A review by doogsley
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

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

3.25

ok so. the first ~30% of the book was indecipherable lmao. ry realized that she no longer wanted to write a trilogy, and she padded the exposition with a sloppy, intangible mess of new characters, old only-mentioned-once-two-books-ago extras (who suddenly Matter), and an unintuitive political storyline to thicken her world. so many names, so much boring war room chat. like, fine, i get it. it also could be a skill issue on my part. it felt kinda bad though.

my main example of this mid storytelling:
the conflict involving quest squad 1.0 re: going up north, when violet was getting really big Go South Vibes being resolved by xaden saying “i got this kitten ❤️” when she brought up her concerns was wild. the illusion of tension is real. “omg this is being framed as a big issue! … oh ok they solved it with zero sweat 5ch later.”
this storytelling dynamic happened a few times (esp early in the book) and felt lazy. it left me skeptical.

nonetheless… i kinda liked the mundane politics at its core?? i just wish it weren’t so messy, writing-wise.

the vibes def pick up when they start their
irid journey.
the shounen anime energy that i LOVE was reignited; i enjoyed all of the
mini one piece-esque island adventures.
cool lil quest. i found myself more convinced here, brushing off the chaotic storytelling at the beginning n enjoying the ride.

this high was maintained til the end of the book, where i read with a familiar fervor i had in the first two books. and now, lots of theory rolls around my head. def immersed.

luv the idyllic levels of communication in this book lol. violet and xaden suddenly received therapy, despite being the aries power couple of all time. i want more tairn and sgaeyl across the board.
(loved violet and sgaeyl’s interaction in the final battle!!)
ridoc had his whole [redacted] out in this book; bro got Developed. quest squad 2.0 was fun, if not a lil forced (introducing: characters who act like they’ve been relevant forever but only gained sentience in this book!). and, most of all, andarna remains my favorite character. 

this is my favorite book thus far in the empyrean. this series is def not a masterpiece, but i’m havin a good, if not fun, time. 🐲