Fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses will enjoy this book. It's got all the classic enemies to lovers, magical world and mysterious dark hero elements we all love. I can't wait the next installment!

“A Dawn of Onyx” is an intriguing magical debut novel book by Kate Golden.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (if I could, it would be much more than that)
Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Characters: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Romance: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (slow burn!)

OH, my GOD! I just added a favourite author to my list! A great debut novel from Kate Golden. The story had so many twists it left me wondering if I had lost a hind while reading 🤣 ! The writing style is amazing, reads quickly and you can’t stop at the end of the chapter. Language is simple without unnecessarily complicated words.

Arwen finds herself covering for her brother’s misstep and her whole life turns upside down within a night! But she has to leave behind her old ways and become strong and independent as soon as possible to survive a new reality and a new kingdom! Strong character but a realistic inner voice that will help her grow but also discover her past and future. I am not a “spoiler” person so I won’t go into details about the plot but you better read this book if you are curious to know how the life of a normal girl can change from one minute to the next, find her real self and love on her way to escape a king and heal her mother!

This book makes you want more, in fact, I just finished it and started searching how to put my hands on the next book of the series! So, Kate and team if you are reading my review I would love to read the next one too! I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what happened next. I loved all the interactions between Arwen and Kane and the romance that was unfolding so slowly but was soooo rewarding when they finally let go.

I would definitely recommend it to all lovers of magical kingdoms, fairies and mortals living in the same world, forbidden dark romance and young adult lovers as well. In my opinion, it is a must-read and I am definitely getting a copy for my library!

My special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my early copy.

Arwen is a healer and finds herself taken to the Kingdom of Onyx as a prisoner.
As a character I really liked Arwen. She starts off riddled with anxiety and we see her grow in strength as the story unfolds. Kane was also a favourite character but I don’t think we have yet gotten to really know him in any meaningful way.

I feel like alot of information still needs to come to light to really understand the dynamics between the kingdoms but overall I really enjoyed the storyline and look forward to the next instalment.

I loved the added perspective at the end and would love to have more of Kanes POV in the next book 😍

I am interested in this book and I’m a mood reader so it took a while to get into it. I managed to get 25% in before dnf because I didn’t understand what was going on. I would like to read this book in the future tho. From what I have read if this I would give it 3 stars. I enjoyed the writing style and the character descriptions

4 STARS ✨

A Dawn of Onyx was a great read. I had heard such good things about it as an 'enemies to lovers' enthusiast, so, as soon as news of its re-release hit, I was eager to read it.

The world intrigued me, and I adored Arwen as a main character. She embraced her emotions, loyal to her family to the point that she abandoned everything that she knew, exposing her power to ensure her brother's protection. Those such as Arwen's brother and her previous lover clearly did not deserve her strength and sacrifice, but I loved her connections to both Kane and Mari.

Arwen and Kane's relationship was a joy to read. I loved the tension, the anonymity at the beginning, and the good ol' tropes that pull in any fantasy romance reader. However, towards the end, the plot, unfortunately, did turn slightly a bit too predictable, and, with those revelations, I wouldn't exactly class Kane as a 'villain.' He unfortunately falls into more of a typical 'Rhysand villain-but-not-villain' category, for those ACOTAR fans who I am sure will pick this up.

Mari, however, was a complete breath of fresh air. She made me laugh so many times, and I adored her character, alongside her and Arwen's relationship.

I look forward to seeing what the second book brings, even if it was not exactly what I was expecting. And I would still highly recommend it for dark fantasy lovers!

*May contain slight spoilers!*

I love a great romantasy series, and this was no exception! It has many of the tropes that I have come to love and expect in romantasy, but with some of the author’s own twists to make the story just different enough that made me want to keep reading on. I finished this book within a day as the plot was easy to follow and there were not too many characters introduced that confused the storyline. This had a VERY slow burn - I was certainly not expecting what happened in Chapter 27! What a great twist!
King Kane is a very likeable morally grey man, who makes no apologies for his actions, but seems to misunderstood by others.
The story is fast-paced, with good world building and character developement. I wasn’t sure that I liked how quickly Arwen started to trust Mari and share secrets with her, especially the intimate details regarding her enemies to lovers to enemies relationship with Kane. For Arwen’s sake, I hope that this doesn’t come back to haunt her in the future, especially after what happened with Halden and the secrets kept by Kane. I was not ready for the ending either, it left a lot open and much to be explained which I’m hoping is done well in book two. Arwen has an arduous journey ahead of her and I’m excited to see what book two (A Promise of Peridot) holds, and have wished for this on NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and Kate Golden for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book didn't get off to the best start for me, I found the beginning quite forced and it felt like a rushed device to get the FMC to where the author wanted her to be - in the Kingdom of Onyx, with minimal backstory and world-building.

The writing is very simple and almost read like a children's book, which was surprising for a book that is marketed as 'New Adult', and I found some of the descriptions of the characters to be contradictory - for example I found the scene where Ryder returns home to be very confusing as what Arwen was saying about his disposition didn't seem to match up with what he was saying.

All of this was jarring and made me very aware I was reading a book rather than being lost in it, and I should say that at this early point, if I hadn't received this to review I would have put this book down as not for me.

