this book was definitely interesting! as i read the synopsis, i was VERY reminded of these violent delights by chloe gong, and the general concept is true. the first few chapters of the book is set in shanghai, and the fmc has high expectations with her family, and the mmc has high expectations from his dad, so the overall dynamic is set up to be very similar. i will say that the similarities end at the setting. when it comes to the story itself, i found it very fast paced. the fmc was shipped off to her mission very quickly, and i felt that she and the mmc were put together very conveniently. otherwise, thought it was a pretty entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! All comments are of my own opinion and freely given.

-second chance romance
-enemies to lovers
-espionage and double agents
-spy school
-betrayal

I love so many of the tropes associated with this book, but I wasn’t in love with it at all. I thought it was good, but am certain someone else will love it!

Despite the expectations I had for both the genre and the plot, This Wretched Dawn was not for me. The plot starts well, but ends up being monotonous; important characters are neither mentioned nor appear until halfway through the book; and some plots are dealt with and then disappear. A pity because This Wretched Dawn has a lot of potential.

A heartrending exploration of humanity. The ones that need to gorge themselves on violence for no reason other than to remind the people beneath them of their power, and the ones that fight to overturn the system for the hope of a brighter dawn.

The ending has me in shambles, so let’s go back to the beginning. *insert “you are not immune to propaganda” Garfield* One of the main messages of this book is that anyone is susceptible to propaganda. Being fed something from birth, whether it is intrinsically true or not, affects a person, their belief system, their behavior. Anna and Paris, our main pair, take the time to deconstruct why they think the way they do, what compels them to act. Others, however, like Anna’s sister Katarina, believe their leaders without question, even when it actively causes harm to those on both sides. Even when action is consciously taken to unlearn harmful beliefs, there is always a seed of the old way left over, waiting for a moment of weakness to resurface.

I adore a political intrigue plot, and Gong’s is perfectly woven. Even when I had woven some threads together, I never saw the whole tapestry until it had already been unveiled. I await the continuation of our heroes’ story with bated breath.

3.5 stars - enjoyable and perfect for a one-sit read!

I loved the rival courts drama, and the opposite sides' tension between the main couple.

I wasn't super sold on the writing at first, and it took me a longer time than I would've liked to get fully engaged with the story, but the FMC won me over and I loved her voice.

We love an ACTUAL rivals/enemies to lovers too!!

I had to sit with my thoughts on this book for a long while before I felt able to give it a star rating and clearly articulate my thoughts. To put it more bluntly, this book is so incredibly similar to another book that I had to decide if I could actually review this as an independent work. So that is what I will be trying to do in this review. To start with the positives, I found the plot very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and there was so much action and some great twists. However, I did not like the ending at all. I also struggled with the characters, especially the main character. I felt she was naive and lacked development, and had way too many internal monologues about her feelings. I did not think she had chemistry with Paris at all, and I was never invested in their relationship. That might have been in part because I never fully understood their political differences. I found the dual court system underdeveloped, and the rest of the world confusing. So overall, while I found this book easy to read, I found it lacking in the end.

This book struggles to find its audience. The world building is almost non existent and the courts make no sense. I also don’t know what age group this book is for. This was a miss for me, which makes me sad because the premise was so good!!

I admit that writing a review of this book is a bit difficult: I had high expectations (I was won over by the ‘it's perfect for Chloe Gong's fans’) which were, however, disappointed. However, I cannot completely fail it.

There is a good idea behind it but I think the author failed to express its the full potential, the book in fact in my opinion is a bit naive and immature; in particular I would have preferred more work and attention on the plot, worldbuilding and side characters. All the attention is focused on the two main characters and their relationship, but the final impression is that I don't know them well and in general to me it all seems to remain very much on the surface without a real deepening, despite the fact that there are interesting points, especially in the complex and divided figure of Anna with her anxieties, fears and indecisions.

From the point of view of style, I did not like the far too many metaphors and the accumulation of adjectives and synonyms in the descriptions, instead of enriching the description itself, I had the impression that the author was undecided about which metaphor or adjectives to use and in order not to choose she used whatever came to mind.

Melinda Gong’s THIS WRETCHED DAWN is explosively good and entertaining from the first page to the very last. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

I just finished This Wretched Dawn and I’m still sorting through my feelings. I’d rate it a solid 3/5 stars. The premise pulled me in immediately -Shanghai royalty, political espionage, and a second-chance enemies-to-lovers setup? Sign me up.

The slow burn between Anna and Paris was everything I wanted. Their history, the tension, the longing. It absolutely delivered in that department. I found myself rooting for them even when they were at each other’s throats. That blend of betrayal, unresolved feelings, and forced proximity? Chef’s kiss.

