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icedviennalatte's reviews
413 reviews
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
2.75 ⭐ I have never wanted a book to end so badly 😭 I can't believe I'm writing this.
Fourth Wing was amazing and lived up to it's hype. It isn't the most well-written fantasy book, but the world and plot are compelling, the characters are intriguing, and the pacing is well-done. A truly enjoyable fantasy story with really cool dragons. Iron Flame was a letdown for me (3.75 stars), but it wasn't terrible. I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with Onyx Storm, but Onyx Storm feels like a total mess.
Filler upon filler upon filler with no hardly any meaningful plot development happening until the end. Onyx Storm feels like a fantasy version of Icebreaker (not a compliment) with so many random characters that lack characterization and a sense of identity, and too many subplots happening at once that cause the story to become muddled and confusing. There are random moments of importance, but many of them get lost in the filler. One of the most exciting features of the Empyrean series are the dragons. The dragons fell in the background in Onyx Storm. Tairn just feels like a voice in Violet's head. Andarna has her own thing going on, and a certain moment did have me feeling a little emotional, but her story also didn't make much sense? She randomly came back??
Violet and Xaden's romance also feels lacking in development or depth. I understand that they're in an established relationship now, but their entire relationship felt like they were just desperate to have sex (which was only like twice, btw) and Xaden saying "mine mine mine". Also, the sex scenes felt like carbon copies of every other intimate scene in the series. I love spice and I couldn't bring myself to enjoy them. I sadly found Violet and Xaden boring in this book and was actually more interested in characters like Dain and Cat. That's when you know it's bad.
Every seconds when side characters were mentioned I was like, "who the heck is this?". It's fine to have random characters, and I understand that there are a lot of students at this war college, but I can't be expected to care about these random characters who are name-dropped without giving them any sense of identity. Halden is introduced as Violet's ex, and even though he's a prince, it feels like his only purpose in the story is to give Xaden a reason to be jealous.
There is so much more that I can say, but I forgot half of the plot because the book was so damn boring. I can't believe how I am disappointed that there are two more books on the way. It truly feels like Yarros is stretching out what should be a three-book series into five books for the money. I feel guilty for not wanting to continue the series but I probably will. I also feel bad for writing such a negative review but I just need to be honest about how hard this book was for me to get through.
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Fourth Wing was amazing and lived up to it's hype. It isn't the most well-written fantasy book, but the world and plot are compelling, the characters are intriguing, and the pacing is well-done. A truly enjoyable fantasy story with really cool dragons. Iron Flame was a letdown for me (3.75 stars), but it wasn't terrible. I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with Onyx Storm, but Onyx Storm feels like a total mess.
Filler upon filler upon filler with no hardly any meaningful plot development happening until the end. Onyx Storm feels like a fantasy version of Icebreaker (not a compliment) with so many random characters that lack characterization and a sense of identity, and too many subplots happening at once that cause the story to become muddled and confusing. There are random moments of importance, but many of them get lost in the filler. One of the most exciting features of the Empyrean series are the dragons. The dragons fell in the background in Onyx Storm. Tairn just feels like a voice in Violet's head. Andarna has her own thing going on, and a certain moment did have me feeling a little emotional, but her story also didn't make much sense? She randomly came back??
Violet and Xaden's romance also feels lacking in development or depth. I understand that they're in an established relationship now, but their entire relationship felt like they were just desperate to have sex (which was only like twice, btw) and Xaden saying "mine mine mine". Also, the sex scenes felt like carbon copies of every other intimate scene in the series. I love spice and I couldn't bring myself to enjoy them. I sadly found Violet and Xaden boring in this book and was actually more interested in characters like Dain and Cat. That's when you know it's bad.
Every seconds when side characters were mentioned I was like, "who the heck is this?". It's fine to have random characters, and I understand that there are a lot of students at this war college, but I can't be expected to care about these random characters who are name-dropped without giving them any sense of identity. Halden is introduced as Violet's ex, and even though he's a prince, it feels like his only purpose in the story is to give Xaden a reason to be jealous.
There is so much more that I can say, but I forgot half of the plot because the book was so damn boring. I can't believe how I am disappointed that there are two more books on the way. It truly feels like Yarros is stretching out what should be a three-book series into five books for the money. I feel guilty for not wanting to continue the series but I probably will. I also feel bad for writing such a negative review but I just need to be honest about how hard this book was for me to get through.