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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture, Death of parent
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Each book seems to get worse for me. The pacing is still bad. There are too many characters, powers, and locations to keep track of. I find myself liking Violet less and less. Her disability quietly disappears from the narrative, and her focus narrows entirely to Xaden. Also, Sawyer's whole storyline of losing his leg feels gross.
She comes across as self-harming, selfish, and strangely incurious. You're telling me she never once questioned why she’s the only girl with natural silver hair? Or never show interest in her extended family after her father died and her mother and sister ignored her for months? Even the dragons, once a highlight, are barely present. They either disappear entirely or conveniently reappear only to feed characters answers after they’ve already figured things out. (and the reader figured it out a book ago)
And of course, it ends on another cliffhanger that undercuts everything the book built up. So now Xaden is Venin, and it’s supposedly incurable, except the story guarantees it has to be curable, because if Garrick or Bodhi are also Venin, then what, they all just die in the next book? And with the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if Violet and Andarna both end up pregnant somehow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, War
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Cursing, Grief, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I felt like most of this book was filler that I wanted to skim and skip. Lots of pages with very little plot movement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
I knew this book would make me cry, but I didn't know it would be because of Quinn's death. A side from that I loved this book. I loved watching Violet grow into her signet and her relationship with Xaden and her friends, but I can't believe the cliffhanger that we are left with. I don't know how I'm going to wait for the rest of the series.
Personal ranking so far:
1. Iron Flame
2. Onyx Storm
3. Fourth Wing
Personal ranking so far:
1. Iron Flame
2. Onyx Storm
3. Fourth Wing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
IMO in regards to quality comparison, this is better than Iron Flame but worse than Fourth Wing. Also, like Iron Flame, this one should've been broken down into more books; my opinion is three, since it felt like three different stories to me, but it possibly could've been done in two. And as always, the dragons are the best part of this book, with more than just the main trio getting to shine at the end; and honestly, I think Andarna's reached the point that even if Tairn was killed off, I'd keep reading just for her.
Before I go further into this review, I do want to pose two questions for others who've read through the book:
1. Is it just me, or does it feel like the story gets kinda mean to Dain and Cat, even after their redemption arcs? It just felt like they got shit on by characters for no real reason this time, and put through physical and emotional beatings; in Dain's case, it felt like he was a priority target for physical injuries, and for Cat, it felt like she was set up to get angst thrown her way. To be more specific for the latter:Trager barely felt like a character, even up to when he died, and the sudden blossoming feelings between him and Cat felt like they were intentionally timed for her to get even more emotionally crushed by his death than she would've if they'd just been friends. And that just sticks out to me.
2. Did Deverelli feel a little... iffy? Bordering on some stereotypes or something like that? Or am I reading too much into it? I tried googling it a bit and so far can't find anyone saying "Onyx Storm is racist". But idk, something felt off when I was reading Deverelli's chapters.
Back to the regular review: I am seriously doubting that Yarros planned ahead. Maybe she planned the most major of plot beats, and maybe "this is the X plot beat book, and this book is gonna be for Y twist", but a majority of The Empyrean? I think she's pantsing and I think she mostly throws whatever she thinks will most dramatic or interesting in the moment, and this book definitely felt it the most. Foreshadowing usually happens up to a few chapters, which is series-wide problem, but I will give that it seemed like foreshadowing extended further this book... But I could also believe that Yarros just added something interesting that she wasn't 100% sure of where it was going to lead to until she finally reached that point in the story. Or maybe the extra time she took in comparison to Iron Flame allowed her to do some more edits. The book definitely need more, though. As always, there's questions that a reader really shouldn't be asking, like "why is the so-called dragon-proof Poromiel cities all EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE to the point two of them go down because of fire". The poor juggling of characters means that many of them are only just barely memorable before something major happens to them, and some straight up just vanish from the narrative like poor Broccoli. Another infuriating question I kept finding myself asking was in regards to why the main heroes didn't just go rogue like they did in Iron Flame, mainly in the first third when plot progression was being held back by nobles and officers that clearly were too big for their britches and threatening the safety of the kingdom by holding the heroes back. I was internally begging for Andarna to bust through the walls at one of these meetings and show them what's what, especially with how the dragons kept insisting they didn't actually answer to humans and neither should their riders.
