Summary
Kate Brighton has been an outcast for the last few years after her father tried to assassinate the King. Since then she has made a name for herself as a Relay, an Imperial courier, who needs to be skilled in both riding and survival if they are to make it to their destination before night when the Nightdrakes roam freely. In some ways, Kate’s job is easier as she is a wilder, which means she has a special connection to the minds of animals. However, her magic is prohibited and the punishment for yielding that magic is death. Life has other plans for her when she stumbles upon a massacred caravan, the presence of nightdrakes during the day, and her first love, the son of the King her father tried to kill, all at once.
Review
While this book is mostly plot, action, and intrigue driven, my favorite element were the characters. Most of the book is spent trying to unravel the mystery of Kate’s father’s actions, the politics of the world, and the search for the mysterious day roaming Nightdrakes. But what stuck with me after I finished the book, were the characters.
Kate is persistent and she fuels other’s hatred towards her to make herself faster and stronger. She reminded me of Daine from the Wild Magic series, especially Daine’s head strong personality, at times. Corwin, the boy who broke her heart, was also interesting as his relationship with his brother is intriguing. I enjoyed having both of their perspectives in different chapters. I will note though that Kate’s special snowflake status kind of bothered me sometimes and Corwin’s necessity to be the most attractive Prince person also got on my nerves.
But where the book shined were the side characters like Signe , Dale, and Tommy. The little group that makes up the story was the element that made me fall in love with the book. While, as a whole, this book was solidly enjoyable, I wasn’t overly astounded. There were many elements I liked, but it didn’t push it over to – amazing for me.
That being said, I think the sequel has more of a promise to be even better, and that’s saying something!
Pick up Onyx and Ivory on Goodreads.
Disclaimer: I found the arc at my Dad’s office.
Discussion
Who was your first literary role model?
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This is the first review I’ve read for this book. I do enjoy great characters as well as alternating chapter view points. I think it’s hilarious that this book is about trying to sleuth out her father’s mystery and you found an ARC at your Dad’s office. Hmm…
haha that is such a great coincidence! But yeah – I also love alternating chapters!
Does your dad have a lot of ARC’s? I’d be drilling him if it was me…i’d be like, DAD, YOU KNOW I LOVE TO READ….
Ha I do, everytime they drop ones he calls and says, ‘so do you want any?’
My first literary role model was probably Katie in ‘What Katy Did ‘ and the subsequent sequels. Written way back in 1872 it’s about a twelve-year-old American girl, Katy Carr. She’s a bit of a tomboy, has adventures, and gets into all sorts of trouble but really wishes she was beautiful and graceful.
She is injured in an accident and it’s the coming of age aspect as she slowly recovers that resonated with me.
Woah, this sounds dynamite, I’ll have to add it to my list, Thanks!