The tagline got me. The story lost me.

I appreciate the opportunity to review. Sorry for the long delay in feedback. I'm working on clearing out my Netgalley backlog. I am DNF'ing all books that just don't work within the first 50-100 pages. Trying to find the joy in reading again by going through the hundreds of abandoned books here.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused

Had a hard time finishing this book. I dont know, I feel like I can't go on with the flow, but I continously wanted to know what would happen next. The premise of the book was okay. But then at the end, it did not meet the expectation I was hoping for.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m not sure if the copy I received is an arc or a final copy. It was already published when I grabbed a copy to review. I really hate to give this a bad review but this book was really lacking in all of the things I look for in book.

The cover caught my eye and the description sounded like a promising YA fantasy. Unfortunately, this did not deliver. This book is just shy of 200 pages, which I consider to be novella length. A book needs to be clear and concise in such a short amount of time, and I was confused the entire time. This book needed atleast 200 more pages to tell it’s story. There is little to no world building, no character development, the plot was all over the place and everything happens way too fast.. This story has a ton of potential, but the author takes every fantasy element and trope out there the chosen one, a love triangle, multiple perspectives, time travel, magic, superpowers, witches, shapeshifters, and fae and throws them into this book without really developing any of the plot or explaining anything. That didn’t work for me.

The author has a decent story here and the actual writing isn’t bad. This book needs better explanations and more details especially with all of the plotlines happening and all of the characters that get a voice.

Well this was a nice little find! I say "little," because this is on the shorter end for a fantasy read. I'm used to at least three-hundred pages for a fantasy. But, I enjoyed it all the same!

Naturally with a shorter read, there isn't as much detail in world building and character development. However, the writing style and the way the story advanced made this lack of information work. I will always take more if I can get it, but the information that was given was enough to keep the plot moving forward and engaged me as the reader.

The beginning of the story begins on Earth, where we meet our heroine Emory Reia Fae. A girl who grew up in an orphanage gets a reality check when two men who have haunted her nightmares for years suddenly show up in her house.

She is spirited away to the world on which she was born--Kiero--where she re-learns her past. Not only does she originate from Kiero, she also learns that she is the rightful heir to the throne. But her lineage was overthrown by a vile man known as Adair. Emory joins up with the Black Dawn rebellion to earn back her rightful spot on the thrown, and to overturn the damage Adair has done to their world.

With having a history on Kiero, Emory also discovers that her past holds some dark secrets--some her own doing, but some by other people. With a difficult past, and tumultuous future, Emory must relearn who she is and the power she holds in order to follow the purpose laid out before her.

Black Dawn is an interesting plot written from multiple characters' perspectives, so the reader gets a glimpse of both warring sides and their motives. The end is left wide open, allowing for a sequel to follow. I just heard that there will be a prequel of Black Dawn coming out sometime in July 2018, so be looking out for that!

Overall, this was a great, fast-paced read. I'm looking forward for more in all areas, to get a better picture of this world and what all is happening in it. My favorite aspect of it was that it was very clean!

Vulgarity: None!
Sexual content: Kissing only.
Violence: Some, but not very graphic.

3.5 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

What first got me was the first line in the summary "The end of an Empire, the rise of a Queen". Sounds really interesting right.....well let me tell you this book was hardly anything like that epic statement. Emory is pulled from our present world and is taken back to her home land of Kiero, where her parents have died and she is apparently the Queen.

I really like the beginning but once Emory got to Kiero, it all went downhill from there. I could not connect to any of the characters and the pacing was way off. The world building was horrible and confusing, I did not understand what was going on most of the time.

There was also way too many mythical characters such as, mermen, Fae, shapeshifters, witches and whatever else there were. There was just way too much going on at one time. Her suppose half brother was a shapeshifter, which never really explained how or why he was like that and then at one point he was captures by a witch. WTF!!!

Will I be reading the sequel......hell no!! This book was terrible, I really thought it had potential, but NOPE!!

I received a copy from YA Bound Book Tours, Netgalley and Clean Reads Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Whilst fantasy is my favourite genre to read, urban fantasy is not. I had expected a rural, kingdom fantasy vibe but, instead, this has a more of a science fiction feel to it. Perfect at what it does but just not suited to my particular reading tastes.

Black Dawn tells the story Emory, Memphis and Brokk. Emory is the long lost queen and she must save her people from Adair, their mad king.
Emory didn't know she was a queen or that she had a special ability until Memphis and Brokk brought her back to Kiero. It's hard for her to believe everything they say because she doesn't have her memories of what happened in Kiero when she was younger... Memphis and Brokk are trying to help her by giving her, her old memories, and are trying to convince her to fight Adair, but will she believe them?

