Review by pranatisway - Onyx Storm

pranatisway 's review for:

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

3.5

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this book definitely lacked in certain areas, and i am loathe to admit that i did not enjoy this as much as i wanted to - the plot felt under and overdeveloped in ways that left me confused, which is not a feeling that i welcome when i finish books. the last 100 pages of the book could have easily been double the length, and the final battle of the book in draithus felt messy and rushed, although the alternating POVs that the book's final chapters take were incredibly gripping, offering a dual perspective of the battle. the character development of dain and cat were masterful, and i found myself mourning cat's losses and forgiving dain as he continued to show up for violet in ways that forgive some of his actions earlier in the series (also, did anyone peep the sloane and dain tension in this book?)

i honestly expected more about xaden's thought process as he descended into becoming a venin as he continued to channel - this aspect felt rushed, and it felt like xaden didn't change much? like yes he's venin now and yes his temper is looser now, but what other ramifications were there? why did violet not also take the opportunity to learn how to exploit an initiates weaknesses while she could study one that she would not hurt her?

ridoc stole the show for me, in almost every scene he was in. he was hilarious, practical, and was such an asset to violet - he was the only one that was able to provide violet with any form of levity to what violet was trying to do, serving as a fantastic foil to her character's actions. violet would lose herself for xaden, and ridoc would put xaden down in a second if he thought xaden would cross a boundary that violet set. his power is also phenomenal, considering he froze a wyvern from the inside out - i see ridoc being very important in the last two books of the series. also makes him a prime target to kill, but i will be ignoring this.

the isles search was very interesting, and meeting xaden's mother was *everything*. the asher sorrengail lore was masterfully ingrained, and i am very intrigued to learn more about what attempting to dedicate violet to dunne does for the plot, especially because it seems that dunne herself, along with malek seem like the answer to xaden's plight.

speaking of xaden's issues, my heart ached for both sgaeyl and xaden throughout the book, xaden so clearly being undone by violet and clawing at holding pieces of himself, and sgaeyl, who's so angry with xaden but cannot seem to let go of him. one scene in particular really made my heart hurt was when xaden was pleading with sgaeyl to go hunt in hedotis, where sgaeyl was pacing and driving herself crazy worrying about xaden, partly because of xaden turning venin.

super interested to see how aaric's signet counters melgren's, why brennan has a rune on his palm if it isn't from a siphon, and who the new venin that turned is, and why bodhi seems so sus. also why did andarna leave, and come back less than two weeks later.

also, where the hell are xaden and garrick, why (or if) they killed THREE elder dragons and stole dragon eggs, and who are the other two they took with them? (i have a good feeling aaric is one of them). also, if xaden married violet to leave her tyrrendor, why did he refer to the province as it instead of she? and what happened in those missing twelve hours?

clearly i cared about the book, or else i would not have written this much. i will be reading book four, but i hope it is better written.

Content Warnings