Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

 Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros

In loving memory of Dova
With each page, I thought of you.

Summary

    Onyx Storm is surprisingly comforting with its comedic relief and world building. The plot holes are incredibly obvious and the ending leaves many readers shocked - but left this reader exhausted. 

Spoiler Free Review

    After much anticipation, we've returned to Basgiath. If you have not reread Iron Flame, be sure to have a character cheat sheet readily available. Yarros did include a small character chart in the first few pages; however, some characters and their dragon/gryphon names are missing. If you use the Wiki page, be wary of spoilers. Personally, I googled characters that I could not remember since I did not have the time to reread.

    Once I completed Onyx Storm, I had to take some time to digest. I'd seen so many people posting online how emotionally distraught they were at the ending. Me? I was more frustrated and had to remind myself that this series is a lot like a bag of chips - easy to consume, nothing complex, but still enjoyable.

    Firstly, Onyx Storm takes a few chapters to really pick up. The beginning feels like Yarros took time to place everyone where she wanted before the story could actually begin. After all, we did finish Iron Flame at the end of an intense battle. While I do not mind this, other readers may not enjoy the initial slow pace.

    My main issues with Onyx Storm were very typical and expected character development and some pretty jarring plot holes. These issues left me feeling like the story had been rushed from a publication side. Some of the plot holes felt so obvious, I thought for sure I had misread something. With such high expectations and such an incredibly large fan base, you would think Yarros' editor would have noticed these issues and made sure to resolve them. Much of the focus seemed to fall on comedic lines and Xaden's brooding.

    Where Onyx Storm really soared was the world building. We visit new places and learn about their culture. While I wish we could have spent more time exploring the different cultures, I can understand that it would have largely been filler that would bore those who read the series for the romance and dragons. Many readers expressed how incredible the world building in Onyx Storm was. Personally, while it gave us a new view into the world that Yarros had built, rushing through some trials made these new areas lack a depth that would make the reader truly understand these new cultures and appreciate them. Most of the events were easy to see coming, but the ones that shocked me truly made my jaw drop. 

    As far as the Empyrean series goes, Onyx Storm is the most 'feel-good' with its comedic relief and not many 'dark' moments. While the story may lack depth and true character development, releasing Onyx Storm at a time when our political climate is drastically shifting into a darker period gives readers a way to escape into another world.

Spoiler Review

    As I mentioned in the above, Onyx Storm has a couple plot holes that made it difficult for me to thoroughly enjoy. Before I go into these plot holes, I want to bring up what a user on Threads pointed out to me. How did Violet, the daughter of a high ranking general, not know that Xaden was heir to Tyrrendor, since his father was executed 5 years ago. She knows who he is, and his father, yet was unable to put together what this meant for Xaden. Some of my issues with Onyx Storm stem from this. Violet is an incredibly intelligent woman, we know this from her knowledge gained studying to become a scribe. Her intelligence is one of her characteristics that makes her so likeable. Despite this, how did it take her 3 books to look for her dad's secret journal? In Fourth Wing, he leaves her hints about the Venin which leaves Violet to believe he knew more about what was happening outside the borders than she was led to believe. Despite wanting to discover what her dad had kept secret, she did not look for a secret journal until Dain's father conveniently moved into the living quarters. Not only that, but she instantly knew where it would have been hidden. Secondly, why did it take so long for her to catch onto what Aaric's signet was? Also, why did it take so long for her to look at the package he left for her? She wrote it off as a 'weird time to deliver mail'. While I understand it was because we wanted Violet to find out how to use the sword until last minute, but this could have happened even if she had opened it.

    Even if the issues previously discussed had been resolved, there was one major plot hole that irritated me throughout my reading. When Violet rushed to protect the temple of Dunne, the priestesses walked out and they, too, had the same hair as Violet. This temple was located on the continent and yet they had the same hair. We know from what Violet says earlier in the book that they are free to worship whichever god they wish. She herself had even visited multiple temples. Knowing this, would she, or at least one of her peers, have knowledge of the priestesses of Dunne having silver hair? Would this have not been common knowledge? I've brought this up to a few peers and even they are unable to answer this.

    My last plot issue is this: where did those damn nets come from?! They were large and very heavy. This would have meant multiple Wyvern needed to carry them and would have been spotted. Were the nets summoned using magic? While Rhiannon has a retrieval signet, Theophanie did not. So... where did they come from?

    Speaking of Theophanie, I very much enjoyed her character. The twist of what her signet really was and why her mom had this signet was incredible. I hope in the next book we learn about Lillith Sorrengail's encounter with her. The idea that signets are a result of balance gives a whole new outlook on the world Yarros has created. I am curious if these rules apply to riders.

    The character arcs felt pretty flat. Some potential romances for side characters give us potential for exciting arcs in the next book, but Onyx Storm seemed to have only one big arc that I enjoyed. Andarna. Finder her kind was exciting and when she left Violet I was in tears. Going from saying goodbye to Andarna to Violet having to get over it was emotional whiplash that leaves you not feeling okay. I enjoy that shit. I felt much more connected to her in this book than the other two.

    Let's talk about that ending. Firstly, the entire battle had be so anxious and exhausted by the time I had finished it. I foresaw Mira dying, but even then I still audibly gasped when Theophanie slit her throat. We get a few easter eggs here - the scars of Brennan disappearing and Dain having a ton of power. I am sure these two themes will be explored in the next book since they were heavily hinted at. I do wish we had gotten to know Quinn more before she had died. At the beginning, since she had showed up multiple times but just hung out in the background, I figured this would be her last book appearance. Quinn's death felt more like it served as the beginnings of Imogen's story.  And Pancheck being the spy? I wish we had explored this more when it is originally brought up there is a traitor among them. Yes, I know Violet and Xaden were going through a lot, but snuffing out a traitor feels pretty important that they should have at least touched on it more than just listening to their professor say something about it.

    A couple things I think we will see based on this ending: Bohdi is now Venin. While Xaden is struggling, he keeps mentioning a new brother. Just before, in Imogen's chapter, we see Bohdi on the ground vomiting. To further this theory, Xaden always said Bohdi was next in line to the throne and he didn't want the king to put a Nevarrian on the throne. So, if Bohdi did change, who could he put on the throne so Tyrrendor remained in good hands? Violet, if they were married.... which they are now. If Bohdi hadn't changed, Xaden would not have set Violet up to rule since he was expecting and training Bohdi for the role. When we look back at how Xaden let Violet make decisions, we see that Xaden always had this backup plan. When Violet wakes up, she mentions shadows stirring. I assume this is Xaden, who had just returned her to Brennan. If this is the case, Xaden and Bohdi both must have some level of themselves. With Garrik missing, I am betting he went with Xaden and Bohdi to try to help them.

    

    

Conclusion

    Onyx storm certainly has it's faults. Despite this, there was just enough surprises and world building (and dragons of course) to still be entertaining. With two more books in the series to go, I can only hope we still have more world building and adventuring to do and many, many mysteries to uncover. While Onyx Storm may not be the hype that I got from Fourth Wing, I am very much looking forward to what else Yarros has in store for us.