Onyx and Ivory (Rime Chronicles #1)

I really wanted to enjoy this novel. It had an intriguing premise and I love YA fantasy (plus HORSES). I agree with other reviewers who noted that the book was trying to do too many things and in doing so it didn’t do any of them very well.

Plot lines included:
– Discovering why Kate’s father tried to kill the king
– Mage vs. wilder social unrest
-day drakes killing people
-romance between Kate and Corwin
– uror/competition between brothers

The problem with too many plot lines is that I did not have strong feelings about any of them. I love a good romance, but this book did contain one. Why does she even like Corwin? We’re told they were best friends and in love but he’s mad over an accidental kiss from years ago? I did not understand that part.

I wanted to like Kate and I liked her more at the beginning of the story than the end. She was tough and she worked hard to succeed in a male dominated line of work that she was forced into when her father committed treason. However, she really starts to fall flat as the action picks up and misses obvious signs and applications of her abilities. She has strange moral views too as she’s clearly against fooling around before marriage but completely understands and sympathizes with her father’s relationship with a prostitute and secret child with her.

The uror parts of the book I found myself almost skipping through. It’s an interesting concept to have this magical black and white animal appear but the trials themselves made little sense. They did not seem actually dangerous, they did not seem to reveal any greater depth in the characters and overall did little to advance the story.

I do not think I will read the next book in the series.

If you are looking for a great fantasy that has: amazing world-building, forbidden magic, nightdrakes, HORSES, rebellion, intrigue, betrayals, great friendships, surprising revelations, and a slow burn romance…..then this book is for you!!!!
Kate – the MC – has the ability to commune with animals – known as Wilder magic which is magic that is in tune with the elements or the world around them and of course is illegal. Mage magic – which is legal, involves runestones. The Wilders have to hide their magic because if caught, they will be sentenced to death. Bring on the rebellion!!!!!
Corwin – he is the King’s son, could possibly become king himself but doesn’t want to, blames himself for his mother’s death, struggles with insecurities (don’t we all!) and he and Kate grew up together, were best friends until she had to leave because her father tried to kill the King.
I love that the story is told in alternating POV between Kate and Corwin. I am a big fan of multiple POV as I feel it gives me so much more incite to the stories.
There is so much more to this story! One key thing I do want to note is horses are important in this book and I know Mindee has horses herself as there are so many little details in this book that only a horse person would recognize.
While this story may not bring anything new to the fantasy genre, it read and felt like a cozy blanket, I couldn’t get enough and can’t wait for the next book!!! I think we need more stories like that!

I read through the entirety of this book and, honestly, I’m a bit mixed on it. I feel like it started off good and interesting but ultimately failed me in the end. It just ended up not being my type of story and I’m not going to discourage others from reading it, only share my thoughts on it:

I’ll start out with the positives:

-The world-building. Oh boy, do I love this world. The magic is one thing, because I’m a sucker for that, but the trials Corwin has to go through in order to become king, the lore behind Corwin’s family tree and all the little tidbits that we hear of how towns and cities operate? I love it, I love it all. The politics, the layout, the geography, the operations of couriers, and every little detail in-between really had be enthralled with what Mindee Arnett has built.

-Nightdrakes and (SPOILERS) daydrakes. I’m kind of sad that these featured less and less as the story grew on but I think there’s something wonderful about the idea of the human-murdering draconic creatures that prey on any who wander foolishly in the night. This was actually the idea that drew me into the book in the first place, and from the first few pages alone I was infatuated with the idea of nightdrakes. And when the daydrakes showed up? Oh, wow, the summary had warned about such possibility but it was almost startling to discover the existence of such murderous creatures being allowed to frequent in the light. I really admired the concept of both the night and day drakes and I think Arnett did wonderfully on portraying these beings as horrifying and yet somehow beautiful in their terrifying, killing machine-like nature

