Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros | Review & Discussion
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- I finished Onyx Storm in just 24 hours so I needed to talk to someone about it in the form of this review! Overall I thought it was a pretty mediocre book, and while my review and opinions aren't entirely negative, I was left more than a little disappointed than I expected to be given the hype this book series has - and how much I enjoyed Fourth Wing!
Leave a comment sharing your thoughts on the book if you’ve read it-or if you plan to!
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My name is Amber, I am 30 years old, and I have been on Booktube for 12 years. I have always loved reading, and I have very eclectic reading tastes. I think we're calling this "omnivorous" reading now, which is funny as I'm a vegetarian! I read between ten and twenty books a month, and I like to read thrillers, fantasy, science fiction, and almost everything else. I post videos on Booktube two or three times a week, and I love to post TBR videos, challenge videos, and readathon vlogs.
I felt exactly the same as you. Especially regarding Violet and Xaden in Onyx Storm.
I was so happy that the entire miscommunication ended and that they’re now secure in their relationship but it was lacking the depth I was longing for. The idea of yearning is fine but you need to yearn *for* something, instead most of the alone time they get is skipped and all their conversations are about war or sex… I would have loved for them to have moments during which they just share intime conversations like what it was like for Xaden to start at Basgiath as one of the first marked ones, how the friendship between Imogen, Bodhi, Garrick and him developed or what Violets relationship with her family/ her siblings was like. It feels like they still don’t really know one another.
Plus, we also had him writing letters in IF so I was hoping for similar intimacy that can now happen in person 👀
Ugh seriously! Everytime Violet saw Xaden it was the internal thirsting monologue
Violet didn't have time to mourn and she does mention it multiple times. I understand not wanting to let the emotions in for fear of breaking down. Violet says Xaden is brooding but bro is actually scared he might drain her by accident - it's more complex than just stay away I need to process my emotions by myself. I really think people are forgetting that as a society Navarrians don't show emotions, it is literally mentioned in Iron Flame, they find the emotions of the Fliers foreign and exaggerated. Just like in real life it's hard to go against your programming and so it doesn't surprise me that the characters are still reserved - the military is practically the government. I believe one of the themes of this book is that, even when in love, one can be extremely afraid to deal with trauma or opening up.
I totally agree that this book felt very shallow. It feels as if the author is hiding those deeper reflections, conversations, even lore because they will give away the next plot points
I agree, it got to the point where it felt like she was being super cagey for the sake of being applauded for her twists and foreshadowing in the next books.
I finished onyx storm about an hour ago and I am 100% with you on all your points I’m still not sure if I will continue with the series x
Thank you! I am struggling. I’m gonna keep trying to finish. Feels mechanical. Events are happening, but they are written very differently than she has in the previous two books. They are written without emotion. I didn’t notice it at first, because the prologue does have emotion. But then the book kicks off, and it begins a very rigid string of storytelling. As plots carry out, I felt very disconnected to them. And they happen so fast, without bringing the reader along with you- it’s just very strange. And what you said about combat and war, from somebody whose family has been military, you’re 100% right. I think it’s great that you pointed that out. There’s so much material that she could have dealt with, yet she didn’t do it.
You also pointed out that that she doesn’t do attention well. That’s a huge missing piece. The book doesn’t have much tension and any regard. Even with the foes of the first couple books. I think the book suffers from it only being in Violet’s POV. There’s a huge Event that happens off page in Xaden’s life, in ch 6…. that I can’t believe we didn’t see and it really needed to have been there. And honestly, she’s lost a lot of people by how she introduced some of these new characters by essentially not introducing them at all. She just drops her name in and does zero description of who they are and it’s very odd. Most of it feels like bullet points that she just put into a paragraph.
I am surprised RY said this is her favorite (maybe becoz she is expected to say that to create hype) book but I found it poorly written of all 3. This series should have been a trilogy, there were so many things stretched out in Onyx Storm for material for next 2 books as this looked like a filler book to me too. I was super excited for this book even though IF was a let down compared to FW but it was forgivable as the second book was rushed. But I cannot this time as she got more time to write this one. I am extremely disappointed and would give this book max 2.5 stars. I would still read the next books when they come out just to complete the story but I am not longer looking forward to them!
I am not finished, but I am trying to spoiler free scroll to see what people are thinking because I’m trying to feel my way through it. I am an avid reader and it’s not abnormal for me to devour a 600 page book inside of 24 hours. I’ve done like 100 pages in three days of this book. I’m doing all the research and got all my annotations, all my highlighters. I am all in. But I am struggling with how mechanical the writing is. Events are happening, but they are happening at a brisk pace without stage setting. So it all feels like it’s happening in a blur without connection. There are some incredible consequential events that are actually happening off page as well. That stole a lot of the momentum. Don’t get me started on how odd her introductions are.
