What I Liked:
A Dawn of Onyx sucked me in so hard it was near impossible to put down. Even at 427 pages, I finished it in a day. Kane is a deliciously complex MMC and it was beautiful to see Arwen discover her own reserves of quiet strength. I know slow burn isn’t everyone’s favorite, but I didn’t mind and started to laugh every time a romantic moment got interrupted. I liked the ending because there was a sense of resolution as a phase of Arwen’s journey comes to completion but there’s also a huge reveal that shifts reader’s perspective of everything and leaves them wanting to find out what’s next.
What Bothered Me:
Honestly, what bothers me most is that my library app is saying the waitlist for the second book in The Sacred Stones series is several months long.
Overall:
I highly recommend A Dawn of Onyx to any lover of romantic fantasy. It is easy to get lost Arwen’s story in the world of Evendell. There are two things to keep in mind. First, you might hold off starting it until you don’t have any major obligations, because you may not be able to focus on other things. Second, the series isn’t quite finished yet with the third book scheduled to be released 8 October 2024.
The Last Word:
I just finished A Reign of Rose and I am very happy with The Sacred Stones trilogy. I think there is a pretty good balance between the character development, the romance, and the action. Even with the action, it’s broken up between quests and battle scenes. The series overall is a slow burn but I will say the third book gets quite spicy. I highly recommend to those that like ACOTAR but don’t always feel like reading 800-1000 page epics. I’ll be looking out for the potential spin offs that might be coming.