That said, I do wish the plot had been a little easier to follow. There were moments I felt lost in the worldbuilding or unclear on the stakes. I think we were missing some of the backstory between the two leads, which could’ve added more emotional depth and helped clarify their motivations. And while I live for romantic tension, some of it felt a little forced or repetitive.

Still, this book had a unique vibe that I haven’t seen in many romantasy titles, and I’d definitely read more by Melinda Gong. If you like political intrigue, poison plots, and characters caught between love and duty, this one might be your next fix.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this e-ARC I received through NetGalley! This has not affected my review and all opinions are my own.

The premise of this book is great. I love a strong FMC who is able to manage herself without needing to be ‘saved’ by a man. And I really enjoyed the insight into different cultures. I also liked the ‘court’ aspect of things, and there is some exploration of the feelings of ‘not belonging’ and difficulties with prioritising relationships and personal feelings.

I would have liked a bit more plot based sections rather than the 2 main characters being too afraid to say they like each other. I also felt that some context was missed which made it hard to follow at times. The pacing was a bit of a mixture; some parts seem fast, and some parts are really slow. There were a few times where I didn’t know what was going on and struggled to follow the story.

Rating: 3/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

4/5 stars
For fans of Chloe Gong comes a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy in which a young Shanghai woman must work with her ex, the London prince, to save their rival courts—if she doesn't kill him or fall back in love with him first.
It’s been nine years since the accords were established and centuries of war between the Midnight and Dawn Courts settled into a cold peace. But when poison created to eliminate the Dawn Court royal bloodline is stolen, all signs point to the Midnight Court and that tentative peace threatens to break. To prevent war, the Emperor tasks Anna Liang, daughter of the Midnight Court's deputy, with working with Paris, the youngest prince of the Dawn Court, to find out who was responsible and prove Shanghai’s innocence.
But underneath it, the real assignment: infiltrate the Dawn Court’s school for espionage, win Paris’s trust, gain intel, and then kill him—Paris, her first love and heartbreak.
Despite this complication, Anna is determined to complete her mission. But as her bond with Paris deepens and the true culprit is revealed, Anna must decide what she's willing to sacrifice to fulfill her duty, and if she even wants to.

I loved this book. I loved the characters the story and the pace of the story. the only thing that I didn't love was the ending but still an amazing book.

Thank you Net Galley and Turner Publishing for this ARC.

The story starts off so promising and I was a little disappointed it mostly took place in the Dawn Court vs the Midnight Court for my own selfish reasons what I wanted to see more of the Chinese story.

Paris and Anna are basically star crossed lovers but only mainly due to their duties to their court. They work together to help their individual courts but are also internally conflicted by what is morally right vs what they were trained to do.

The story kind of fizz’s but comes sparks some fire with the plot twists at the end and the cliff hanger. Even though my interest waned a little, I still look forward to what would be a sequel to this book.

A great enemies to lovers fantasy full of tension and adventure. I absolutely devoured this one! 4 stars!

Fans of Chloe Gong will love THIS WRETCHED DAWN! It has political intrigue and high stakes spy missions, all with a fated, ruinous romance at its core. I thought I had gotten a grasp of where the story was heading, but I was NOT expecting that ending!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’d give this 3.5/5. This was a really cool premise of lovers to enemies to lovers twisted with espionage and double agents MIXED with some Chinese lore. I enjoyed this book overall and found it a fun read. I personally did not care too much for the romance, but loved the mystery unpacking and the dynamic of the two Courts. Fun side characters and fun moral takes! The twist at the end though!! Cwazy

Thank you NetGalley and Melinda Gong for this ARC opportunity!

I will say, something weird happened with the formatting for me… it made it a little difficult to read, trying to ignore the formatting issues.

Unfortunately, this one simply wasn't for me. I couldn't connect to any of the characters, and the way the initial setup came about fell flat to me. The main character is sent to an espionage skill and told to kill her ex-lover when she's gotten all the information she can from him but...why? I feel there were a lot of elements that purely existed to cause tension between the main character and her love interest that just didn't feel natural to the story.

Overall, I think this one was just too generic and didn't add anything new or exciting for me to invest in.

While I do think that overall this book lacked depth and character growth, I did think it could eventually. be a great book

While I did finish it, it took me so long to push through this book because it was so hard to follow..

Why are Shanghai and London called 'Midnight Court' and 'Dawn Court?' Are other countries named similarly? As there was no world building, you don't really find out.

This book is marketed as YA and I would definitely say that's the right target group.

4.5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Turner publishing for this arc!! Where do I even start?? I loved this book so much. I loved the relationships between the characters; the new found family in the college and Anna and Paris reconnecting and exploring their relationship. The last few chapters had me on edge and that ending 🤯🤯 I need to know if there is going to be a sequel?!

Amazing book, this is a mix of spy and also Chinese culture in which makes it more exciting. The only problem that I have is that the world building was lacking in some parts.