A stand-out infuriating character was Aura Beinhaven, who is a good example of what I despise about this series' antagonists - and not in the way Yarros wants me to, I think. So many of them are embodiments of the word "obstacle" than they are real people, doing whatever will either annoy / get in the heroes' way or halt the plot progression in any given moment, to the point that they act too stupid to live, much less get this far in their careers. This does not mean I don't want antagonistic characters motivated by a hatred for the main characters or their own egos - I simply want them to be better crafted, show actual logic in their actions, show more thoughts than "whatever the heroes aren't", and in certain cases like Aura, be given the chance to actually grow from mistakes.Aura existed to cause strife between the students, then botch a mission so bad that the arrogant nobles are given no choice but to give Violet's ideas a chance, then die a shocking death because no one else in that moment could serve as the sacrificial lamb. And that death was so disappointing, because I saw potential in having someone hating Violet and the others for their actions, only to realize she had misjudged them, and potentially become their advocate in the future. Instead, the moment she had no further use in stirring annoying, brainless conflict, she was gone. And the crisis she caused before she was sent to Malek? Also infuriating. Ignoring the hole in trying to worldbuild Poromiel as being mindful of dragon bodies, only to forget dragon FIRE in their material choices, the execution of Aura burning down the town was so bad that I initially thought she maliciously had tried to assassinate them. Then it turned out she just got too jumpy and didn't listen to a warning that she honestly should've figured out for herself, and it still felt like she shot off flames just to spite Violet for scolding her.
Speaking of those antagonistic traits, another point in the story that blisters out terribly is with the venin, and withTheophanie. First of all, can I just say, I wish a major antagonist outside of Colonel / General Aetos was allowed to last for more than one book (and Aetos doesn't count because the worst he's really done is be a nuisance and a thorn, and he still feels barely present). Also, the Sage guy doesn't count at the moment either, since he's also barely present and I keep forgetting he's still around! No, I mean an actual major antagonist that keeps up appearances and a relationship with the characters, like Varrish or Theophanie . But also, better written them. Because oh my god, the entire final battle of the book, I was just yelling in my head "WHY THE HELL DID YOU THINK SHE WOULD BE ANYTHING BUT SPITEFUL TOWARDS YOU AFTER TRYING TO KILL HER SISTER" when it came to Theophanie trying to get Violet to turn venin. The venin are just so one-note, their dialogue just generic "evil for the lulz" stuff, that doesn't even always make sense in the context of what they're trying to achieve. Theophanie's goal is to try and get Violet on the venin's side, yet everything she does only fuels further spite for Violet to beat her, and these guys are supposed to be giving Poromiel and Navarre a run for their money in this war?? They can't even manipulate or scheme right! It's just so stupid; I can't accept "just turn your brain off" advice anymore or see this as "popcorn content", because it feels like I'm being insulted and egged with this level of villain-writing. Give. Me. A. Real. Character. Not just a walking amalgamation of "evil, twisted, heartless, and whatever else will cause drama this chapter".
To give some kudos, I liked the expansion of POVs in the last batch of chapters, and unlike some other reviews I see, I didn't feel entirely lost or jerked around by the first half of the book or island stuff - I just think it all shouldn't have been crammed in the same book. And I'm fine with some filler, or a book just being a "set-up for next time", since I think trying to make every installment more dramatic than the last is a recipe for disaster; although I didn't even really feel it that much this time. Other than the BS pulled to keep Violet & co under the thumb of walking rage-bait characters, I felt like the plot progression was slow but not detrimentally. In fact, I wish we had more time with some of the islands, to make them feel more like real places rather than the stage for the next dramatic plot beat. I wish the characters did more at each spot than just "main quest" stuff, and we got to know more about each island and how they were fashioned by the values of each god and how they differ from Navarre.
I also wish Andarna was allowed to be absent for more than she was, maybe even having that plot thread go into the next book. It was interesting, both for the affect on the bond and magic, as well as the emotions. Actually, speaking of that, another reason I felt like this needed to be more than one book was how much it felt like things were getting glossed over in favor of making sure everything was crammed in. One example was skipping over the actual scene of Rhiannon and the rest of the squad hearing about the venin!Xaden twist, and another egregious one (to me; honestly the other one should be more egregious, but I'm biased) is just paraphrasing Tairn opening up the bond more to Violet in the wake of Andarna's leave. There's just like... a paragraph or two, telling what he did, and it's like, no I actually want to see this!! I wanna see this dialogue, I want to stew in this more, don't go to the next plot beat yet!!
