A Dawn of Onyx: The Sacred Stones Book 1

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There are also a lot of great gals helping fellow gals/frenemies out in this book and I loved that! I don’t want to quote them because that will spoil a few things for you but be on the lookout for it! 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! I think what made this book so entertaining to me are the characters. Arwen Lily Valondale is a healer from a small village in the Amber Kingdom. The continent named Evendell worship the nine Holy Gemstones and consist of kingdoms named after the holy stones such as Kingdom of Garnet, the Pearl Mountains, the Opal territories, the Peridot Provines, and the most ruthless of them all—the Onyx Kingdom. You’re hurt. Why didn’t you say something?” “It’s nothing, just a bruise.” Anger simmered in his eyes. “Who did this to you?”

The King is a pathetic edgelord that gives Timmy Chalamet vibes than a terrifying overlord that would skin you alive for fun. Kane, on the other hand - i actually liked him! disregarding the fact that he was a total manwhore before he met Arwen (atp that doesn't even bother me much, it's just the cliche that bothers me lol), i thought he was such a perfect love interest for Arwen. mysterious, secretive, sexy, enigmatic. i like him. we like him rn, okay? even after all those things he kept from Arwen, lol. THE STORY was very fast paced, and the beginning was especially good at getting you interested in the story. So much happened in this book already and it’s set up well for the sequel. Maybe you can reason with the king. He cares for you, you know. You should have seen his face when I called you my wife. He looked like I’d killed his pet.”My only real complaint is Arwen. She’s naive and reads really young for a new adult romantasy. Some of her decisions made me want to head bang the wall. But with the epic ending, I can see how there’s so much room for character development. By the last chapter, she’s already changing into what I can guess is a total bad ass. So patience I have. Why did you think your life was worth less than his?” His words were not at all what I was expecting.” This book was such a fun read. The world building is so well done. The romance? The will they / won’t they, TENSION, enemies to lovers was so perfect. Kane, the mmc, is broody and secretive; Arwen is trying to figure out where in the world she belongs. I loved the two of them. Alsoooo it’s grand because he falls first. The king hasn’t been seen with any women in weeks. It’s all over the castle. I wonder if that’s because of you.” Let’s talk about one of the most crucial elements in this book: the ROMANCE. It was quite fast-paced in my opinion, I would have like it to be more slow-burn, but it wasn’t instalove. I’m glad that their feelings grow along with the development of a beautiful friendship. The dialogues do a lot of justice to this two.

But this one? Had me WHEEZING, CRYING, LAUGHING, HEARTTHROBBING! Featuring a unique world, hilarious character dynamics, and who doesn’t adore the grumpy x sunshine trope.

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the world-building i did have a few qualms with, but i have a feeling that's going to be rectified in the next book and i simply cannot wait!

I really liked the beginning, I could see myself falling in love with the world and I was prepared to give this book at least 4 stars, but the author dropped the ball pretty fast. From Arwen’s perspective, Kane is a ruthless, broody, and violent man; and she constantly wants to run away from him (we all know she doesn’t really, but, you get the point). Meanwhile, on the other hand, it’s blatantly obvious to everyone except our FMC, that Kane was pretty much a victim of Insta Love. His who did this to you vibes were firing off within ten minutes of knowing her. Initially, I was worried about that. I was so sure that this was going to be another slow burn that was actually more like a wildfire, but I ended up being wrong, and I am so glad that I was. Authors, if you are a member of the Goodreads Author Program, you can edit information about your own books. Find out how in this guide. This started off decently, I enjoyed Arwens character (at first), I liked where the story was going- exchanging herself for her brothers debt, her healing abilities, her exchanges with the ‘strange prisoner’, even the small plot twist with said prisoner, which was predictable, but I moved on.In an attempt to save her brother who was gone for a year to fight in the war against the Kingdom of Onyx but abandoned his battalion to flee which in turn led Onyx's soldiers to their doors, Arwen hides him from them and offers her services as a Healer to heal one of their own, but instead she is taken to Shadowhold, the Onyx King's army stronghold, and is held as prisoner. One of my favorite parts of this book is that even though there's a mystery… I never felt like I wasn’t being given enough information! The absolute audacity of some authors to keep us in suspenseful purgatory for too many installments in a series is truly appalling. Kate Golden does an incredible job at dropping tidbits along the way to keep readers interested.

As the story progresses, new threats emerge and the war escalates, Arwen finds herself right in the middle of it all.

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Sometimes writers get so involved in the plot they can't see the wood for the trees. Hang on a sec'--that's a cliche and it's better to remove it. Thank you so much Kate Golden for an arc of your debut! I can’t wait to continue reading Arwen’s story. This book is out now!