Darkness Births the Stars by Sarah Lee Wohn is a sweeping epic that dances between light and shadow. It’s a story about gods fallen from grace, love shattered and reforged across time, and the slow, painful work of redemption. If you’re in the mood for romance carved from myth and tragedy, this one delivers it in spades.

We begin with Noctis, the God of Darkness—believed long dead—and Rada, the former Goddess of Light, now stripped of power and living a fragile, mortal life. Their divine bond lingers like an open wound, stitched with longing, betrayal, and the weight of expectations they never chose to carry. When they find each other again, the story aches. This is centuries of heartbreak and devotion layered into something that feels operatic in scale and completely devastating in its intimacy.

Yes, the pacing is slow at first—almost meditative—but it works once you settle into the rhythm. The dual POV and dual timelines help you sink into the emotional complexity of Noctis and Rada’s relationship. The structure mirrors the characters themselves: fractured, slowly reassembling, never quite whole. Watching their past and present lives unfold in parallel only heightens the tension. You know what’s coming, but you still hold your breath.

Wohn’s prose leans lyrical—rich, textured, and occasionally dense. At times, it veers toward the ornate, but that fits this kind of story. It’s mythic, spiritual, and saturated with emotion. The world is layered with lore that fans of The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Star Wars will appreciate. There’s magic, rebellion, ancient prophecies, and yes—animal companions that steal every scene they’re in.

For readers who like:
-Star-crossed lovers
-Dual POV + dual timelines
-Slow burn romance

Final Verdict
Darkness Births the Stars is myth and romance intertwined—a haunting, lyrical love story that spans millennia. If you’re willing to wade through a slow start and embrace the depth of emotion at its core, this book will reward you with one of the most unforgettable romances in romantasy. The ending leaves you dangling on the edge of something monumental.

Grateful to NetGalley and Sarah Lee Wohn for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the eARC!
I devoured this book. There is yearning that stretches millennia, delicious banter, steamy tension and an interesting plot twist at the end.
🌟 I had no where else to go
🌟 You’re in my veins
🌟 I told him not to touch you
🌟 None of them were you

The story started slowly but beatifully. Writing hit me first. It was not a simple story telling. Back and forth, first we saw how ruined they were. How hurt. Then suddenly we went back. Understood the intrigue and the slow blooming love. This time skipping brought real depth to the story. Sometimes daily dialogues, banter and sometime came gut wrenching yearning. Ah yearning.. I have never read such. And so beautiful. Layer by layer the story united and I understood how deep their love was, equally deep their hurt.
I have never resd such perfectly written story. Such palpable yearning. In a fantasy world like no other. Richly built with complicated system..
One of my top five reads in 2025. I am shaken deeply-in a good way..

4.5⭐️

Author: Sarah Lee Wohn (Indie Debut)
Publishing: 9/3/2025
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Pages: 696

This is great for fans of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Star Wars, Gild, The Cruel Prince, and When the Moon Hatched!

"You are the only good thing that has ever happened to me in my entire existence..."

This is one of my favorite epic fantasies of the year! Baradaz "Rada", the Goddess of Light/Queen of Aron- Lyr, and Belekoroz "Noctis", the God of Darkness, are something else. She is light and he is dark, yet they are completely drawn to each other, for better or worse. If you can yearn, desire, and crave a person after millennia, then you are fated for sure. Especially if you are willing to bring the end if the world to be with them. These characters made me so mad many times, but I still wanted them to be together. And that's not even the full lore of these two and this world! So much happens, it's borderline a full-on opera drama.

A little on my boy, Noctis: To me, he is a merge of Kylo Ren (Star Wars) and Loki (Marvel), which are some of my favorite morally grey/villain movie crushes. If that is your book boyfriend vibe, you will love him!

This is the type of book that stayed with me after I put it down every night. I kept coming up with theories on who could be the villain, and what would happen next. If you want to get lost and immersed in another world and feel so many feelings, this is a good pick.