As it is, I continued reading and unfortunately the contradictory nature of the characters continued on throughout the book, for example with Arwen not knowing whether to trust another character but then going on to tell all of her secrets, and the way that Kane acts didn't match up with the supposed king who rules with an iron fist. I enjoyed the romance but ultimately felt like the characters lacked substance so I wasn't rooting for them as much as I would have liked. The plot was fairly predictable.

Overall I think this was an interesting premise that needed better execution, and I also think that this should have been marketing to a YA audience rather than New Adult. I did like the ending and think that the series has potential - this wouldn't be the first series to start with a book that could use some improvement. I would give this 2.5, rounded up to 3 here.

This book was just so much fun, I loved everything about it from beginning to end!

The tension between Kane and Arwen was amazing, I loved their enemies to lovers to enemies relationship. It was very much a one step forward, two steps back relationship that was executed perfectly. So often, you can get annoyed at that type of relationship, but I never felt any frustration here, instead it made me more excited to keep reading.

I also really enjoyed the slow trickle of information & truth & how their relationship changes with every reveal.

I laughed, gasped, swooned & shouted NOOO all while reading this, not just for Arwen & Kane but also for the side characters who I loved just as much as the MCs!

The end POV from Kane was also a wonderful touch! Oh, and the light spice. I hope there’s more of that coming!

I honestly have not enjoyed a book this much in a while & I cannot wait to continue with this series!

I have wished for A Promise of Peridot via Netgalley, and I really hope I get the opportunity to read it as an ARC because I just want to jump back in & continue reading! If, not, however, I will be ordering this book when it's released!

Thank you to the author, publishers & Netgalley for approving my request to read a Dawn of Onyx!


Goodreads review: Will be posted 09/01/23
Instagram: By the end of 12/01/23

This book was so addictive and hard to put down. All the twists, action, romance and revenge in this book was amazing. The characters were so unique and love that he called her bird 🥰

Wow I really enjoyed this! It was quite different from other fantasy books I have read recently. The world building was brilliant whilst still maintaining a fast placed plot. I loved the slow burn romance element and can’t wait for the second instalment!

I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend to anyone who loves
fantasy, adventure, secrets, mythical creatures and slow burn romance.
honestly one of my top reads for 2023

For me it was meh at best. The plot didn't engaged me much however the description was interesting. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, not that I ever wanted to be taken as prisoner etc. The writing was pretty good though it was an easy read.

i loved this book. the world building sucked me in but wasn’t too complex as to leave me confused for the first half of the book. really interesting layers of unanswered questions throughout. i loved the mcs and their banter and all the twists (many i saw coning but still loved them). the tension was brilliant <spoiler>(albeit slightly annoy as there was no release in the book) but it should make the eventual completion of a spice scene very rewarding.</spoiler> i loved the beauty of the world, as well as the mythology. thoroughly enjoyed, but not sure what i’m supposed to do with myself now whilst i wait for the next book.

I really enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to anyone who loves a romantic fantasy with enemies to lovers, touch her and I'll unalive you energy, secret prophecies and hidden identities.

It has all the great tropes and plot devices that I enjoy in romantic fantasy stories, with great world building and sets the scene really well without dumping loads of information on you right off the bat.

I sometimes found the main character a little annoying and shallow, but this felt quite accurate to her age and naivety. I loved how fleshed out the side characters were, they had depth and not just used to serve the plot.

Kane was everything I love in an MMC and I can't wait for book two to see where the story leads!

The ending !!!
Immediately preordered book 2 and can not wait to read it.

If you are looking for a new romantasy series with a slow burn enemies to lovers trope then look no further.

The pacing was perfect, starts off slow and steadily picks up the pace so it never feels dragged out or rushed.

I was provided an arc of this book by netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I'll be posting my review on goodreads and my Facebook bookclub group

Set in a world divided into the names of precious gems, Arwen is a healer from the region of Amber with a gift to mend those in her care with some unknown magical skill. After her brother returns unexpectedly from war, she is pushed into trading places for him in captivity and ends up moving to the Onyx Kingdom. There's nothing original or shocking in this book but I really enjoyed it! The main character is likeable and the decisions she makes (that of course place herself at risk) are based on understandable reasons such as attempting to protect her family. It was similar to other books centring around fae love interests but it was an engaging read that didn't require too much deep thinking to understand the story.

Despite a couple of discrepancies and inconsistencies early on I had a great time with this. The pace really picks up and although it felt slower at times once all the characters had met and intermingled, I raced through it. There are some great characters, Arwen our fmc did bug me initially but I soon warmed to her and was fully routing for her in the end. We gets lots of lore and fantasy creatures, an epic war building and a cast to love and despise heartily, oh and lots of mystery and heart. I adored the tension between Arwen and Kane their chemistry was great. There's a lot going on and at times I wished it had slowed down and given more depth. A lot of info and reveals are thrown in relentlessly that hurtled you to the end. And what an ending! The fairly surprising events leave you a bit whiplashed and slightly agonised but craving more. I'll definitely continue with the series.

A great start to what is going to be an epic tale. I loved this romantasy and cannot wait to read more!

Unfortunately, reading this book didn't go as I hoped!

Unfortunately I found everything very banal, excessively predictable.

Even the characters failed to win me over.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

5 stars

This was just... so good. The characters were well fleshed out, the world-building was done really well, and the tropes were done to perfection. A true enemies-to-lovers full of swoonworthy moments. I'd say this is one for fans of Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series.