survive her immediate issue to taking charge of the MAJOR plot that the series will be focused on.

Thats just some good god@mn writing.

The heroine was my kind of sassy and learned to defend herself. Seriously, any book where the MC is relucant to learn to fight/develop powers/ be a Nesta IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE.

Looking ahead, I have some definite expectations for the sequel. I especially hope the author carefully works to differentiate the cultures and buildup of each court, so that they aren’t all basically the same with just a different gem color scheme *cough pathetic don't do it*

꧁Favorite quotes꧂

“I gained on Kane with ease and saw a look of shock register on his face.
It was delicious”

***

“I closed my eyes. I did not have the mental energy for this man right now”

***

“Fair point, bird. Prisons not the ideal result of adventure, I’ll give you that.”

***

“In an instant, fear melted into relief which gave way to confusion.”

***

“I wish whatever attacked you in the woods had succeeded.”
Eyes laced with deadly power gazed back at me.
“No you do not.”

Kate Golden's debut novel immediately hooked me. With a fun world-build, dragons, and a penchant for describing stunningly luxurious libraries… I’m in love with ‘A Dawn of Onyx’!! 🖤🐉🏰

SHORT PREVIEW:
When a ruthlessly cruel king of a neighboring kingdom invades Arwen’s home country… all the men from her village are recruited to fight. After living without them for so long, Arwen, her mother, and her sister have formed a self-sufficient group. But when her brother bursts through the door with a sack of stolen enemy coins… things go from bad to worse VERY quickly. To save her brother’s life, Arwen must take his place as a prisoner in the fearsome Onyx Kingdom. As she soon learns through interactions with easygoing dragons, kind librarians, and scrumptious food she’s never tried... Things may not be as she was told about the outside world.

MUSINGS:
- One of my favorite parts of this book is that even though there's a mystery… I never felt like I wasn’t being given enough information! The absolute audacity of some authors to keep us in suspenseful purgatory for too many installments in a series is truly appalling. Kate Golden does an incredible job at dropping tidbits along the way to keep readers interested.

The writing in ‘A Dawn of Onyx’ is a fun mix of ACOTAR style world-building, but with it’s own flair. I could feel myself inside the gothic castle library and in the foggy forests. I absolutely loved the atmosphere created!

- No. Insta. Love. - THANK THA LAWD!!! I was ready to see characters have to work for any semblance of a relationship in my next fantasy read.. And the MMC? He goes beyond morally grey. He sorta feels mostly in the black for most of the book, and I loved it. So many reasons that he wasn’t redeemable .. and you still wanted him to be the good guy because he’s tall, dark, and handsome lol - NOT easy to create these kinds of hateable (but yummy) MMCs.

- The end gave me just enough to absolutely NEED the next book!!

FAVORITE QUOTES:
“That’s enough. Honestly, Mar. I look like a pirate. Or a lady of the night.” .. She released me and wiped at my cheeks, clearing the blackened streaks that ran down my face. … "Sad pirate whor* is definitely not the look we’re going for.” - Lol I have no desire to be the FMC. I’d rather be the comedic bestie any day!

- There are also a lot of great gals helping fellow gals/frenemies out in this book and I loved that! I don’t want to quote them because that will spoil a few things for you but be on the lookout for it!

NOTES:
- Fast read
- 🌶🌶/5 (A few open-door situations!)
- Fun world-building / adventurous fantasy escapism type read
- Somewhat a coming-of-age tale, but some things may be more suitable to adult readers, including child abuse and s3xual assault. Love the elements of personal sacrifice without martyrdom. Too often, we read characters like that!!!

**I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the author - but all reviews are my own. - SLR

DNF @ 34%

Recently, I discovered that this book is commonly featured on BookTok/IG Reels.
This explains everything.

Shortly put, this book is C R I N G E:

- Absolutely wild names such as Arwen, Bert, Barney.

-MC has big boobs. Every dude is looking at these boobs. Man looking at her? Let the MC remind us of her "generous features".

- MC is an idiot that sounds like a teen rather than an adult. No thoughts, just boobs.

- MCs words don't match up to her actions. She wants to kill a rapist, but when someone else decides to torment them, then she suddenly feels sympathy. What?

- The King is a pathetic edgelord that gives Timmy Chalamet vibes than a terrifying overlord that would skin you alive for fun.

- Feature our fav trope: he's "evil" but has chiseled abs, dark hair, a jaw which can cut glass = INSTA LUV

This is a hill I will die on: modern day language in a non-modern fantasy setting = garbage.
"peachy" and "that's peachy"

Me:

ARC copy provided in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes my rating or review.

