A review by life_full_ofbooks
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Either something has changed within me or something has changed with the storyline but Onyx Storm did not move me the way Fourth Wing and Iron Flame did. 
Taking place exactly where Iron Flame left off we are once again thrown into the world of dragons, war, signets, and magic. In this third installment of the Empyrean Saga, it’s been 18 months since Violet Sorrengail first crossed the Parapet at Basgiath War College to begin her training as a Dragon Flyer. While she’s only halfway finished with her trainer all classes are paused as an epic battle begins to take place. Violet and her team are sent to islands off the Aretian coast in hopes of finding allies amongst those kingdoms to help fight against the Venin who look to destroy all. Along the way Violet is desperately looking for a cure for Xaden and Andarna is desperately looking for her kind of dragon breed. Violet knows they won’t be welcomed everywhere, but she hopes they will find enough allies to unite against the ever growing enemy. 
I have to admit that in the 14 months since I read Iron Flame I lost my love of the series. To be fair, my love couldn’t have been that strong to begin with since it was lost. I certainly wasn’t expecting to not like Onyx Storm, but sadly that was the case. 
I saw very little character growth in Violet even though she was grieving the loss of her mother. Maybe it’s because I listened to the audio, but Violet never comes across as a strong female character- personality wise. She is certainly not my favorite, which I guess plays into my not liking this book. (For those wondering, my favorite is Ridoc followed closely by Aaric.)
While there were some exciting scenes and some moments that made me chuckle, over all I just felt annoyed. It is essentially the exact same story as Iron Flame. Generally the middle book of a series is there to set up the ending of the series, but this doesn’t really move the story along.
There was really no need for this book to be over 500 pages and nearly 24 hours long. In fact, at one point it felt like it was over and when I checked I saw I was only 45% through and still had over 11 hours to go. I finally started skimming with my ears and raised the speed to 2.5. 
The one positive I have is I loved the dedication. I just wish I could have said the same for the rest of it. 
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