Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros? Zainab says 2.5/5

According to the New York Times, Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros is the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years. Let me tell you why it really didn’t need to be.

It’s important to note that prior to reading the long-awaited third installment of Yarros’ famed Empyrean series, I told everyone and their mothers to get their hands on the book. I now regret being so loud about it. When I read the first book in Yarros’ series, Fourth Wing, in April 2023, I thought to myself, “Finally! Someone else will give Sarah J. Maas a run for her money,” however it’s sequel, Iron Flame left some serious doubts.

Eager for more of the chemistry between the protagonist Violet and her primary love interest, Xaden, I was first in line when Iron Flame dropped 6 months later. But I realized rather quickly that I’d need much more than Violet and Xaden’s “will they/won’t they” plot line to keep me going. By the last quarter of the book my reading pace slowed drastically. Those final chapters—meant to hook readers and leave us wanting more—felt instead like a chore. But, I held out because if there’s one thing I know about Rebecca Yarros, it’s that a cliffhanger was sure to come. And boy did she deliver. I realized her cliffhanger was so enthralling, it colored my perception of the book altogether. Talk about rose-colored glasses…

My mistake lied in assuming that Onyx Storm would correct and improve upon shortcomings of Iron Flame. Alas, I succumbed to the dragon-mania and chose to forget my true feelings about the first sequel. Despite the plethora of characters in the Empyrean series, very few relationships are believable outside of Violet and Xaden’s. Their dynamic, as well as Violet’s bond with her dragons Tairn and Andarna, undeniably keeps readers coming back. However, to succeed in the Romantasy genre, Yarros needs to invest far more in the supporting cast and the world in which the story takes place.

In Iron Flame, Yarros missed an enormous opportunity to build upon the dynamic between fliers and riders and truly explore the politics of the world through different points of view and developing stronger backstories. She finally began to correct this halfway through Onyx Storm via Violet’s “Quest Squad,” but by that point in the story, we still know significantly less about every other character than we do Violet and Xaden—her own siblings included. In a last-ditch effort to build out the world, and have readers invest more in the other characters, Yarros introduces different POVs in the last few pages of Onyx Storm, but it should’ve happened much sooner. Because it took so long for Rebecca to realize there were other characters with interesting backgrounds and plot lines, I found myself unaffected by some character deaths and nearly apathetic towards the rest.

And then there’s the ending. Once again, Yarros delivers a cliffhanger. Whereas the Iron Flame cliffhanger was intriguing, this one made me want to toss my book across the room.  To put it simply, if you’re only looking for more Violet and Xaden, you’ll love Onyx Storm, but if you were already starting to get bored…Good Luck, Charlie! I will not be blindly purchasing the fourth book in the Empyrean series when it’s announced, but rather waiting for reviews first. I’ve seen enough and now know to be wary of Rebecca and her ways!

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