Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden

Posted October 10, 2023 in review Tags: 4 stars, enemies to lovers

A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden

Series: The Scared Stones #1
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Source: ARC, NetGalley

Goodreads

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.

Dawn of Onyx is a slow burn romantasy with that good enemies to more vibe that I like. Arwen is a great heroine who is smart and brave…mostly. Sometimes, her decisions had me shaking my head. But, overall, I liked her! She is a captive who is determined to sacrifice her self to save everyone else. Kane, the evil king, has the whole “I’m evil, but you know, I’ll be nice to you sometimes” thing with Arwen. It was kind of cute, TBH.

There is a major war going on in this fantasy world. The world building was really good. The war is the reason Arwen and her family had to flee, and her brother’s stealing the Onyx king’s gold is both their initial salvation and Arwen’s imprisonment. I really enjoyed the plot and the detail in the world. World building can be difficult-some authors kind of info dump and dive right in, but Golden did a good job of balancing info dumping and slow learning. I felt really immersed in the story.

The slow burn was so slow. It was a tad frustrating for me, but it might not bother others! Overall, I am excited to continue with this series!