Title: Onyx Storm
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: RedTower Books
Publication Date: January 21, 2025
ISBN:
Synopsis:
After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust. Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him. Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming…and not everyone can survive its wrath.
Review contains SPOILERS. Read at your own risk. Seriously…don’t read any further if you don’t want to know.
I’m going to have an unpopular opinion here in that I didn’t completely love where Onyx Storm headed, which is a bit of a let down after Iron Flame failed to live up to the same hype as Fourth Wing (see reviews here and here). I’ve been a die-hard fan, but I’m feeling uncertain about this series after reading OS. While it has some really great points, there’s just something that didn’t hit the mark for me, though I’m open to having my mind changed. I want to give Yarros the benefit of the doubt after book two–every author has a hard time living up to the hype of an epic first book. Onyx Storm is a chance at redemption that leaves far more questions than answers.
What did I love? Book three is not without some good qualities and I did find certain aspects to be really enjoyable. Number one is the maturity that we begin to see in Xaden and Violet’s relationship. They’re finally openly communicating and no longer having issues due to unnecessarily keeping secrets. We get to see a softer side of Xaden and even though he’s struggling after turning venin in the second book, we see how their love keeps him afloat and helps him to find some semblance of balance. There is so much Xaden time in this book and it helps the reader to get to know him further in a way that hasn’t happened in the series yet. His and Violet’s devotion to each other is a fabulous new relationship trope that we don’t often get in a lot of series and I would love to see more of this trend. I hope that it’ll continue for the two of them in the final two books in the series.
Violet herself really comes into her own in this second book. Gone is the indecisive, uncertain girl we saw in IF, and in comes a confident, strong, powerful woman who’s not afraid to take charge and take action. It makes me excited to see how Violet will continue to grow in her leadership in the final two books in the series. She’s thoughtful and powerful and she owns her position in this book among both her peers and the governing leadership. Like the Xaden x Violet relationship, Violet herself does a complete 180 from IF. She’s much more like the violent woman we see in FW and it does wonders for the story line.
Finally, the world becomes explosive as you move through Onyx Storm. We finally make it to the Isle kingdoms and spend a bit more time out of Aretia and Basgiath, getting to know other cities a bit more and learning more about the politics of this world. There’s still so much about the history of this world, and even Violet’s own life, that the reader still doesn’t know and I hope we get the answers that we desperately need before the end of this series. In addition to the world building, we get to hear more of Tairn and his fabulous curmudgeonly sass, which brings all the joy. He constantly keeps this series afloat and is arguably the best character.
As for what I really struggled with? Well, it’s a lot. First off, I found there to be a serious lack of description in this book. It’s hard to keep track of where you are and what you’re supposed to be picturing in your head, making it difficult to situate the characters. This wasn’t a problem in the first two books, which are so vivid, but for whatever reason, Onyx Storm really lacked in this department. The lack of description is furthered by secondary character overload. There are so many additional characters that are introduced, most of which have no real purpose. It’s impossible to keep track of them all and it means that important side characters that we should be spending time with (i.e Rhi, Imogen, Garrick, Bodhi, Sloan, etc.) do not get the air time they deserve, and thus come off totally flat. There are a few characters who become a bit more exciting in this book, like Aaric and Ridoc, who don’t get a lot of time on page but who undergo intriguing character arcs and develop incredibly signet abilities, so it will be interesting to see where they go in the next few books.
On top of not knowing who’s who and what’s what, the plot is also aggravatingly slow with very little of consequence happening. The first half of the book revolves around the characters discussing a desperate need to act urgently, yet not acting. At all. They talk about how they’re running out of time constantly, yet every chapter begins with “3 weeks later” or “ten days pass”, yet they remain in utter inaction. It’s infuriating. While I understand that there’s some governing red tape at play, these characters have never been the types to play by the political rules, so it makes little sense for them to start now when the stakes are so high. And when they do act, the plot devices to keep the story moving are too convenient. For instance, the characters have talked about the mysterious Isle Kingdoms for two books, yet they have absolutely no difficulty finding them and moving between them, though they do face utter hatred and constant attempted murder as they move from isle to isle. It becomes repetitive, so while the story moves forward, the actual plot is painfully halted with no real progression or useful information found.
There are also two instances of the seventh breed of dragon showing up in the middle of battle at the exact right moment, even though this breed lives days of flying away, yet somehow, they know exactly where and when to show up to save the day. It’s far too convenient to have any reader breathing a sigh of relief. They show up, save the day, and disappear with no real answers. During the first of these instances, we witness Andarna walk away from Violet without even a second glance, and while one can understand her desire to know herself and her heritage, Andarna shows very little remorse or regret in severing her bond with Violet before leaving her in the blink of an eye. For a dragon who’s had an incredibly strong and special relationship with Violet to date, this behaviour just wasn’t explained in a manner that allowed the reader to empathize with Andarna’s situation, and come to support her in the way Violet does.
I gave OS 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I did love OS love it, but this book felt rushed and unfinished, in a way that we didn’t get with the first two books. I’m hopeful that what seems like filler in this book will actually come back around and lead to epic plot twists in books 4 and 5. One can only hope that the next two books improve and close the loop on these unanswered questions.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 