4.5 CAPTIVATING STARS

This is it, guys. It’s the book I’ve been needing for like a month. The book to crack my reading slump. It’s addictive, the writing is a breeze, and the characters have enough chemistry to light a house on fire. I was invested from the first page, when I said “oh I’ll just read a chapter to get me started” and suddenly I was 40% through the book and it was 1:00am.

“Gorgeous, indecent, and deadly”

It took me all of the first 5 chapters, right up to this quote, to fall in love with Kane. He was everything I needed in a love interest – supportive, protective, devoted, (hot), and the way his relationship developed with Arwen was neither insta-love (woo!) not too much of a slowburn for my slumpy soul. I'd been terrified for the 'captive romance' aspect of the book (I am NOT a fan, usually) but I really appreciated the way that Arwen and Kane's relationship was written, and I loved that they actually got to know one another and bond throughout the story.

And the true star of this show was Arwen. She had such strength, but it wasn’t so excessive as to be unbelievable – no, everything about Arwen was so realistic. Her fear was evident, but her bravery despite that fear was what made me love her, and I can’t wait to see her growth in later books. I’m not going to lie, she made some… interesting choices, that perhaps irritated me a little, but hey, everyone makes mistakes!

And I can’t mention my favourites without speaking of Mari! Her friendship with Arwen was so fun and precious, I adored her. She may have encouraged (or initiated) those iffy choices, but I loved her nonetheless.

"‘There are three things I love in this world. Reading, a challenge, and proving others wrong.’
I laughed, bright and loud. ‘And helping people?’
‘Sure,’ she shrugged. ‘That too.’"

Kate hooked me into this ARC with her offer of
✨ caretaker scenes (hard to deny you care when you're healing the other person)
✨“Who did this to you?” (a classic for a reason)
✨ sexual tension & banter (a given. I will always love banter)
✨ genuine female friendship (so tired of the mean girl trope)
but I honestly didn’t anticipate enjoyingA Dawn of Onyxthis much! Highly recommended, and I simply cannot WAIT for the rest of this trilogy. An extra half a star just for how much fun this was! Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC copy provided (x2!!).

*Quotes may not be in the published version of this novel, they were copied from the advanced reader’s edition.*

This BR was a whole lot of fun ❤️

Okay so this book definitely made me feel very conflicted! This review will be chaotic I’m sorry. It was a 4✨ for the first 50% of the book but then unfortuntely dropped to 3!
« I was furious with the man. So, so furious. But I also wanted to lick his neck. It was complicated »

Let’s start with the things I loved :
- Mari 😭 love that girl so much
- Kane. He was perfect
- Griffon
- The first 50% of this book
- WHAT HAPPENED AT PAGE 367 OMG THAT MADE ME SO HAPPY I WANTED TO SCREAM. I will not spoil but just know I’ve been looking for a book with that FOR A LONG TIME.

What I struggled with :
- Arwen’s behaviour at the end 🙃. It cannot be excused. This man deserves better
- The ending felt like the author was throwing tropes in our faces 😅. I can’t say more without spoiling so I won’t name all the tropes but there were at least 5 of them thrown in the last 50-100 pages.
- The pacing was off putting.
- The full on length descriptions of everything
- The world building, magic system, etc. kind of made no sense to me or Krysta but maybe it’ll come together in book 2?
—-•
Sooo excited to be doing this BR with my gorgeous twin Krysta ꕤ 🥹❤️ hope this delivers for us!!

“I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices,” he purred.
“And I’d love to listen to you fall off a cliff.”

kane: *does literally anything*
arwen:

***
🐲

Can't blame Arwen, honestly.

I was going to start this review with a pun about the author's last name, saying something along the lines of how she deserves all the Golden stars for writing such an enjoyable story, but I don't think you guys would appreciate my dad jokes as much as my son does, so I'll cut it short and say that yes, this does indeed deserve the recognition it got and Kate Golden is the type of writer I'm totally going to keep an eye out for.

