My Onyx Storm Review

Brave the storm! *Contains Spoilers*

Let me start off that I began the new year starting my re-read of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame to get up to speed on what I forgot and even got a black and gold ‘cat eye’ manicure to match the book… And yes, I am that extra when it comes to books I love.

Anyway, let’s kick this off and go for a ride :) From the first page until the last, it was go, Go, GO! For me, this was the fastest paced book out of the three so far. I didn’t want to put it down and read this within 36hrs. I did a combo of audiobook while reading along with my Kindle so I could really focus on it.

I’ll go over some long awaited answered questions to some fan theories and cover some new topics that were brought up in the book. There is more I will probably need to add to this later, but lets get into these big ones first:

• First off, we learn a lot more about dragons and even more insight to the other riders and their own unique relationships with their dragons (Ridoc and Aotrom pranking each other was my particular favorite). We get a lot more of Andarna, her breed, den and family. Don’t worry her sass hasn’t gone anywhere ;) She is the seventh breed called the Irids, which are chameleon-like dragons and can shift their scales to blend into their environment. Violet and her group run into a den of them and we get to meet a member of Andarna’s direct line - Leothan. Andarna made me Kim K ugly cry in this book and even though I still love her, I am still mad at what she did. I want to know more about what happened after she severed her bond and we deserve answers! I didn't like how easily she was able to separate her bond, even if she was the second one who spoke to Violet. She literally just cut herself off and flew away. For how sassy and snarky she is I was surprised at how little she put up a fight in that scene. I understood Violet’s POV on letting her go but that scene just felt sad for sad sake to make the reader cry, and I absolutely bawled, but just hope I get some form of justification for it or learn more about what happened.

• We get to meet Xaden’s mom - Talia Riorson, when she disappeared, and where she is at now. Honestly, none of the parents in this series are winning any hearts around here. The only decent sounding family is Rhiannon’s and we barely ever get any mention of them! Xaden’s mom disappearing after giving him his favorite cake on his birthday makes Lilith look like mother of the year after Iron Flame… I was hoping for some form of redemption for her since we find out Xaden has two half brothers but after the dinner scene and the cake debacle, she can choke on it. My only small hope is that there is some full circle moment where she comes back later in the series to somehow help Violet save Xaden, kind of like Stella did for Lance Orion in Zodiac Academy (IYKYK). But I’m not holding my breath on that one.

• We learn more about what Violet’s dad Asher Sorrengail and his research. I enjoyed the journals and books with his travels and explanations, and the locks with the riddles that Violet had to solve. Now that we know he ‘dedicated’ her when she was younger, I’m still slightly confused about that whole situation and need to go back and re-read those parts where they explain more (I'll update this if I can make it make sense but if it made sense to you please comment!). I still think there is more they need to explain about that whole process in the next book. One thing we do understand about the dedication is that it’s the reason Violet’s hair is the way it is. When she is on her journey to find more of the Irids, they arrive on an island where she meets a cryptic priestess and finds a little girl with the same hair as her. But again still not 100% clear on that whole thing TBH. I’m hoping it’s something RY is saving more for the next book.

• We learn more about the venin, their abilities, and structure/heirarchy. We meet the two main baddies, Theophanie and Berwyn -the sage’s that are trying to both fight for claim over Xaden and Violet. We also learn that venin also have signets and there is a balance system to match abilities. Since Xaden turned venin, Lynx ends up manifesting shadows since Xaden’s abilities are now on the veins side. We also learn that Theophanie’s signet ability was to match Lilith’s, not Violets like initially thought. We also learn that there is a bond between a Sage and their initiates. Xaden can’t kill Berwyn not matter how much he wants to and gets puled through the bond to him during the battle. Learning that venin have signets was a fun twist. I am still wondering if Violet’s signet is still just lightning and who now balances her out on the venin side since it wasn't Theophanie. Again, I think this will be saved for the next book.

