A review by alliewithbooks
A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden

Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

I am just…getting so tired and impatient with the current state of romantasy. So many of these books are just bad. The world building here was okay and I thought the characters were enjoyable enough (not necessarily likeable, which is a different thing in my eyes) but once her brother burst through the door at the most convenient and coincidental time, it just lost it for me. They’re talking about him and being like “sigh he hasn’t returned in so long he’s prob dead atp” and at that exact moment he waltzes through the door. It just felt way too timely, like I was watching an SNL skit where they were heavy-handedly setting up the entrance of a character. But despite all of that, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Not every author is good at subtlety or pacing, not a big deal and can easily correct itself. However, it just never really found its footing. I felt like the character interactions were weird and the story was getting lost in the structure. And I also felt like the introduction of what I’m assuming is the love interest just wasn’t working for me. I knew I wasn’t going to like him, and therefore wouldn’t be invested in the relationship.