This book came highly recommended by my lukewarm acquaintance Kate.

If you are looking for a mindless fantasy read to cure your SJM hangover, this just might be the one. The characters are lovable, and it’s a classic enemies-to-lovers situation that you can fully dissociate into. The nickname ‘bird’ had me giggling and kicking my feet throughout this book.

A Dawn of Onyx is definitely more romance-focused than fantasy-focused, so if you like your fantasy with a side of romance, this may not be your #1 pick, but it is still a good read nonetheless. Kate Golden’s writing is descriptive and romantic but not cheesy or cliché, which is my biggest issue with much of the writing in the “Romantasy” genre.

While most of the fantasy books I’ve read follow that classic format of heavy worldbuilding at the beginning and by the end all the pieces come together, this book is not very heavy on worldbuilding. I do, however, think it could have used a bit more of the worldbuilding element, as the plot is really just a romance set in a fantasy realm. I’ve heard, however, that the fantasy and worldbuilding element is stronger in her second book. Because of the lack of building, I kind of felt like not much was happening besides flirting and tension building for the first 75% of the book, and then it all kind of comes crashing in the last 25%, leaving you with a lot of questions. Hopefully, those are answered in book 2.

I will definitely be continuing with this series and am eager to read more of Arwen and Kane.