Black Dawn is the first book in the Black Dawn series and I liked it. I like reading about special abilities and shapeshifters so it was really enjoyable to read. I liked the multiple perspective because I got to know a lot more about the characters, but I still have some questions. I want to know why Emory and Memphis did certain things and how Brokk is dealing with certain things. I'll be looking forward to reading the sequel!

I'll start by saying that this is very clearly the first book in a series. What I mean by that is that it sets up a lot of things that aren't ever pulled into any kind of conclusion. I know some people (myself included) aren't huge fans of loose ends so I thought it would be good to mention that this story is nowhere near an ending by the end of this book (is that a spoiler? I don't think so?).

Right, let's pare this back to the basic elements. We've got Emory, who has been taken (back) from the human world and is gradually getting her memories of being the heir to the fae throne back. She is a Leech which essentially makes her like Rogue in the X-Men, she's able to steal powers while in physical contact with other people.

We have an evil king and a group of rebels opposing him. We have potential for treachery around every corner and we have a few viable love interests one of which can shapeshift into some kind of wolf-like creature.

Hmmm...

So I'm going to set aside my dissatisfaction at the lack of an ending because that's not a fair assessment of the book and if I had the sequel I would probably feel differently.

It's not often that my main criticism is that a book is too short. I'm far more likely to complain about a book that drags on and on. But in this case I think it would have been helpful to have developed some of the ideas before bringing the threads together. I want to know more about Emory's life in the human world and I want to see more of the cruelty of the leaders in the fae world and the gradual despair of the resistance. Think about Prince Caspian, for example, in that we don't get the Pevensies until the action in Narnia has been fully established and it makes the emergence of the children so much more poignant. Without being given proper context it's hard to get to grips with a story and understand why you're supposed to care about things. I think, if this book had taken a similar approach it would have been much better.

Another issue I had was the romance. While I don't think the romance was badly written, it just felt a little bit tacked on at the last minute. It neatly avoids instalove by pulling in the idea that there had been something from long before but it still feels like instalove when you read it and that makes it feel very insincere. Again, had this idea had the time to develop that it really needed that could have been a beautiful plot.

I feel like every paragraph I write is going to come back to that same point. The characters needed more time to develop, the story ideas equally so, the setting, the plot, it just all needed more time and more effort. I think it was this that made the whole book feel fairly shallow and immaterial. You don't get invested in it because there's not a whole lot to get invested in.

On a positive note, because this is someone's creation I'm critiquing and I like to talk about happy things, it is pleasant to read partly because it is so light. There have been a lot of books I have read of late that have left me worn out and this refreshed me somewhat. Equally, I do think the concepts were sound, the idea of two worlds, of sacrifice, of rediscovering a lost identity. All of these are great foundations on which to build a story.

It may be that the later title(s) in this series give me that development I needed from this book, only time will tell. For now, if you're looking for a light YA fantasy read I recommend looking into Black Dawn.

My rating: 3/5 stars

By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

❝ Her mind was a tornado, unforgiving and pure destruction.❞

*DNF Review at 70%

I don't think her mind was the only one that was a mess. I was so confused right off the bat because so much information was being thrown at me about their world. But even with all these info dumps I was still really confused as to what was going on between different characters. There were characters lying and hiding things left and right so I kept getting all these really confusing gaps.

Part of it was also that you had so many characters thrown at you in the beginning that it was hard to keep them straight and remember who had what ability, who was together, all that. The other part of it was that I couldn't connect to the characters at all. They all just felt very flat with nothing to really set them apart.

Most of the characters felt like a blur anyways because the story mostly focused on Emory and Memphis.

❝ You mean to say that I have fallen into a modern fairy tale? I was the royal princess whisked away, and you and him have brought me rightfully home to... to what? To fight in an epic battle? To restore harmony to the land?❞

Emory was easily the center character of the book. She was the "chosen" one to save them all and the only one everyone could depend on--basically the typical stereotype. That might not have been terrible on its own but Emory really had no idea what she was doing and everyone was quickly ready to stand behind her. It just didn't seem realistic. The story moved way too fast right after Emory came in. 

Not only this but there were too many characters in love with her. Where I left off we had identified at least three. I couldn't see what made her so special that just about every other male character wanted her. 

I also didn't like that she forgave a certain character too easily after he admitted to doing something without her knowledge, just so that he would stand a chance with her. And the romance also felt rushed and forced. Really, it was pretty much insta-love which was justified with the explanation of her having known him before and she just got her memories back.

As I said, I didn't finish this book in its entirety, but I tried to give it a fair chance by reading 70% through. I think the story had potential but the writing felt sloppy and it came out poorly executed.

Adjusted Rating: 3.5 Stars

Black Dawn had me so.very.worried until about 75% of the way through. I was tempted to give it 2.5-3 stars because it was such a clever idea wrapped in a predictable plot and hints at the hated love triangle.

And then "IT" happened. And I can't tell you what that was. I can just tell you it flipped everything on its head for me and it made me thoroughly enjoy the last 25% even while wondering what in the world was going on.

