A Dawn of the Onyx is a phenomenal tale of love and betrayal by Kate Golden!
BOOK DETAILS
TITLE : A Dawn of the Onyx
AUTHOR : Kate Golden
PUBLISHING DATE : December 15, 2022
PUBLISHER : The Daisy Press
GENRE : New Adult Fantasy
TRIGGERS : Violence, Abuse, Assault, Dysfunctional Family
TROPES : Forced Proximity, Who did this to you, Enemies to Lovers, Hurt x Comfort
SYNOPSIS – A DAWN OF THE ONYX
Captured by a king of darkness. Forced to find the light within.
Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother’s. Now she’s been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King.
Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he’s as infuriating as he is cunning—and seems to take twisted
pleasure in playing on Arwen’s deepest fears.
But here in Onyx Kingdom, trust is a luxury she can’t afford.
To make it out of enemy territory, she’ll have to navigate back-stabbing royals, dark magic, and dangerous beasts. But untold power lies inside Arwen, dormant and waiting for a spark. If she can harness it, she just might be able to escape with her life—and hopefully, her heart.
“About an hour after that, my herbs had been sorted not only by color and place of origin, but also by how handsome I thought they would be as boys—cardamom clearly took the win there—and my boredom had become excruciating.”
KATE GOLDEN (A DAWN OF THE ONYX)
MY BOOK REVIEW – ★★★★★
A DAWN OF THE ONYX
No book so far has been so heavily marketed to me as A Dawn of the Onyx by Kate Golden. Whenever I opened my Instagram, someone was either reading this book or raving about it. Finally, I caved in and decided to give this book a fair chance.
Best. Decision. Ever.
Fantasy has always been my comfort genre, but finding books that are intriguing and captivating enough is a difficult feat. But, try to sell me a new-adult, fantasy, enemies-to-lovers book, and it will be the smoothest deal you’ll score in your life.
The book managed to seize my attention from the get-go. In every fantasy novel, the first few chapters involve serious world-building, and that usually is any book’s most tedious part of the book. What sets A Dawn of the Onyx apart from run-of-the-mill fantasy books in this aspect is that alongside world-building, the author also managed to keep the story moving forward. There were no pages upon pages of internal monologue where the main character was ‘telling’ the readers about their world. Instead, the intricacies of the fantasy world were unveiled as the story progressed.
Arwen was a wonderful character. The fact that she was as average as they come and not uncharacteristically brave or exceptional in her abilities made her more relatable to the readers. Sure badass female protagonists are all the hype, but straying away from the norm can sometimes lead to better reading experiences.
Kane was the perfect morally grey, misunderstood hero in literature. He is everything we wanted The Darkling from the Shadow and Bone series to be and much more. His backstory is heart-wrenching, and I kid you not; I shed a few tears while reading about it.
The climax left me yearning for the sequel, and I ran (RAN) to enlist for Kate’s Street Team!
If I could, I would shove this book down every Fantasy reader’s throat, forcing them to read it. Yes, it was that good! Kate, you’ve gained yourself a new fan!
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