Review--A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden

 

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.

Kate Golden’s A Dawn of Onyx was a fun and enthralling fantasy read! I’m always up for a new fantasy read with different kinds of magic and new worlds! Golden writes of a lush kingdom with different countries taking on the names of precious stones. It really was quite fascinating!

Arwen is a magical healer who keeps her abilities under wraps. If people knew, it just wouldn’t be good for her. Living in a world where the fearsome Onyx king rules with an iron fist, it’s always best to just keep your head down. But then when her brother defects from the army after a brutal attack, Arwen with her mother and younger sister must flee with him to another province. Only as fate would have it, Arwen finds herself at the mercy of the very army her brother ran away from. By showing them her abilities as she saves one of the soldiers from dying she saves her own life while also condemning it. She is now a prisoner of the Onyx king. 

When she’s not performing her healing duties she is locked away in a cell. It’s when her mysterious and enigmatic neighbor starts talking to her she finds some stability in a very scary situation. It’s not until she makes an escape attempt that her life changes even more. 

Soon she meets Kane, the Onyx king and he’s as terrifying as everyone says and yet he’s also…different. She makes a new deal with him that gets her out of the cells and has him look for her family so she can send word that she’s as safe as she can be. 

It’s kind of like a Beauty and the Beast scenario where the terrifying ruler shows a kinder side to his imprisoned beauty. But despite the circumstances I never really felt like we had the Stockholm Syndrome going even though you could say that’s what’s happening. But eventually Arwen doesn’t really hold the “imprisoned captive” title. But we still have this very intense connection brewing between Arwen and the king.

As the story moves along we get word of prophecies and destinies and we see a greater plot beginning to unfold and the mysteries and secrets begin to grow. Some become predictable and some were something of a surprise! Needless to say I was thoroughly enchanted while reading this one! It was a very spellbinding read, no pun intended. 

This was a most fantastical read and I enjoyed it immensely! The slow burning romance between these enemies to lovers was superb! I positively love it when the love and feelings take time to build and since we’re at book one it’s definitely going to take awhile til we get to something like happily for now if not ever after!

A Dawn of Onyx was a mesmerizing fantasy read that kept me at the edge of my seat! With all the secrets and mysteries and a spine-tingling romance between these two characters this is a series all romantasy lovers will want to check out!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars