The best arc I’ve read so far! I LOVED this book and devoured it in less than 12 hours. I’m so excited for the next one. It really helped to get me out of my reading slump.

A Dawn of Onyx is the exciting first book in a brand new romantasy series. Kate Golden has woven such a captivating story with the most incredible world building and phenomenal characters.

The writing style was a work of art; it was simplistic and incredibly beautiful. The world building was detailed but easily understood and I wasn't at all confused or overwhelmed by it. The characters were so well written and I completely fell in love with them!

I can't get enough of this world and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel: A Promise of Peridot. I highly recommend this book to fans of slow burn, enemies to lovers set in a fantasy world!

Book Review 📚
A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden - 4/5 ⭐

Goodreads is to blame for this one. I, shamefully, hadn't heard of this until I was scrolling through GoodReads upcoming books, because you know I need to add more books to the never ending TBR, then I saw A Dawn of Onyx and had to read the blurb. Whoops. Now here I am.

Firstly, the writing style in this book was impeccable. It flows easily, there's amazing detail, world building is phenomenal and the characters are brilliant. Even with things happening left, right and centre, it was so easy to not be overwhelmed. Cannot fault anything about the writing, style or otherwise.

Kane - I want him. He has the whole "touch her and die" vibe that we all crave from a man. The whole character was brilliant and he made the read so much more intriguing. Arwen - it was an absolute joy and pleasure to watch her grow through the book, her personality develops more and more and there was something so enjoyable about her. These charges together simply made the book. You could scrap everything else and the book would still be impeccable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

I loved this book. I had heard a lot about it and it truly lived up to the hype. It was an instant five stars for me and I can't wait to continue this series.

The writing style was very easy to read and kept me gripped. I read this book in a couple of days because I just wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.

The world building was done very well. It was drip-fed to the reader slowly so that you weren't overwhelmed with everything all at once. It also leaves plenty of scope to find out more about the world and it's inhabitants and creatures in the rest of the series. I would love to read more about Acorn the strix and the chimeras; I always love animal companions.

I love the build of the relationship in the book. The banter is top notch and I love the 'touch her and die' vibes from Kane.

I read this as an ARC copy but it has already been released. According to Amazon, the second book A Promise of Peridot will be released in April 2024. I can't wait to find out what happens next. I'm counting down the days already!

Thanks to NetGalley, Kate Golden, Quercus Books and Jo Fletcher Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A good fantasy romance book. It has its predictable points, but it was well-written, and the main character is very likeable.

I enjoyed reading this one. The sex scenes weren't too over done, which was good. I find that with some romance it's more porn than romance, but this wasn't too bad. I didn't feel like I was getting hit in the face with sex every few pages.

The world-building is pretty good, although I would have liked to see more of the different beasts. I also think more could have been explored with the chimeras and the shape-shifting.

I am definitely looking forward to the next one.

A fun romantacy filled with all the expected tropes, including a morally grey MMC who asks ‘who did this to you?’

This book managed to hold my attention even after reading straight after Iron Flame, which I think says a lot.

Arwen is a gifted healer who ends up behind enemy territory when trying to protect her family, but soon learns the evil king is not who she thought he’d be.

There’s slow burn, there’s tension, there’s hidden magic and of course many a twist and turn. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes for book two.

Thank you NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Dawn of Onyx" by Kate Golden is a captivating masterpiece that seamlessly weaves together intricate characters, a gripping plot, and a vividly imagined world. Golden's storytelling prowess shines, keeping readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. The seamless blend of fantasy elements and relatable emotions creates an immersive experience, making this a must-read for any avid reader. Four stars for a truly enchanting journey that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

Arwen the FMC is such a joy to read, we get to see her grow both physically and mentally in the book from a young and naive girl who hasn’t seen anything outside her small town (only scratching the surface of her powers) - to a badass main character finding out how much more there is in the world and the character really comes into her own

Fantasy elements and world building are amazing but simple enough to get into so you don’t feel completely overwhelmed! But you can fully see the world that Kate is building

Spice levels are good 🌶️ tension is even better and Kane is the perfect morally grey MMC

Thanks to Netgalley and Jo Fletcher books for a review copy of this book. A new adult fantasy that appears to aim for the audience of “The Fourth Wing” it has the attributes of the fantasy novels of that kind that are popular now, though at times I found it a little rough around the edges and so doesn’t quite live up to that of the Fourth Wing, or any Sarah Maas’s novels. The novel is set around Arwen, whose impoverished family live in wartorn Everdell in the Amber territory. When her brother, a drafted soldier returns with a bag of coin solen from enemy Onyx soldiers, her life is upturned and she and her family try to escape to the Garnet kingdom. Before they can board ship Arwen returns to their home to retrieve her mother’s much needed medicine, but the Onyx enemy soldiers are already there and they capture her. In order to save her life and her family’s she offers her services as a healer and they take her to the castle fort where the Onyx king has his headquarters. As she spend more time there, healing the soldiers and negotiating the threats and trials of the court life Arwen comes to realise that the king and the rest of the world of Evendell isn’t what she’d understood and that there were unimaginable threats to her and everyone else.