Having re-read iron flame, her prose here is vastly different. I can’t be the only one that feels that way? I know some people didn’t like iron flame, but it still had emotion. This feels like AI.
@ I hear there were some allegations against her for using AI, maybe it’s true. It feels like written by someone else not RY.
@@janemathews370 That would be wild!! I saw her say she wrote another book in between, and I wonder if that hurt it! Took her out of that world.
100% I almost wonder if it was a selling point to get people to buy the book. Because I have to be honest I was bored getting through the majority of it besides the last few chapters, and then may be a couple in the middle.
I’m so glad you reviewed this. It’s almost like I read it and now I really won’t have to 😂 I was already on the fence about continuing the series
😂 just watch my recap when it's up, you'll get just as much out of it as you would reading the book
50 pages of reading every day,
That means I read around 100 books a year. If you were like me, what would you do?
I started a channel to review the latest books, and the most recent one was Onyx Storm. I’d love for all book lovers to join my channel, where they’ll find tons of recommendations and reviews.
Thanks for your honest review, I was feeling the same way, and at one point changed books cause I just needed a break and that's when I was like ohh this is not good if I'm changing books, so thanks for your honesty
No problem! Changing books is not a good sign. Did it pick up for you?
It is … good.
You need to do this with spoilers.
I love this review. I completely agree with your message on it. It was action packed but got no where with the story. I feel defeated and don’t even care to keep theorizing about outcomes because of the superficial nature of the plot.
Exactly how I felt. It was like a filler, reset book. Not entirely sure why it had to waffle and wander for so long. No depth to the speech at all. It was melodrama rather than substance. I'm not entirely sure there was a point to this book.
I liked it. Mainly, I just like being in their world. Spoilers…
I agree about the scene with Andarna leaving was cheapened by her coming back. I cried when she left. And then ooops! She’s back. I also find the POV shifts annoying. Either do it consistently throughout the book, or don’t do it. Why have POV shifts at or near the end of each novel? Irritating.
Anyway, I’m going to have to reread because I feel like I read it so fast that I missed some things too, like what happened to Brodhi and a few other things. I wasn’t as bothered by Violet’s lack of emotions about her mom because they were pretty estranged anyway, so when you have ambivalence toward someone like that, it’s pretty understandable to box up those emotions and ignore them. She was much more connected to her dad. I did like the dad stuff in this book and am eager to learn more about the mysteries in her family. I didn’t like that Mira was healed because that made her death-blow seem trivial, too. There needed to be more at stake for Violet in the last battle, not just her relationship with Xaden. The marriage completely threw me! I’m interested in how that all went down. Too bad there will be a long wait for the next two books. Hope she doesn’t pull a George RR Martin and not finish.
I definitely agree with some of your points, but I still liked it and would give it a 4 star myself. It felt like she was showing the role reversal between Xaden and Violet where he was becoming less sure of himself, and she was starting to lead more throughout story. Violet leading has been foreshadowed since Fourth Wing because she has Tairn. Her not talking about her mother much also made sense to me since she's in a war college with people dying all the time and this giant threat is still there. It seems like that's the route she was going by having her so focused on her mission to try and save Xaden, find her father's work, and not let the emotions in. It felt like she was becoming more like her mom while trying to learn about her dad. I liked Rebecca adding all these other elements about the rest of the world, it showed how Navarre such a closed off nation all about war. It's being set up for the rest of the books to take place in other parts of the world which is cool because how many times can they come for the wards really. I agree that it did feel like short stories on the islands though I feel like she could've cut one or two of those places out and stretched out some of the chapters in the other locations. I went into this book thinking that it was setting up for the 4th and 5th book finales, which it did, but I do wish she had killed off some major characters in some of the battles to make it more realistic. I don't want to spoil much but one of the islands they were at felt like she only introduced a character to kill him off so that someone dies. The first book is definitely my favorite, but I would rate this one the same as Iron Flame. I really hope it's not 4 years until the next one!
To each their own, I actually loved it. I was afraid it was going to go the ACOTAR route, with the quality just going down significantly after book 2, especially given the hype, but no way. It was filler in the sense that the main plot didn't progress much, but the world and some side characters got fleshed out a lot. Also it was just fun to read 😅
I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I haven't read ACOTAR yet (apart from book 1) but I had heard those improved, so I wonder what I'll think when I eventually get to it. I was a bit put off after Crescent City so I've taken a break from SJM for a bit 😂
I think we had a lot of adventures in Onyx Storm.