The cliffhanger left me enraged, with my jaw on the ground. Thankfully, Sarah is already working hard on Book 2, so I won't have to wait too long.

Read if You Love:
- An Epic Fantasy World Elves, Dragons, and Dwarves
- Gritty Cottagecore Meets Goddess of War
- A Forbidden Love Spanning Millenia
- Slow Burn Steam to Sizzling Spice
- Dual POV, Dual TImeline
- Witty Banter
- Soul Deep Yearning
- Enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to...
- He is Soft for Her
- The Queen Gets the Villian
- Forced Proximity (One Farm, One Bed, One Horse)
- "I Had Nowhere Else to Go"

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Lee Wohn for this eARC! All opinions expressed are mine.

I really enjoyed the lightness and darkness in this story between the two main characters. It really represents their personality and life. I love it. I can’t wait for book 2. I want to say a big thank you for the author and Netgalley for letting me read this amazing book as an ARC.

From the moment I picked up Darkness Births the Stars, I was hooked. This book is a mix of romance and epic adventure and easily one of my favourite reads this year. The slow burn romance between the characters is exquisite. It’s filled with longing, tension, and the occasional banter that provides a good balance.

One of the things I really appreciated was the adult FMC. Not a naive young woman or teenager, she’s strong, intelligent and unapologetically complex.

The dual POVs were give a deep insight into both characters mind. The world-building is exceptional. It’s one of those stories that makes you question loyalty, love and sacrifice. one where the lines between right and wrong aren’t always clear but you find yourself rooting for them anyway.

Thank you to the Sarah Lee Wohn for the ARC, this book consumed my thoughts and I can’t recommend it enough!

The book starts off really well, introducing us to Rada and the world, and the writing is done in a way that keeps you interested and engaged with the story as if through the lens of a camera. The intimate scenes too I felt were done well for the characters, who they were, and how they felt about one another. The character arcs were done very well and you could feel and see how the characters grew from beginning to end. It was interesting to me that it was a little difficult to really determine who was the hero and who was the villain in this story. The moral gray and that toeing the line in what an individual felt was right, even if they had to convince themselves of their actions, was very enjoyable. The ending definitely has me hooked and ready to get into the second book. Overall this was an entertaining read and worthy of a re-read later down the line if in a book slump.

I really enjoyed it!

It's mostly about Gods fallen and turned mortal that are given a second chance. I loved the spice because it was complex with a lot of feeling and not a typical spice scene. I also thought the favors for spice was great (had to read it to get it). The characters were truly well written and had a lot of intriguing aspects. I love characters that have broken traits and I really loved the play on dark and light, good and evil, and that the villain gets the girl trope. The mmc was really something.

They had obvious chemistry from the get go and gret banter. It's written in dual pov with dual timelines. I thought it was clever and I enjoyed both timelines.

The only thing that felt weird was it was written in first person but the writing gave me third person vibes. Like maybe I would have liked it more as third person, although I love 1st person. I'm not sure what it was. Sometimes the pacing felt slow and that could have been it.

Overall though, very clever storytelling and the plot was so thought out and interesting. Great story!! Would recommend.

And that ending was.... wow.... okay... book 2 pls.

Their forbidden love tore the world apart.
Now two broken gods might be the only ones able to heal it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh my stars, yes! Everything about this book is phenomenal. I knew I had a good feeling when I requested the ARC, and I was right. This book instantly became a favorite.

The world building and the lore give off such Lord of the Rings vibes. I could just hear Galadriel reading the prologue, and I was instantly hooked. The story is woven in a way that reveals layered secrets through a dual timeline. Our star-crossed main characters get a second chance to relearn themselves and each other in this new reality. The soul-deep yearning and witty banter created the perfect slow burn tension. Hints dropped during their conversations create anticipation for their past to come to light. And that epilogue?! My jaw dropped.

Thank you to the author, Sarah Lee Wohn, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.