Firstly I want to thank the author and netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I am 86% of the way through and all I can say is WOW, I cannot put this book down. The worldbuilding, character building, magic, sexual tension is just amazing. After finishing ACOTAR I didnt have much hope of finding a book to that standard.

This book is soo good, I have fallen in love with the writing, characters and the world they live in. I cannot wait for book2!

What a great start to a new fantasy trilogy Kare Gorden writes in an easy style and commands her audience with ease.
Good world building, delicious and sometimes darker magic, romance, and characters who grow and an evolving storyline.
Has it all im looking forward to the next book.
Highly recommend.

Thank you netgalley and Quercus for this free arc I return for an honest review

This book. No words 5 star. The angst/passion was everything. I demolished this fantasy book up in 4 hours!!! This is such an easy read with minimal world building.

A Dawn of onyx - Kate Golden
5/5

“I was willing to sacrifice the entire world to keep you alive”

Uhm excuse me? What on earth did I just read? I am lost, in a good way! I am angry at Arwen and her choices in the end, but thats a whole other conversation.
I got sucked into the story FAST. There was no slow buildup until the action happened, and i liked that. A few things that happened I could see coming from miles away, but somethings I wouldn’t even have considered could happen! Also DRAGONS!! Anyway I really liked this book, the world building was great, the characters were well written and intriguing and the plot keeping me on my tippy-toes until the very last words!

I was given this ARC and am leaving this review voluntarily

Arwen Valondale, forced into servitude by the cruel Onyx King, uses her rare magical gifts to heal his soldiers. Trapped in the perilous Onyx Kingdom, she must ally with a fellow prisoner to survive. Amidst dark magic and treacherous royals, Arwen discovers her dormant power, fighting for freedom and, perhaps, love.

.Enemies to lovers
.Captor/Captive
.“Who did this to you?”
.Walking in while she’s in the bath
.Hurt/comfort
.Hidden identities and powers
.One horse
.Slowburn

I've had a string of bad luck with books claiming to be in the league of Sarah J. Maas, until I stumbled upon this gem. I loved it. It's rare for me to give 5 stars, especially in the fantasy genre where my expectations are high. Yet, this book was perfection.

The story is engaging from the very beginning. Our strong willed FMC, though a bit naive to my taste at times, showed unwavering determination to protect her loved ones. The MMC on the other hand, was the perfect morally grey hero, irresistibly sexy, enigmatic, and delightfully secretive.

The world-building was interesting without being overly elaborate. The characters were meticulously crafted, and the romance developed slowly, providing a satisfying, gradual burn. The witty banter and dynamics between Arwen and Kane drew me in immediately. This book not only met but exceeded every expectation it set.

However, fair warning, it ends with a HUGE cliffhanger. Proceed with caution if you're not prepared for the wait; the second book is yet to be released. I have high hopes that this series will soon claim a spot among my all-time favourites, can’t wait to read the next

(This review will be posted on Instagram @beco_books)

I absolutely loved this book! I am so glad it was picked up by a publisher! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book. I really liked the premise of it, and found the story to be interesting, especially in the beginning. However, I wasn't sold on the writing style and found that Arwen could be quite petulant at times. I enjoyed the world building. Some of the plot was predictable but I still found that I was waiting for the twists and turns of it. Overall I enjoyed the book, despite the writing style not being my favourite, but I don't think I will be rereading it or reaching for it again.

I consider myself a die hard fan of enemies to lovers romance books but personally, I found this one to be lacking the one particular aspect that is was advertising to define its romance. I went into this book thinking that they would be true enemies and this was my mistake. If you go into this novel with an open mind and few expectations you would probably enjoy the story more than I did. The plot was nice but a little predictable and overall it is worth reading if you are a fan of romantasy books.

A great slow-burn enemies to lovers romantasy. This wasn’t a fresh take on well loved troupes but it was a lot of fun to read. This is the best captive romance I have read for sure. The world-building is good, I love the use of sacred stones for places and the scenes in the forest are all amazing! I didn’t want to put the book down at times, I hope the next book brings more forests, wolves and chimeras! The FMC is sheltered but independent. She has fears to overcome and a long way to go on her journey. I felt the dialogue was very young at points and wanted more growth from the FMC in this respect. I think she was more mature I would have preferred this.
The MMC is a new fave shadow daddy and I have nothing negative to say about him. There are also some interesting side characters that I hope get more air time going forward.
What most annoyed me about this book is it didn’t feel YA or NA. Although saying this, the ending was epic and I’m utterly invested at this point so does that even matter? If you like romantasy then this book is a must. Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Four and a half
Definitely a slow burn romance or is it enemies to lovers because it definitely has both those aspects as the story progresses.
In a kingdom at war Arwen suddenly finds herself far from home, a prisoner and coerced into helping the enemy in order to protect herself and her family . It’s just too bad that Kane, the despotic, evil King is gorgeous, infuriating and for some odd reason determined to keep Arwen around . Is it her gift for healing or does Kane have more secrets ?
I started off liking Arwen but at times she’s a character that acts in the most ridiculous way . Kane certainly is keeping secrets that get revealed right at the end and one of them is a doozie but it just didn’t sit well with this reader and felt thrown in and rushed without any real outcome . The relationship between them is like riding a seesaw although if Kane is this sexy, hound dog why is everything feeling pretty YA at times ? The biggest dichotomy for me though is Arwen as she considers herself less important than anyone else, complains of feeling trapped and says she cannot trust but honestly that just didn’t gel with how the book started . Hmm I do want to continue this series but hope for more maturity in these characters because there’s a lot to like here and I feel the Fae aspect was barely touched so could be expanded in the next book .
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from NetGalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

4.5 starssss
I’m so exited for the next book and see how the story develops between those two 😩😩😩
This is the perfect fantasy to read this autumn
Thanks net galley for the arc 🫶🏻🫶🏻

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 enjoying A Dawn of Onyx this 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!!).