That was fun.
There is something I love about the world RY has created. Like so many others- way too many minor characters where I was thinking “who?”. Thank god there’s a wiki.
The last pages were like … wtf????
And the maps are not enough and if you’re putting character descriptions at the beginning - do all the characters! She included them all anyway.
But I love it.
This sums up my feelings so much! I did love the lore drops but it was absolutely the middle filler of the series to give background and introduce the world. I liked that bit but also had a hard time remembering who was who and some later potentially emotional scene between side characters just...wasn't...because I didn't think the background was there.
Great synopsis, would love to hear a spoiler version, I thought that the relationship between X and Violet seemed almost forced at times, could have likely just left some of the mushiness out. The short stories of the Isles is the perfect way to sum it up, could have almost written like 4 short stories about them rather then put in the middle of a book
Warning my feelings on the ending:
All of that story, world building, and triumph. Just for her story to be concluded as a mommy. All that talk of needing an heir, no heir. Now they are married. All of that rooting for her for what? The romance went from secondary to plot A. I am disappointed and underwhelmed currently. I hope it turns around.
I think they got married so she becomes the rightful ruler/leader whatever of his kingdom. I think Bohdi turned to be able to use his power to cancel out the bad guys, so they needed someone else to take the throne, so they got married.
I agree, the marriage must have been a political move! I think a lot of people are theorising it was Bodhi who turned, it's a good shout. I was wondering whether that's too obvious, but then I thought I was overthinking it as it makes the most sense 😂
I totally agree! I know it's speculation at this point if she's pregnant, but I can't imagine that she isn't. Rebecca kept saying that Violet is dizzy, or mildly unwell, for so much of the book. And there's sooo much talk of heredity in this book that it has to be foreshadowing. 😭
I think we had a lot of adventures in Onyx Storm.
That was fun.
There is something I love about the world RY has created. Like so many others- way too many minor characters where I was thinking “who?”. Thank god there’s a wiki.
The last pages were like … wtf????
But I love it.
I rated the previous two books 4 stars and this was a 2 star for me. I think I’m done with the series sadly. This was way too much filler, the huge cast of NPCs I did not care about, constant travelling to other places, next chapter they are somewhere else. It was like whiplash and felt really disorganised.
I’m sad about it, I did really love book one and this was just a mess in my opinion.
I cry at everything, I’m a weeper.
However I did not care a JOT about any of the deaths. Disappointing all round for me!
I literally felt so other for not reacting the same way as others about this book 😅 i thought it was better than iron flame, and i enjoyed reading it but it was no way near a 5 star or a masterpiece that others believe it to be. The whole jealousy trope again and miscommunication or lack there of. Its tired. I also felt let down by andarna being the criterion explanation. Like... Thats it?? All this build up for THAT. When the irid could have just made themselves invisible and checked up on the continent every now and then to judge for themselves. Also, a lot seemed to happen off page when i would've preferred a front row seat to that rather than another spicy scene. It really felt like she was catering to tik tok moments/reactions.
I was obsessed with FW and IF and read them many times each. I have OS 2 stars, which is heartbreaking after I became so invested in the series.
Spoilers ahead -
The romance, which I normally LOVE got so repetitive. It's the same stuff/adjectives over and over. If I have to read "the stretch" one more time...
Ridoc and Andaena carried this whole book! I liked Andarna asking "Are we scheming? I do enjoy scheming!" What a muffin.
By the end, I was fighting for my life. Book was way too long and what was that Rhiannon POV chapter?? She is such a strong character , yet she didn't say anything consequential.
BUT BY FAR, THE WORST THING was all the references to Violet being dizzy or mildly unwell. Rebecca has put a baby in her, I just know it, and I *hate* it. Pregnancy as a key plot point is LAZY writing. Onyx Storm made many references to heredity, I cannot imagine this wasn't foreshadowing. I realize this is speculation at this point, but I'm already riled up!
Your last paragraph 😱😱😱 Nooooooo I hope that doesn't happen! I HATE IT. I'm going to need to do a speedy reread before I do my recap so I'm going to keep an eye out for the references and then cry into my cereal.
I actually never thought the pregnancy trope could ever happen in this series because they're in the middle of a WAR, and Violet and Xaden have too much at stake and too many unresolved problems at this point. But, looking back now, it was pretty evident and I'm praying that it doesn't lead to that 😭I don't really hate the pregnancy trope that much if it is done WELL. If RY is actually using this as a reason for Xaden to lock tf in and find a cure for himself, it would make me vomit, I swear.