A Dawn of Onyx is a very likeable book, well paced, with flowy writing and with the right balance between info-dumping and world-building.
It starts a little slowly, but you don't get to force yourself to push through it, because something is always happening and the reader is always entertained.
I personally found the plot simple, yet interesting; I definitely didn't expect the book to be dark, and it wasn't, but it had it's moment that made me realize this is more on the NA side than I'd initally tought.
Kane is a fantastic love interest, except for when he's being a confusing dick, but I guess nobody's perfect. I appreciated how the main character, Arwen, was a badass with obvious weaknesses that she wasn't afraid to show off.
I loved how she fit perfectly in Kane's world and how she managed to make friends and remain true to herself despite the situation she found herself in.
The secondary characters were also very interesting, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of a certain witch and shapeshifter gryphon in the next installment.
I absolutely loved the romance. It was pretty tame in terms of explicitness, but it was sexy and sweet, and the sexual tension was extraordinarily crafted, even though their "love" exploded in my face at a weird pace. I wouldn't have minded if the transition from enemies to lovers was a little smoother. In fact, Arwen started having the hots for Kane a little too soon for my liking, when he was still supposed to be a person she hated with all herself, but of course we forgive her, because 1) he's a total babe and 2) he was just as whipped as she was.
As for the things I really didn't like: there weren't many, but the few I've noticed were grating enough to made me drop a star. For one, the villain factor was a tad too weak. I wish the motivations for why people did what they did were developed differently, because I kept telling myself the conflicts could have been solved in a dozed different ways that didn't involve war.
Second, the insta-something thing and Arwen's constant horniness were underwhelming. I didn't mind the lack of actual smut and appreciated the romance enough to bypass the fact that A & K barely shared a couple kisses and a some groping towards the end, but I really couldn't wrap my head around how Arwen could be thinking about how tough of a time she was having while soaking her panties for Kane, at the same time. All the freaking time, too.
And did I mention that, for the sake of insta-attraction, she was able to tell eh was freaking handsome and his eyes were stormy grey even if they were in a dark prison cell and she could barely see the tip of her fingers?
Lastly, I kind of struggled with the last few chapters of the book, because everything felt too rushed and chaotic. Revelations were thrown my way with incredible rudeness, especially considering there were many things I was left to digest without a proper warning.
Oh, and I also wished we'd see and know more about the shapeshifter abilities of certain characters. I really really really hope book 2 will provide more dragon time!

Overall, this was a great start of a new series, with a good combination of magical elements, tropes and special characters that won't definitely go unnoticed, and a writing that can capture even the most difficult of readers.
As far as debut novels go, I'd say this was hands down a success.
I don't know what the future holds for Kate Golden, but one thing's for sure.
Something tells me book 2 is going to f*cking wreck me, and I CAN'T WAIT.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

So I saw this on TikTok, which should have been my first red flag I know, but then I saw all these 5 star reviews and I got excited. That excitement quickly died.

This started off decently, I enjoyed Arwens character (at first), I liked where the story was going- exchanging herself for her brothers debt, her healing abilities, her exchanges with the ‘strange prisoner’, even the small plot twist with said prisoner, which was predictable, but I moved on.

Then I got about 200 pages in and all of sudden our main character becomes this juvenile, whiny child who is asking for relationship advice on the evil king who is holding her captive and has threatened her family’s lives. Huh??

The king, kinda cringey if I’m honest, was trying to hard to be morally grey/sweet. It was just giving me the ick. Also there was zero chemistry, it just felt so forced and flat.

It’s on kindle unlimited and I guess the cover is kinda cool. So you do you.

3.5⭐️

This book was a wild ride and a half 😭 From the very start of this book, we are thrown into the plot. It was a very action packed beginning...until it wasn't.

Listen, I was very invested the first 15-20% of this book. It had everything going for it-the beautiful world, the fun and witty characters, the typical fantasy creatures, all of it. This book would have been rated higher if it just wasn't so boring and tedious the next 70%. I swear, barely anything really happened to advance the plot for a huge chunk of this book. The author did what she could to try (keyword: try) to make the characters deep, but ultimately, didn't do the greatest job.

HOWEVER, the last 10-15% of this book was WILDDDD! I mean we went from barely any action to absolute hell breaking loose. I loved that we finally got more from Arwen and Kane after the nice tension build up between them throughout the whole book. Their chemistry lacked for a chunk of this book, but I felt it was done better more towards the end of the book.

The plot twists that were thrown at us at the end had my jaw on the floor. I was SO invested! I'm not someone who likes to play sleuth and try to use clues to try and guess an ending, but I really ended up liking where the story went.

