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A review by thewiserslone
A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Next year might be when I start doing quarter stars, because this was a definite 4.25 read that I'm rounding up to 4.5 because I've committed to half starts this year lol.
Overall, nothing groundbreaking, and very comfortable for a romantasy. I can't figure out what the crack was in this book though, because this story was riddled with things that normally annoy me but I couldn't put it down. So for that alone, it's better than a normal 4 star read for me.
The good: Great banter between FMC and MMC, great side characters, kingdoms not based on seasons or time (the bar is on the ground lol)
The norm: Typical magic system, broody dark MMC, average pacing, hidden powers
The bad: After an action-packed start.. not much happened? The plot leaned heavily into character arcs until the last 15%, which was a lot of action and plot. Normally it makes the pacing feel slow, but I didn't hate it... but still nothing happened??
Secondly, this might seem nitpicky.. but some names are just off-limits in new stories, I think. The FMC in this book is named Arwen. There is only one Arwen in the world and we all know who she is. Arwen is forever off-limits. Would you name your MMC Frodo? No, you would not.
Also nitpicky, but the FMC was a virgin, which not to say there is anything wrong with that, but it seemed unnecessary (at least with the information we have so far). There's something about mentioning a character's virginity (she's 20 btw) that makes it feel fetishy to me, which is an ick. It was a mega slow burn that resulted in one whole chili pepper, and the next book better be spicier because Kate KNOWS what she did.
Now you would think a review where I wrote 3x as much of what I didn't like about the book, as what I did like about the book would mean I didn't like it. Loved it. Will happily read book 2 and just preordered it.
I can't make it make sense either.
Overall, nothing groundbreaking, and very comfortable for a romantasy. I can't figure out what the crack was in this book though, because this story was riddled with things that normally annoy me but I couldn't put it down. So for that alone, it's better than a normal 4 star read for me.
The good: Great banter between FMC and MMC, great side characters, kingdoms not based on seasons or time (the bar is on the ground lol)
The norm: Typical magic system, broody dark MMC, average pacing, hidden powers
The bad: After an action-packed start.. not much happened? The plot leaned heavily into character arcs until the last 15%, which was a lot of action and plot. Normally it makes the pacing feel slow, but I didn't hate it... but still nothing happened??
Secondly, this might seem nitpicky.. but some names are just off-limits in new stories, I think. The FMC in this book is named Arwen. There is only one Arwen in the world and we all know who she is. Arwen is forever off-limits. Would you name your MMC Frodo? No, you would not.
Also nitpicky, but the FMC was a virgin, which not to say there is anything wrong with that, but it seemed unnecessary (at least with the information we have so far). There's something about mentioning a character's virginity (she's 20 btw) that makes it feel fetishy to me, which is an ick. It was a mega slow burn that resulted in one whole chili pepper, and the next book better be spicier because Kate KNOWS what she did.
Now you would think a review where I wrote 3x as much of what I didn't like about the book, as what I did like about the book would mean I didn't like it. Loved it. Will happily read book 2 and just preordered it.
I can't make it make sense either.