I listened the audiobook. I am angry because of the ending. I am done with this story. It was annoying.
Thank you, what I’m feeling right now
Felt like we could of had 300 extra pages of in depth interactions, we don’t really grow closer as the reader to any of the characters apart from ridoc maybe imo
I prefer this book over Iron Flame, but there wasnt any depth with anything, Violet grieved more for Andarnna then her own mother like yes i know they bonded but she was still alive and could come back while her mother couldn't come back she cant say things she wanted to or learn what she needed to, and espcially when Xayden could see his mum again and their relationship or lck of relationship how that might have effected Vi maybe have her push Xaydan a bit more to learn more about his mum and halkf brother or something, that part of the book went quite fast for me and was brushed off quite quickly as well. The island thing was quite fast actually like we go to these new places but rarely learn about the cultures of those who live there. I agree with you on their relatioship for me it is too much lust not very much depth, me and my BF are long distance and have better communication and converation then them lol. I do have a love hate relationship with these books, i think i would like to see Rebecca really push herself with her creative writting and not be afraid becaue she definitly has potential and i think these books are perfect for it to show through and test her limits.
Well, at least the font is bigger than in the previous volumes because in both FW and IF it was so annoyingly small even though the books were pretty big sizewise. I'm referring to the UK edition.
I agree with you!! I feel like I’m missing something
I'm struggling to keep up with the plot
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Agreed 100% with your review of this! It's really lazy writing. The only good parts were the dragons and Ridoc
I'm not sure I will be bothered with the 4th book if this is how it's progressing.
According to Yarros, its a 5 book series.
Omg speeeeed
🙌🏼🙌🏼
I really enjoyed this video!
RY got lucky! Honestly, it is like a disorganized mess
We need to learn more about the lore. It hasn't been built out well.
I think she was being intentionally vague so she can do more reveals later but I don't think book 3 is the time for that, we should have been getting some answers and expansion rather than entirely brand new things.
I can’t agree more!
Filler book?!? We learned about the isle kingdoms which had been highly speculated and Violet’s second signet! So much expansion of this world and these characters!
The series is so bad ...
Spoiler alert!
..
Thank you for the honest review, I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. My initiative thoughts while reading Onyx Storm was about the cliffhanger and important events, such as growth. We lost Liam in Fourth Wing, found out that Andarna's a feathertail and she has a gift of stopping time, and the bond between Violet and her dragons were just impeccable, then Brennan appeared to be alive all those years. In Iron Flame we got to discover Andarna's kind is the seventh breed and Violet raised the wards, we lost the general, I'm going to be bold here but Vi and X's relationship was so annoying, they barely had any page time and when they did, they often argued about Xaden's boundaries and Vi was too much of a pushover. Violet barely showed any emotion other than her encounters and time with Mira. Then Xaden turned venin.. Iron Flame also kind of disappointed me after I was so interested in the whole series. I thought, no other sequel can top Fourth Wing, but I can say that Fourth Wing was the only book that's worth the whole hype, and yes, even Brennan being alive does not seem to have an impact other than Mira's petty (i love) remarks. Violet basically seems to out of touch with the fact that both her parents are now dead, even though she never had a healthy relationship with her mother, grief was so important to tackle and it was what the readers expected to see. She mourned after Liam more than her mother. And you are completely right about the travel part, it was utterly ridiculous. Some characters lacked so much depth that I questioned their existence. For instance Tairn was quiet all along, well, almost. There was not enough page time for him. And, Cat had a personality and all, but as her best friend and an important character to the book, who is Maren? Why was the Irids so aggressive, and why did Andarna only spoke only to the feathertails? This made absolutely no sense on the storyline. There was not even one adult irid throughout the whole story, and I'm frustrated about the authority the hatchlings apparently hold. And Sloane, I was devastated at Liam's death and cried every single time he was mentioned. But why is his sister not important at all? Violet helped her in Iron Flame and? There's absolutely no sign of her personality other than the sorrow she has about the killing of the general and the determination to help the squad. I feel nothing but disappointment about the whole book. So many stuff going on but nothing actually happening. I felt no excitement, no relief, I felt nothing other than stress and anxiety. I have no intention to continue the series for now.. Violet used to be an inspiring character but all she cares about curing Xaden.
you ramble too much in your review it makes it boring, get the the plot and your points
go away belinda
Then leave?