The storyline is interesting and the use of gems and the powers were a nice touch, but the world building could have been stronger and deeper. The dynamics between Arwen and the king were sometimes compelling and other times not as smoothly written as I would have hoped for, with dialogue that occasionally sounded a little contrived. Overall it’s an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the coming years.

This was one of the basic fae romantasy that has literally million of varietions rn and I wanted to dnf so many times. The story was basic, creatures? typical, characters? bland, mystery? what mystery?

I'd probably enjoy it, if I was 14 reading my first romantasy, but since I've read dozens of books just like that, it was too bland for me. Nothing stick out.

You have another village healer with mysterious powers, who later gonna slay everyone, I guess, who's dumb af and can't lie and so is naive and opinionaned abt things she has zero knowledge, like girl, you're from absolute nowherehole and you're lecturing literal king about ruling?  Just because you were lady of some geese and one cow didn't give you necessary qualifications to even open your mouth. And she's so jealous and he's so beautiful and so handsome, but he invaded her innocent country, but he also has great abs and even injured and in cell he's the most handsome men she's ever seen and he's so tall and- YES I UNDERSTOOD THE FIRST TIME HE'S HANDSOME STFU PLS

And the king pls🙄 he's obv an awful monster, who kills innocent and feeds on flesh of many women he beds. But wait he's actually the good guy, that's so surprising 🙄 and he fell in love the first time he saw her crying in a cell🙄 and later when her childhood crush shows up he's so jealous omg, and he's so dumb and very in love and they're probably mates or something, cus he also has some sus magical powers, I can't

And nothing really happened in this book, she's just going in and out of the apothecary,  talking with 5 people max the entire book and almost getting assaulted every five sec

Thank the author and netgalley for providing a book in exchange for honest review.

I really enjoyed this. I fell in love with the plot, the characters, the world, all of it really! The pacing was just right, it was slow enough to not feel rushed but not too slow that I got bored.

Arwen was so likeable and I loved her growth throughout the book right up to that epic conclusion. And Kane. Oh my!

I loved how things weren’t quite as they seemed and there is a deeper reason behind everything.

I cannot wait to see what happens next!!

A Dawn of Onyx is a really solid and intriguing start to a new fantasy series, and a debut novel from an author I will be definitely following.

Our FMC Arwen is a strong, smart and curious character from a small town in a warring kingdom. Her love for her family gets her thrown into a war, which she has a lot to learn about- there is so much going on under the surface.
The world building is page turning, with a fascinating morally grey MMC, who has a delightful chemistry with Arwen. Creatures, magic and Fae, this story has grabbed me and I can’t wait for the sequel.

🗡️Tropes🗡️
Slow burn
Enemies to lovers
Warring kingdoms
Fae
(And a dragon!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC- all opinions are honest and my own. .

Mop me up for I am nothing but a puddle on the floor 🫠

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Dawn of Onyx by @kategoldenauthor is SUBLIME.

I have inhaled this entire book in just over 24 hours.

When people ask me for romantasy recommendations, this will be #1.

This delivers everything I need the first of a fantasy series to be: Kingdoms at war, a morally grey king, creatures and shadows in the night, magic, prophecies and an MFC with a spine. I literally couldn't put this down, I fell asleep clutching my Kindle.

If you like reading;

- The Mist King Series
- These Hollow Vows duology
- Adrian X Isolde

then I'd say you'll love this. I'm in no way comparing these series to A Dawn of Onyx, this is based on pure vibes and a good time whilst reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an eARC for an honest review. I cannot wait for A Promise of Peridot. You’ll find me staring at my wall until it comes out. Thanks.

Loved it. A small town girl flees with her family to keep them safe but ends up going to an enemy kingdom as a prisoner. Ends up working as a healer and learns more about the so called enemy as she works to escape. I truly enjoyed this book. It had everything you want in a story, action, intrigue, a little bit of romance and people growing and learning as they go. I loved the characters, loved the world building and cannot wait to read the next installment.

A really enjoyable fantasy with some intriguing worldbuilding and a nice smouldering romance.

Arwen is a healer, one with a special gift she keeps hidden - she can heal with her mind, not just with herbs and knowledge. But when her gift in inadvertently revealed to invading soldiers she finds herself captured and transported to the forbidding Kingdon of Onyx, a warlike country who has declared war on her own peaceful country, leading to the deployment of all men of fighiong age including her beloved brother and the man she might just love. Arwen is determined to escape, but before long she has caught the attention of the feared Onyx king, and soon starts to question all she has been taught to believe.