• We learn more about second signets… and not just Violets! ;) Apparently all of the marked ones have second signets, not just Xaden. We learn Liam’s was in fact ice wielding (as was spotted by many readers in Fourth Wing), Garrick is a distance weirder and Violet is a dream walker (another form of an intinsic). I need to go back and read into Ridoc, Bodhi’s and Imogen’s a little more. I feel like I either missed it or they haven’t fully explained theirs yet. Again, if I missed it please let me know in the comments! I did like the expanding on second signets among the marked ones, but I did wonder about Brennan since it’s mentioned he has a mark but not sure if/how that applies to him yet. Again they are likely saving that for later.

• Some of our favorite characters live, die, betray, and turn. There was a close call with Ridoc that made me yell at my Kindle (RY, you already took Liam, you can’t have Ridoc!). As easily as I thought Ridoc got killed initially, it was the opposite for Traeger. His death came out of nowhere so fast and I almost didn’t believe it. I wish we got more of him and Cat knowing he dies and we were just starting to see them have something together but if I had to choose between keeping him or Ridoc I’m picking Ridoc every time. This also helps feed into the fanshipping of Cat and Dain ending up together in the end. Another death that I’ll admit hit pretty damn hard was Quinn’s. Writing her death from Imogen’s POV was smart and really well done and it made it hit so much more emotional from her POV than it would have been otherwise. I really broke during that part for her. Panchek’s betrayal finally gets revealed as the one who has been sneaking information to the venin and he get’s his due at the end. His part did seem anticlimactic for how much he screwed everyone over. We also find out from Xaden’s POV that one of his “brothers” turned, but it was not specific on who it was. I believe it was Garrick that turned. It was between him and Bodhi as my guess and I’m leaning towards Garrick since he is missing at the end and he was running low on power and he wanted to find a way to be useful and Imogen asks for him after Brennan asks her about Xaden, and when he says among the missing it fits that he would be with him since he was watching over him the whole book, it would fit that he would turn to watch over him after Xaden went full Asim. Also there was so much emphasis about the Bodhi being next in line that I don’t think it would be him so he can stay to help with Tyrrendor for Xaden.

• The royal family plays a larger role in this book. We meet Halden, and learn his history as Violet’s ex (with perfect moments of jealousy with Xaden mixed in). He gives me one step below Geoffrey vibes from Game of Thrones. We also get more of Aaric in the book and him stepping more into his role as a Prince and as a rider. It kept getting mentioned that he hadn’t developed his sight but we finally learn at the end that his signet ability is as a pre-cog (over everything not just battles) and how he saves the day in the end. Again, I can’t help but think how the venin “balance” this one out?

• There is a new Duke and Duchess of Tyrrendor. In the book, Xaden ends up getting his land and title back which ends up making him a Duke but we don’t find out till later when Violet does. He makes some sly comment on how Violet looks “at least like a duchess” at one point before we/she finds out and then the comment makes way more sense once it’s revealed. He then pretends she is his consort, but then by the end of the book, after the last battle in the book and Xaden goes full Asim, she “wakes” up after confused and suffering from memory loss but has a ring with the gem from his family dagger on THAT finger and a marriage certificate to Xaden in her pocket with no memory of it and a note from him saying not to look for him and it’s hers now. She asks Imogen what did she do, and she replied “what you asked me to”. Literally this is how the book ends.

• We learn more about what history was changed and expand our map to new lands/islands and meet a LOT of new characters. There are way too many to get into.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I couldn’t put it down. I was happy that it expanded on the world and we finally moved past the whole annoying secret issue that kept coming up in Iron Flame. Ironically it was Violet keeping all the secrets in this book to protecting Xaden. Despite the toned back spice since they were unable to really be together for most of the book, there was still some good spicy scenes and a LOT of good tension. I definitely liked this book over Iron Flame and feel better about how the series is moving forward! A lot of questions were answered, some things are still kind of confusing but now we have a bunch of new questions and theories. Now let the countdown begin for the next one :(

Rating: 4.25 ⭐️ 3 🌶️

Would love to know what you thought about the book, just leave a comment or message!!! :)

Till next time. Just keep reading :)