In my reviews, I tend to focus on character development versus world building and have been known to take off whole stars because only the main character is fleshed out. This is, thankfully, not one of those books. McCartney knows what she is doing when it comes to her characters. She fleshes them all out, gives them all motives, and gives them all a touch of humanity--redemption for the devil and faults for the angels, so to speak. Emory is a wonderful 21 year old to follow into a broken and violent world and I appreciated that the entire cast of characters were engaging when we were in their POVs. Brokk quickly became my favorite. I wasn't ever sure about Memphis. But I think that's kind of how it is supposed to be.

Sadly, the 1.5 stars taken off was because timing was so dang screwy. This is McCartney's first novel, and it reads like one with an air of chomping at the bit and like she was too excited to tell the whole story to slow down and savor it. It's an incredibly fast read, and that's because she moves the story along with characters talking and acting like it has been years, when in reality it has been a month. I'm not talking insta-love or the insta-knowledge in relationships that actually do span the years with a large sabbatical in the middle. I'm talking about the present day time that just doesn't seem to be conveyed properly and it made me not enjoy it as much as I could have.

That being said, it's still a fun and fast paced novel. If you find yourself wanting to read some fun fantasy that focuses on magical abilities in a dystopian setting, pick it up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mallory McCartney, and Clean Reads Publishing for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @35%. I still didn't know anything about the villain or the overall reasons for the rebellion. I had no connection to the characters. While the concept is interesting, the book was not for me.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
I was eyeing this book for a while because it has such a beautiful cover and even the synopsis is great but it’s only 180 pages so I was a bit reluctant. But I was really happy when I received it from NetGalley.
I started to read it as soon as I got the time and I ate through it really quickly. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t my favorite. The story itself is categorized as a NA book but I would rater put it into the YA category because apart from the characters being in their 20s there is nothing that would suggest it. It’s clean and more along the lines of a YA story.

Plot is really, really, super fast paced. I mean the main character gets dropped into a whole new and unknown world for her then with a magical moment she suddenly remember everything and things get even more rapid. And the changing between points of views doesn’t help with this situation. The whole plot is quite confusing and hard to follow. At the beginning it is also heavy with the world building and descriptions. So between the fast storyline, the jumping between point of views without rhyme or reason and the world building it took me for a while to get into the story. And when things started to clear out and I started to really enjoy the book it was nearing the end since it’s on the shorter side. Around the end the storyline took a brilliant turn but I feel that it was really rushed.
The characters are really interesting and I loved how none of them are purely on the good or on the bad side of things. They all represented both sides and had quite complex personalities. Emory is strong and resistant character, who gets into the thick of things without thinking. Then there are Memphis and Brock her ‘protectors’ and friends. They were both different and liked them. The author did really well when it comes to character development. Although I fear the possibility of a love triangle but it’s not there yet.
This book has a lot of good elements to it I just wish it was a bit longer or the storyline a bit more sedate so it didn’t felt so tight. The author wanted to condense too much into 180 pages and the story suffered a bit because of this. However I’m curious about the next book because the ending was brilliant.

Solid YA if not a bit too short!!!
180 pages was not NEARLY enough to delve into this story, even if it's just book one! That being said, it was good. The characters were interesting, the romance not utterly infuriating ( I know, I've set my bar for YA romance so high, clearly.) )But hey, the men were swoon-worthy, and the female MC had a good head on her shoulders. I'll take it. I'll be interested to see where this series goes and if the author develops the story line and characters a bit more..

I'm sorry, I just couldn't gel with this book at all. The premise was so very good but the main characters just didn't jump off the page and tell their story. Thank you so much for allowing me to read it though. All books are worth reading.

Emory Fae sees a strange man in her darkened hallway during a blackout. Falling unconscious, she wakes to have been taken to another world. Memphis tells her she is missing royalty, and the rebels have been fighting the man who has usurped her throne. Slow start, but character and worldbuilding fell in place to make this a nice paranormal action novel. Good villain, bloody fighting, character deaths, sweet magical abilities, nice mystery to keep you involved, and a cliffhanger. I voluntarily reviewed a copy from Netgalley.

This book started with a bang! I was thrown right into the middle of the action where, unfortunately, I was lost right off the bat. Thinking this was the second in the series, and maybe I missed the first one, I actually searched Goodreads or the first book. This is the first book. Surprise!

The story was great. There were a lot of aspects that could have been embellished on, but I really enjoyed the read. This book has so much potential to expand on this universe and dive deeper into the back stories of the characters. I wanted more. MORE! PLEASE GIVE ME MORE, MALLORY! If this book has a sequel, I want to read it and hopefully it is longer.

Three stars for Black Dawn.

This review was written by Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina http://www.exballerina.com it will go live on 6-14