-I liked the plot. I especially liked the plot when it involved (SPOILER FOR ABOVE) daydrakes. I enjoyed knowing that Kate could use her powers to control them and the mere fact that daydrakes had, of all things, a hive mind. There were other aspects I enjoyed too, and generally the plot was enough to keep me reading, but i admittedly have to say that the more the book progressed the less the plot became a page-turner for me and more a “eh guess I’ll finish this since I have time” feeling

Cons:

-The title doesn’t make sense to me. I get why it exists and it is relevant to a scene in the book but, overall, Onyx and Ivory isn’t really a title you can apply anywhere else in the book and be like “ah, yes, this title describes the whole book quite well in its subtlety”. Maybe I missed some hints but the only way this book title applies is with the black and white foal and with the black and white swords, the former of which holds some importance and the latter of which is just an…”eh” kind of scene

-Characters. I like Kate. In fact, she might be the only character I like. All the other characters (especially Corwin) I don’t like. Corwin I never become fond of and thus I suffered because I was stuck with his POV because I couldn’t be bothered to sympathize with him.

-Sort of insta-love. I don’t mean insta-love in the sense of “two strangers lock eyes and they fall in love” but, rather, “two people who were in love before fall in love again and it gets irritating and boring real fast”. I’m not the type of person who enjoys requited pining. I enjoy seeing only one side of the story and not both when it comes to romance so this was just very much a “ugh, we get it, they like each other, plot please instead?” moment. I enjoy romance, but not this kind of romance. I was also uncomfortable with one scene that kind of pushes the boundary into sex but that’s just because sexual scenes are generally uncomfortable for me and I usually ignore their existence or avoid books with them altogether.

All in all I give the book 3 stars because it was decent enough to be worth my money in terms of reading it but I also felt like it just ended up not being my thing, either, especially at the half-way point in the book. I’d recommend it for people who are probably into more mature fantasy books with great world-building but it’s not the kind of book I find myself completely enjoying.

Its a young book with good characters, far more interested in the side characters than the main ones. The world building is brilliant and the knowledge behind horses and weapons shows the research the author has put in.

The plot and the villians is easy to see where its going but certain events dont add up, the errant Prince is too perfect and the flaws are too obvious, the heroine makes you want to kill her, typical tomboy but wants love but ready to take on everything and be perfect.

I love the heroine best friends they are good and enjoyed the first third of the book, the middle dragged and the needless over long points of the errant prince facing his trial and Kate facing her old life was boring but the twists were good.

I wont comment on the last third but say you could see where it would lead.

Overall a good story but needs condescending of the love story of the main characters

If you enjoy YA Fantasy Fiction with a new magical concept, new take on Dragons thats fast paced with an interesting mixture of Characters, then you need to read this book, and soon!

I havent previously encountered the Author, but at a friends suggestion, I ordered a copy to read. I loved it so much, it is now our Book groups January readalong! Also. That cover is just so gorgeous I may be more than a bit envious of said friend, who has the sprayed edges edition from Fairyloot, but Im getting distracted.

I adore the characters, theyre each so different! And each are likeable for very different reasons. I particularly loved the fact that we know from the very start who the romantic interests are, and as we alternate between the two peoples perspectives for the story, we were given a very unique view of each persons personality and individual misgivings regarding the others feelings. For me, thus made it so much more relatable and fun!

Each Character had very real reservations, and each was confused. But yet, I think having both peoples views made this easier to understand, and less angsty. Instead, we get to see both sides of the situation, we get to understand both their attitudes in each situation.

Thats just the romance, but alongside this you have the Fantasy and magical element, there are secrets and revelations as we go. There are interesting turns of event, shocking reactions from some, and some interesting badies

When I sit and think through the book, I am hard pressed to come up with one section in particular that I enjoyed, because they all blended so perfectly! The story is far from slow paced, and having read the blurb I was fully expecting to spend the first 1/4 of the book waiting to get to the action. Dont worry, this Author gets you stuck in quickly, and still managed to wonderfully create the world you find yourself in the middle of.

There are elements of intrigue, there are action scene, there magic and mayhem… there are so many things I have enjoyed about this story, and I would very very happily read this again! I truly loved it, and I cant wait to see what comes next for the series!

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