This book had its problems, but overall, I actually really ended up liking it! The fantasy and magic system in this book was easy to understand and it was fun to read along Arwen's journey and the budding relationship between her and Kane. The second book won't get here until next week which makes me so sad cause I just want to jump into the next part of the story. 🥲

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jumping into this trilogy as if I don't have a million other series I'm in the middle of 😌💜

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/3.75 stars

I haven't been able to land on a solid rating yet. I really enjoyed the storyline and the fantasy world that KG built, though we haven't been able to see much of it yet.

I loved Kane; he was written very well, though I think some of his savageness hasn't really been explained very well because most of them time he's fairly decent, just with a solid temper. So I feel like some of his "savage" scenes were written in there just to satisfy the enemies need.

I did not like Arwen. She had a couple good scenes and some good snark here and there, but her character fell flat a lot of the time and she just also seemed very immature when compared to everyone and everything else in this story.

And why are there really sweet names like Kane and Arwen, and then there's these two army guys called Bert and Barney?????? Did they wonder into the wrong story somehow?

I'm sure I'll continue the series; I'm invested enough to see how everything goes; I just hope that Arwen gets her sh*t together. She's all pissy because he lied to her and then the first chapter for the new book shows her admitting she was lying to Mari. Hypocritical boooooooo.

This reads like a melodramatic YA fantasy romance series. They dialogue is cheesy, the plot is way too simplistic, and of course the main female character is needlessly obnoxious to the main male character despite the fact that he’s a supposedly dangerous king and she’s a nobody (but with secret special healing powers of course). The big reveal at the end could be seen from a mile away. Big pass on reading anymore of this.

3.5/3.75

so how do i get my hands on the one asap mf rocky⁉️ this is so the prophecy coded and she really was a short, sweet, and simple intro fantasy which is the vibe i lowkey missed??? dont get me wrong high fantasy eats but sometimes i fear im too dumb for them!

anyhoo, lets talk about kane because he is a hottie omg. the lil enemies to lovers to enemies moment had me gagged, she is one of the best tropes!!!! how that’s going to play out in the next book im on my hands and knees for to find out 🤭

Please, stop comparing books with ACOTAR and FBAA. Some books are actually pretty good!

This was good and I need book 2 asap!

my blog review

Thanks to the author for sending me a digital copy in exchange of an honest review! Thanks, Kate. <3

if you take all of the best characters, mythical creatures and fantasy series in general and blend it all together in a smoothie you get this book holy wow

dead ass this is the most intriguing and captivating fantasy series i’ve started in years i am immediately running to book two

this book started off so strong for me, i love a good slow burn and this was definitely that. as the story went on though, it kinda went downhill. i loved Kane, his guard Griffin and Arwen’s friend Mari but Arwen herself started to get on my last nerve in last quarter of the book. im also not the biggest fan of the world building with the addition of several types of Fae beings and different kingdoms that are all named after stones (which was hard to keep track of, so i stopped trying LOL). i didn’t like the ending at all really, so im in no rush to continue as of now. i think im just starting to get burnt out from all the endless amount of fae books and while this wasn’t terrible, its not the best either.

➛ big thanks to my twin Maeghan for this buddy read, i had so much fun! 🤭💜

this book was HORRIBLE. Genuinely one of the worst things I’ve ever read. Whenever I thought it couldn’t get any worse, SURPRISE it did.

Reread 28/04/24
Five Stars
Rereading this ready to embark on book two as I wanted the full experience and I've upped my rating to five stars. I think i actually enjoyed this more this time around and this is such an incredibly well written story with some fabulous flawed characters. It deserves all of the stars and I totally recommend reading.

4.5 Stars
This was a fantastic beginning to what looks to be a very engaging and well written fantasy romance. The world building with this one was beyond excellent and was very well done add in the fact that this is a debut author well I’m excited now to see how this author evolves further.

This story is the first book in a series it’s set in a fantasy realm that’s currently locked in a devastating war and it has an enemies to lovers theme at its centre. Be aware the romance side of this is very slow burn so don’t go into this expecting high-steam as this one is really all about building the tension and setting the scene. This did work and despite this not having much of that particular element included Arwen and Kane still had lots of delicious chemistry and banter together and they felt authentic and when it eventually then progressed it’s obvious that its definitely to come in the future.

This is sole POV Arwen’s and when we initially join her she’s still in her small town in the kingdom of Amber residing there with her younger sister and mother whilst her brother is currently away having been drafted into the Amber kings army.

After no word for a year the family obviously think the worst so when Ryder suddenly appears injured and running from the Onyx kings men in his possession stolen enemy gold the family's only real option really is to run using the pilfered gold to try and buy safe passage somewhere far away from this awful war. But when a chain of events then places Arwen in a position where she is now the prisoner of the notorious Onyx king Kane her life changes beyond all recognition.

