Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett (2023 Book Review)

They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime.

Cast out of the nobility, Kate now works for the royal courier service. Only the most skilled ride for the Relay and only the fastest survive, for when night falls, the drakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: She is a wilder, born with forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals.

And it’s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by drakes in broad daylight—the only survivor Corwin Tormaine, the son of the king. Her first love, the boy she swore to forget after he condemned her father to death.

With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin must put the past behind them to face this new threat and an even darker menace stirring in the kingdom.

Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett (Narrated by Khristine Hvam)

For context, I'm moving my wordpress content here. Website is being Hella weird right now. So better safe than sorry.

This is more or less my first genuine read of the year, or should I say listen. This year has brought challenges both personally and professionally but many good things to. I decided to take a dive with Scribd because school work was taking much of my time same as freelancing and growing my business. I didn’t want my love and joy of reading to be put on hold the way it was as of late.

I went head first into this one. I had only seen it once or twice on my feed and remembered it among others when I saw the cover. I debated over ebook or audiobook, and audio won this time. And I have to commend Khristine Hvam for her wonderful narrating.

From the world building to the characters and their plights, I can tell you that Onyx and Ivory is everything seventeen year old me would have wanted in a fantasy novel. Adventure, romance, monsters and of course, the fantasy itself. Every thought, every single ache of strife of secrecy, the conflict and the reality of the characters seemed real, sometimes too real but that’s where the beauty lies. It’s a perfect blend.

This first book, gave me a taste of that and now I find myself wanting more. There isn’t spice in it. I’d give it a 2 at most. The real goodness is in the magic and adventure and I am aching for the next book.

For now, it’s safe to say that both Onyx & Ivory and Mindee Arnett have made it into my good books. Just a bit shy of the gilded ones but still. That’s something, given my current state.