There are some well trodden tropes here - chosen one heroine (who has no idea how beautiful she is), enemies to lovers, love at first sight, etc etc but it is written so compellingly and with some lovely snarky humour that the tropes feel fresh. Sequel is already on the wishlist! Recommended.

3⭐️
This was a fun read, fairly predictable and following typical fantasy/fae tropes but I enjoyed a lot of the interactions between the main characters and felt like they had some good chemistry. I do wish there was more focusing on learning about Kane, he was pretty one dimensional and similar to a lot of jaded, morally grey male leads, but I just love how he cares for Arwen! I’m also hoping the side characters are fleshed out more in the next books.
I will definitely be picking up the sequel! If you like a slow burn, enemies to lovers, fantasy book with what is looking to be some interesting magic systems then I’d definitely recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus books for the eARC in return for an honest review.

This book was great! So good I went online to buy myself a copy as well!

The story is tightly woven with intrigue and excitement, enough for all to enjoy. The twist at the end of the book was a surprise to me too… which isn’t saying much as I’m not great at identifying any hints! But overall the plot was fast paced and kept me wanting to read late into the night to find out what would happen next.

The characters are also great. Told entirely from Arwen’s perspective, we get good insight into her feelings - her joy and turmoil. She is a feisty character with no small amount of courage. Kane is dark and mysterious… and both are well fleshed out and fun to read about. Their relationship feels natural in its progression, which is always nice to see. Not quite enemies to lovers but not far off the mark.

This is a debut and a good one at that. I’m very curious to know what happens to our characters in the next instalment of this series, and will be reading on to discover more about these delightful characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the advance reader copy.

This is a book I can see being very popular on TikTok, which can be both a good and bad thing.
There was minimal world building and the main characters felt one dimensional throughout the book.

It’s a classic enemies to lovers - with a bunch of misunderstandings and tension.

I think if you want a quick read this book will cover that. I hope that the sequel redeems what the first book was lacking.

I loved this book so much it really draws you in and lets you escape into another land, forgetting the reality you leave behind. I would read this again, I will be buying it for myself and friends and would highly recommend it.

What a book it is, I can’t believe it just ended, I wanted more, needed more. I already cant wait for the next one.
This book had me smiling, feeling all sorts of ways towards the characters and found it hard to put the book down!
I loved the small section at the end from his pov, just wished their back stories were explored more.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy enemies to lovers romance set in a world of warring kingdoms and fae magic then this might be worth a read. I did enjoy A Dawn of Onyx but there really isn’t anything here that hasn’t been done a million times already (and arguably done better elsewhere). It’s a fun read but don’t go into this expecting too much.

Characters
I didn’t have any strong feelings about any of the characters really, which is itself not great.

Arwen, FMC, is strong and independent but not infuriatingly stubborn to the point of petulance like so many ‘strong female characters’ are these days. I also think Golden found a nice way of showing Arwen’s naivety and her slow growth as the book went on. I definitely wanted more growth from her though - she was still very young presenting at the end and I wanted her to have developed more. I think that if we had seen more maturity from Arwen that could have really leveled up the book.

Kane, MMC, is the classically dark, broody, morally grey love interest - he ticks all the typical boxes and I did feel like he was fairly well written. But I also feel like I could switch him out with about a hundred other identical characters in this genre and not notice. He was very one dimensional for me and painfully predictable. I did enjoy Arwen and Kane’s chemistry though!

There were some interesting side characters though - I could definitely see some alternative POVs happening or even some spin off novels as some of the side characters were really strong.

Plot
To me there were far too many gaping plot holes here for this to make any sense and that did massively impact how I’ve rated this. I hated the whole prophesy element - it always just feels like a cop out to me and like a lazy plot. I also didn’t rate the actual prophecy? If you’re going to bother with one at least make it sound cool! Honestly the whole read kind of just felt like a bunch of tropes and cliches thrown together with a very loose plot to hold it all together.

I also didn’t rate the twists at the end at all. There was no hinting, or build up to them, and they still don’t make sense to me and if anything they just cause even more plot holes.

World Building
Much like the character development and the plot, the world felt a bit cobbled together and surface level. There just wasn’t much depth or complexity which was a shame. I also hated how juvenile the political sphere felt. I also felt like the twist at the end really undermined the world building as it just didn’t make sense with what we had been told (which I know was kind of the point but it bugged me)

Overall:
While there isn’t anything new here, A Dawn of Onyx isn’t badly written and I really did enjoy reading it (I’m a sucker for an enemies to lovers slow burn though!). It feels mean to say, but this genre is so heavily saturated and honestly this book feels very mediocre. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth a read but it does mean if you’ve read a lot in this genre then you really need to set your expectations accordingly. If you’re just looking for a fun read and you don’t mind some plot holes so long as you get a tension filled slow burn, enemies to lovers romance then go on ahead as this might be worth a read for you!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.