Arwen has the gift of healing and it's this talent she ends up bartering with to save her life. Her handsome arrogant jailor Kane is determined she pays her brother's debt in his stead but he is also surprisingly kind to her and though Arwen tries so hard to hate him she also can’t help reluctantly falling for his many charms.

I liked Kane as a character he was surprisingly level-headed and protective when it came to Arwen. I initially thought this was going to have a much darker vibe mostly because of the beginning scenes but the building bond between these two was actually very sweet and Kane was patience personified when it came to Arwen's many mistakes.

Arwen was such a contradiction on the one hand I loved how loyal she was to those she considered her own but I also thought she then made rash thoughtless decisions in the moment without much thought to the consequences and when it came to Kane she could also be quite prejudiced and very blinkered. She definitely seemed to hold him to a different standard than everyone else and she wasn’t willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Kane by contrast was always willing to overlook Arwens many missteps even when they had a negative impact. The secrets he was keeping close that were eventually revealed I also think were justified and his reasonings behind them sound. Arwen played true to form though and once again was not willing to look beyond her own hurt and pain. I’m hoping going forward she grows some as a character and abandons this particular character trait, maybe she should take a leaf out of Kane's book.

This had really good world immersion without it feeling like an info-dump. This managed to gradually draw you in and it was such an engaging well written read. My only negatives here were Arwen sometimes irritated me with her judgements of Kane and that this could still have been slow-burn but with maybe a few more romantic interactions added between Kane and Arwen. Other than that this was a great read and extremely impressive for a debut.

I will definitely be continuing on with this series now it’s managed to easily capture my imagination and I can’t wait to see how this all evolves going forward though this one is to be continued it didn’t feel like it ended things on a major cliffhanger, so I’m happy to anticipate the second book without wanting to throw my kindle vibes. If you like fantasy slow-burn romance that focuses on the world building this is the series for you. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of A Dawn Of Onyx (The Sacred Stones #1).

Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

REREAD #2 - On audio

Love this series so much I can't handle it. It's ELITE.

Review from read #1 -

♾️⭐️!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG.

I am speechless this book is absolutely amazing. If you love ACOTAR & Fourth Wing READ THIS IMMEDIATELY. This book is one of my favorites probably EVER. I had so many emotions reading this and the ending blew me freaking away.

WOWWWWW. So amazing

✨enemies to lovers
✨romantasy
✨SLOW FREAKING BURN
✨captive romance
✨Magic
✨who did this to you
✨touch her and you die
✨Morally grey mmc
✨DRAGONS!!!!!
✨THE ANGST
🌶️

A Dawn of Onyx is a remarkable NA Fantasy Romance debut that is sure to delight fantasy readers.

⇢ What to expect:
∘ New Adult
∘ Fantasy Romance
∘ Morally grey characters
∘ Royalty
∘ Fae, shapeshifters, dragons, witches, monsters
∘ Secrets & Betrayals
∘ Strong & determined female character
∘ Dark & mysterious king
∘ Healer x Dark King
∘ Captor/Captive
∘ Banter & Spice 🔥
⇢ Tropes:
∘ Enemies to Lovers
∘ Slowburn
∘ Forced Proximity
∘ "Touch her and you die"
∘ "Who did this to you?"
∘ One horse

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∘ Kane
Handsome, alluring, charming, and funny - he's the complete package.
Kane, the king, is burdened with the responsibility of leading an entire kingdom, with the weight of its fate resting on his shoulders. Despite his position of power, he's tormented by an unknown past and is fighting a battle shrouded in secrecy. With a multitude of secrets hidden behind his enigmatic demeanor, Kane is a complex character that's difficult to read. Despite this, he's a great man who possesses a soft spot for the main protagonist, demonstrating a protective nature and genuine care for her well-being. Throughout the story, he constantly encourages her, urging her to develop her strength and hone her skills so she can better protect herself.

∘ Side characters
The side characters in the story were equally well-crafted, leaving me eager to discover more about their individual stories in the upcoming book. Commander Griffin, the bane of Arwen's existence, & Mari, her bestfriend, were the ones I was more curious about. I sense something brewing there and I can't wait to see if my suspicions become reality ― heheh ~

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“In truth, bird, your cell is the last place I should be, but,” he sighed. “I can’t seem to keep away from you.”

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