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!!).