Anyway, with all that being said... I'm gonna be putting Book 4 in my library holds as soon as it becomes a listing (I hate this series but I love Tairn and I admit - I wanna know what happens next, even if I know a lot of it will be infuriating to me regardless); but I hope that is a long time to come, so that maybe Yarros and her team actually think through things before putting them onto paper. All of this ranting? It's because I want to see this be better than it is, I don't want to keep reading something I hate, and hopefully its not too late for there to exist A Good Empyrean Book.
Before I go further into this review, I do want to pose two questions for others who've read through the book:
1. Is it just me, or does it feel like the story gets kinda mean to Dain and Cat, even after their redemption arcs? It just felt like they got shit on by characters for no real reason this time, and put through physical and emotional beatings; in Dain's case, it felt like he was a priority target for physical injuries, and for Cat, it felt like she was set up to get angst thrown her way. To be more specific for the latter:
2. Did Deverelli feel a little... iffy? Bordering on some stereotypes or something like that? Or am I reading too much into it? I tried googling it a bit and so far can't find anyone saying "Onyx Storm is racist". But idk, something felt off when I was reading Deverelli's chapters.
Back to the regular review: I am seriously doubting that Yarros planned ahead. Maybe she planned the most major of plot beats, and maybe "this is the X plot beat book, and this book is gonna be for Y twist", but a majority of The Empyrean? I think she's pantsing and I think she mostly throws whatever she thinks will most dramatic or interesting in the moment, and this book definitely felt it the most. Foreshadowing usually happens up to a few chapters, which is series-wide problem, but I will give that it seemed like foreshadowing extended further this book... But I could also believe that Yarros just added something interesting that she wasn't 100% sure of where it was going to lead to until she finally reached that point in the story. Or maybe the extra time she took in comparison to Iron Flame allowed her to do some more edits. The book definitely need more, though. As always, there's questions that a reader really shouldn't be asking, like "why is the so-called dragon-proof Poromiel cities all EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE to the point two of them go down because of fire". The poor juggling of characters means that many of them are only just barely memorable before something major happens to them, and some straight up just vanish from the narrative like poor Broccoli. Another infuriating question I kept finding myself asking was in regards to why the main heroes didn't just go rogue like they did in Iron Flame, mainly in the first third when plot progression was being held back by nobles and officers that clearly were too big for their britches and threatening the safety of the kingdom by holding the heroes back. I was internally begging for Andarna to bust through the walls at one of these meetings and show them what's what, especially with how the dragons kept insisting they didn't actually answer to humans and neither should their riders.
A stand-out infuriating character was Aura Beinhaven, who is a good example of what I despise about this series' antagonists - and not in the way Yarros wants me to, I think. So many of them are embodiments of the word "obstacle" than they are real people, doing whatever will either annoy / get in the heroes' way or halt the plot progression in any given moment, to the point that they act too stupid to live, much less get this far in their careers. This does not mean I don't want antagonistic characters motivated by a hatred for the main characters or their own egos - I simply want them to be better crafted, show actual logic in their actions, show more thoughts than "whatever the heroes aren't", and in certain cases like Aura, be given the chance to actually grow from mistakes.
Speaking of those antagonistic traits, another point in the story that blisters out terribly is with the venin, and with
To give some kudos, I liked the expansion of POVs in the last batch of chapters, and unlike some other reviews I see, I didn't feel entirely lost or jerked around by the first half of the book or island stuff - I just think it all shouldn't have been crammed in the same book. And I'm fine with some filler, or a book just being a "set-up for next time", since I think trying to make every installment more dramatic than the last is a recipe for disaster; although I didn't even really feel it that much this time. Other than the BS pulled to keep Violet & co under the thumb of walking rage-bait characters, I felt like the plot progression was slow but not detrimentally. In fact, I wish we had more time with some of the islands, to make them feel more like real places rather than the stage for the next dramatic plot beat. I wish the characters did more at each spot than just "main quest" stuff, and we got to know more about each island and how they were fashioned by the values of each god and how they differ from Navarre.
Anyway, with all that being said... I'm gonna be putting Book 4 in my library holds as soon as it becomes a listing (I hate this series but I love Tairn and I admit - I wanna know what happens next, even if I know a lot of it will be infuriating to me regardless); but I hope that is a long time to come, so that maybe Yarros and her team actually think through things before putting them onto paper. All of this ranting? It's because I want to see this be better than it is, I don't want to keep reading something I hate, and hopefully its not too late for there to exist A Good Empyrean Book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Torture, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail