What a fantastic book this is! I can’t believe I had not read it before now, and I wish I had read it sooner! A Dawn of Onyx is a really great book, full of magic, sacrifice, enemies to lovers tension, friendship, personal growth, and so much more.
I loved our main character, Arwen. She is caring and strong, stubborn, eager to learn things, and willing to do anything to save her family. Arwen can heal others, and devotes her life to saving others. She doesn’t feel as loved and strong as her brother, but as we go on in the book, we get to witness her growing into herself. One of my favorite things is watching our FMC grow into herself and her confidence, and become the woman she is meant to be.
Our MMC, Kane, is soooo perfect as the MMC. A shadow daddy wicked king, he is as dark and devious as everyone says… or is he? I loved getting to know him more throughout the book and from Arwen’s perspective.
Their budding attraction? AMAZING. Kate Golden knows how to write a slow burn with a ton of banter. It was perfection, and I was eagerly devouring their relationship as it began to grow. I also loved all our other characters as they came into play!
The world building in A Dawn of Onyx was 10/10. I felt as though I was plopped right into the world and story. The details describing everything, the background info, it was all perfect! There was so much character development, a lot of plot, and the story was truly so good.
This is your perfect slow burn enemies to lovers romantasy! It doesn’t have a lot of spice, but the spice that is there is great. I enjoy a good spicy book, but I felt like this was really well done and did not need more than it had!
Overall, A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden was fantastic and enjoyable, and I am so excited to read book 2! I recommenced it to anyone who likes a slow burn enemies to lovers romantasy.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
All 2 available for you in this series
See full series
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Team Onyx, I stan.
“Firstly, you may call me Kane. King Ravenwood is a little formal from someone I’ve made blush as many times as you.”⭐️ 5🌶 1.5🏰 Touch Her and ☠️🏰 Morally Grey MMC🏰 Warring Kingdoms🏰 Enemies to Lovers🏰 Fae, Monsters, Witches, Magic, Dragons🏰 Secrets and Betrayals*Warning, possible spoilers below*-------------------------------------------------------Wow, Kate! What an introduction to our Shaddy Kane & Stabby FMC Arwen! I'ma big fan of world building and a little more of a complex set and setting and Dawn of Onyx did not disappoint. I love the reference to the stones, and Arwens love of flowers. (Reminds me of afternoons in my grandmother's garden). The twists and turns towards the end of the book had me blazing through the last 10 chapters SO FAST.We love a good healer FMC who doesn't know her true power and is trained to wield weapons and to reach her full potential. A classic and fun character arc, but twist in Arwen's world- she can't heal someone who is near and dear to her heart. This person is Arwen's sole focus in this book and fuel that fuels numerous good and bad decisions. Her character development in this book is wonderful- the strength she gains (not necessarily by choice) and the way she discovers more of herself after growing up in the background.Kane Ravenwood. Those two words. Oooomph. As the shaddy of this book, a lot of his truth omission kiiiiiinda made me mad. However, I think Kate really tried to portray the anguished-King-who-has-made-bad-decisions-and-is-on-a-path-to-redemption thing. I like him, but... I'm kinda on the fence about trusting him, ngl. Also, his twist!? Didn't see that one coming- that was pretty cool.I really LOVED the blatant expressions of want and need from Arwen. Its so very nice to see an FMC express feelings of wanton desire. We see/read/heart it all day everyday from our favorite shadow daddies, but hearing women express these things- sometimes seemingly unrequited, alsI caught his bottom lip between my teeth and sucked—I wanted another one of those low, rumbling, male noises. I wanted it more than air in my lungs.I wanted to devour him—to feel him everywhere. I had wanted this for so, so long, every minute we were both still fully clothed was a tragedy.I also really enjoyed getting to know Mari. On so many levels I could relate to her. The need to know more, be the best at what I do, unrelenting research and reading... *first daughter syndrome, anyone?* She's the fiery red-headed friend I'd want in my life, and to see her be that friend for Arwen? So cute! Also, spoiler I stan mari + griffin ship.There are so many experiences of betrayal (Halden can suck a duck), of fear and pain- both in the form of things we took comfort in because we once knew to be safe, and in the form of things we were told were fable but are actually true.“There is only true courage in facing what frightens you. What you call fear is indeed power, and you can wield it for good.”Ohkay, and just to add as my personal form of nightmare- I don't like lizards. Like... I have a phobia of lizards and frogs. I will scream and run 2 miles in the blink of an eye to get away from one, and when Garnet unleashed their Giant Salamanders on Peridot and Onyx- I about reeled!! Straight nightmare inducing images. (Peep my kindle note below for my middle of the night freak out.)We experience loss, we experience happiness, we experience a sense of safety, we experience *jealousy* and some spicy banter. There is not much spice, the 1.5 chili's is more for the content that was within the *almost* spicy scene.... But, I'm here for it all.In my opinion, the book starts to really pick up around the halfway mark, and we're left on a cliff hanger... I'm really excited to see what happens in the next book (A Promise of Peridot) which releases on April 11, 2024. What's going to happen to Arwen & Kane? Will Mari + Griffin ship? What's going to happen to Ryder & Leigh? Will Amelia step up and be the ruler we need her to be? WILL LAZARUS DIE?! I can't wait to find out.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024
“I love to listen to you explain medicinal practices,” he purred. “And I’d love to listen to you fall of a cliff.”
✨
✨
A Dawn of Onyx has everything a romantasy reader could want in a story – enemies to lovers, morally grey MMC, who did this to you, unusual abilities, great banter, and oh so many secrets. Additionally, the world building was well done. There are so many places referenced that I hope we get to visit in future books. Both Arwen and Kane’s characters were richly developed. Also, the banter between them was so delightful and has me giggling just thinking about some of the scenes. The plot was interesting and engaging despite being predictable. The ending, though, had me shocked and desperate for book two. Ruby Cherise did a great job with the audiobook. She brought so much sass and emotion to Arwen’s character. If you’re a romantasy fan, I definitely recommend picking this one up.
✨
✨
A Dawn of Onyx has everything a romantasy reader could want in a story – enemies to lovers, morally grey MMC, who did this to you, unusual abilities, great banter, and oh so many secrets. Additionally, the world building was well done. There are so many places referenced that I hope we get to visit in future books. Both Arwen and Kane’s characters were richly developed. Also, the banter between them was so delightful and has me giggling just thinking about some of the scenes. The plot was interesting and engaging despite being predictable. The ending, though, had me shocked and desperate for book two. Ruby Cherise did a great job with the audiobook. She brought so much sass and emotion to Arwen’s character. If you’re a romantasy fan, I definitely recommend picking this one up.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
Julie🕊️Books.and.chocolat3📚
Loved it !
Reviewed in France on April 17, 2023
Julie🕊️Books.and.chocolat3📚
Reviewed in France on April 17, 2023
✍️
🥀 First book in a trilogy
🥀 « Who did this to you ? »
🥀 One horse
🥀 Royal politics
🥀 Betrayal
🥀 Fae/Magic/Power
🥀 Hidden identity
✨𝗠𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄✨
𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭……: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺 ……: 🌶️🌶️
𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳 ….: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵 ……..: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 ……: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
💬
That , ladies and gentlemen is a wonderful and completely unexpected surprise !
I read this book because I bought the Midnight whisper box , the cover is stunning and there is a dragon.. I love dragons .. so I wanted to try ..
With all the mixed reviews , I didn’t have any expectations.. but guys ? Seriously ?? It deserves hand down 5 stars.. and for a 1st book ? *chef kiss*
So now ? I’m so happy to have this SE !
It’s hard to make completely new content in the Fae world , so many books on the market .. but honestly, it was original, all the plot twists didn’t take me by surprise , but it didn’t bother me , I enjoyed them the same , but other plot-twists did surprise me .. the scenes actions was good , well written..
The romance is a slow-burn, the tension is delicious, no sex but the little glimpses were hot and detailed..
Good world building without overwhelming us .. I easily pictured it.. and when I became nostalgic about the keep and shadowhold I knew I fell in love with this story ..
“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵,” 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵. “𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘦,” 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. “𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦.” 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘦. “𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.”
Kane .. I loved everything about him , but my favorite thing ? Kate wrote a MMC who shows feelings and emotions .. and THAT it’s wonderful, he is jealous, possessive, broody, mysterious and completely in love.. I’m obsessed with him .. my heart broke for him at the end ..
I loved Arwen too, she isn’t normally the type of FMC I love , she is naive , scared of the world .. but I don’t know ; she is brave , feisty, her inner monologues and snarky comments were priceless.. she made me laugh a lot .. I was a little disappointed at the end to be honest with her behavior .. BUT I understand Kate’s choice regarding the romance.. it’s just the first book but I sincerely hope it won’t become a « push and pull » romance too long .. finger crossed 🤞🏻
Even the secondary characters are endearing, not just one dimensional, they add flavor.
The writing is good , funny , easy, full of hearts and emotions ! it’s a page turner and I swallowed it in one day..
It’s one of the books I would easily read again .. I’m happy to have discovered it, it’s an author I will follow closely.
Well , I hate the end ,and not because it’s not good , but because I want the sequel yesterday.
Images in this review
