Darkness Births the Stars

Darkness Births the Stars, Book 1

By: Sarah Lee Wohn

Narrated by: James Cavenaugh, Jacci Prior

He is the Fallen One, ruled by his dark ambitions. She is his greatest enemy, fated to destroy him.

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

Haunted by his past and the evil forces he commanded, Noctis, once the God of Darkness, cannot forget Rada, the former Goddess of Light—and the queen who ruled at his brother's side. Condemned to mortality, thought dead to the whole world, Noctis craves one last meeting …

Stripped of her magic and exiled for treason, Rada has built an idyllic new life on a farm at the edges of the realm. But her peace is shattered one stormy night when Noctis—the enemy who caused her downfall, the lover she betrayed in turn—appears at her door, wounded and desperate.

When a sinister attack reveals the powers of Chaos are stirring once more, Noctis's dark past begins to unravel. As desire and duty entwine, Rada faces an impossible choice: Can she become the ally of the man who broke her heart to save everything she holds dear?

Inspired by Nordic mythology, this first book in a series follows star-crossed lovers, their fall from grace, and their quest for redemption. Sizzling, tension-filled romance, high-stakes magical battles, and morally grey characters make this the perfect listen for fans of Gild, The Cruel Prince, and When the Moon Hatched.

Are you prepared to touch the Darkness?

For fans of: a forbidden love spanning millennia; enemies to lovers to enemies to?; forced proximity; the queen gets the villain; gritty cottagecore meets war of the gods; touch her/him and die; he is soft only for her (he secretly loves when she threatens him); an epic fantasy world of elves, dwarves, and dragons inspired by Norse mythology with a twist; "I had nowhere else to go".

Darkness Births the Stars is the perfect listen for those who always wanted the heroine to choose the Lord of Darkness.

Contains mature content. A complete list of content warnings can be found on the author's website.

©2025 Sarah Lee Wohn (P)2026 Podium Audio

Maximum Yearning!

I am absolutely in love with the world building, the character arcs, and the yearning! The narrators did such a phenomenal job capturing the rich emotions in this book. I can't wait for book two. Highly recommend!!!

Good, but not thrilling

The plot was amazing, but it felt like the delivery was kinda eh. Some of it felt like it was just over written out didn't add to the story, so I kinda was dragging myself through it. Great narrators. It didn't feel like it was going anywhere until 2/3 through, and then it still moved slow.

Needed more

3.5 🌟

Honestly, I was having a bit of trouble getting through this book. Though I think I’m going to blame that on my reading slump after my last book.

Darkness Births the Stars was a fantastic read. A wonderful love story, and absolutely filled with impossible choices.

Rada was a fantastic FMC that has been through so much, that you’re surprised that she’s able to keep going how she did. I honestly want more of her, and just her. Purely because she intrigues me quite a bit. Her simple life, and her troubled past.. it’s all just so appealing while also being heartbreaking..

Noctis is incredibly troubled, and obviously power-hungry. Though we learned why, and why he wants to do better. So I can give him props for that. I felt rather disconnected from this character for some reason! So, his scenes didn’t really intrigue me as much as Radas did..

I honestly think that my main issue with this book is that the trope of Found Family was definitely there.. but somehow not captured. In the very end I realize that there were about five or six very close side characters, but they were obviously not even a sub plot. Which is also something I don’t particularly like. I’m never a true fan of books that are specifically only about the two main characters, and that’s it. I want more substance! Which I always find in an amazingly well thought-out side character..

Overall 3.5/5 🌟
Characters 3/5 🌟
Plot 4.5/5 stars 🌟
The Ending? 4/5 🌟

mostly just whining and pining

There's so little plot development that I had trouble staying focused. I'm all for a good slow burn romance but 95% of this book is just the two MC pining for each other.