Summary

Violet is overpowered and outmaneuvered at every turn but never fails because why would she? She’s Violet, an all-powerful, all-knowing main character who somehow always comes out on top despite literally everything against her. About 75% of this book is Violet worrying about Xaden, Xaden and Violet whining about how they can’t have sex, Xaden giving up that his soul is destroyed or whatever but then secretly caring but then secretly not caring at the same time. The rest is just info dumping and name dropping and just random shit happening that does not have any actual relevance to the plot. It’s like Yarros decided at the last minute “hey, I’m going to develop this world” and put chapters upon chapters of worldbuilding and random characters that should’ve been distributed throughout the series, not in the middle of it. BUT you do get to visit some interesting places. 

First Impressions 

I have this horrid habit of not being able to DNF a series, regardless of how long it takes me. That’s why I picked up Onyx Storm. Hey, sometimes I’m a sucker for guilty pleasure romantasy, which is what Fourth Wing and Iron Flame were. But this was not that. This… I don’t even know what this was. Obligation, maybe. Fourth Wing was hyped up so much (note to self: BookTok is a poor guide for reading, but I knew that) so I started the series because of the hype surrounding it. 

World Building & Fantasy Elements

This was the one aspect that I actually enjoyed. This is what gives this book two stars to me, instead of one star. I liked learning about all the different places and people and cultures, if Yarros had included that earlier in the series, everything would’ve been better. And this book wouldn’t need to be written because we’d already know this information, and the plot of this book could’ve been condensed into a few chapters of Iron Flame. The cultural aspect was definitely interesting, though. 

The politics were pretty decent as well, I think the conflict there wasn’t bad at all. 

The mythology? Lacking. I think of Game of Thrones. The gods are known, obvious, and explained. I feel like the gods in this were just thrown around. Their names are used in every other paragraph in order to force feed their importance to you. 

General magic system is incredibly important in this series, and is one of the few things that actually make sense. You are introduced to it properly and it is fairly-well explained. You generally aren’t left wondering what the fuck is happening because you get the rules well enough. I still have questions though. 

Romance & Character Dynamics

Oh man. This was horrific. 

Violet and Xaden are supposedly in love, but all I see is lust. They have zero chemistry and the only thing they want is for the other to live long enough for them to take their clothes off. This felt ridiculously forced. And give me a goddamn break with the miscommunication trope. First book? Fine, I get it. Irritating but fine. Second? This is getting old and this is getting toxic. How can it be that neither of them learn anything about communication after over 1,000 pages. Third book? What are you, children? Grow up. You’re supposedly madly in love. Fucking communicate. And not about sex, for once. 

You’re telling me that the most important thing during a war and while one of you is losing their soul is the fact that you can’t have sex or touch each other? That is your priority? Xaden needs to get a grip. If he loves Violet as much as he says he does, then why is he constantly putting her at risk by his proximity? Clear out, find a cure or put her wellbeing above his own as Yarros constantly writes that he does but does not show. Just so contradictory. And Violet constantly talking about Xaden’s physical appearance and how “madly in love” she is with him does nothing to convince the reader of their feigned chemistry. It’s just words. Repeated. Over, and over. And over. And in case you didn’t catch the last paragraph… over and over again. And what is this with the cringe “mine” garbage. My eyes have rolled so far back into my head countless times that I’m still trying to find them after that. Romance is not developed at all. All I see is two characters that can’t keep their clothes on because the other is so attractive it’s physically impossible. It’s just erotica. Erotica that is so hard to read that I skipped. 

None of the characters go through any character development. They do not learn from any of their mistakes and stay stagnant throughout the series. Also, you’re introduced to some random characters who are then killed off because god forbid Yarros actually kills someone who means something to someone. Instead we’re just confused as to why Violet is sobbing over someone we just met three chapters ago, if that. 

Any of the relationships and dynamics that were important in the first two books are minor here or don’t get any attention at all. 

Pacing & Plot

Contrary to what Yarros says, the book actually starts at Chapter 60. Maybe a few before then. But it is so fucking slow up until that point that you’re just speed reading to get to something that actually happens. Everything else is filler. Yarros has a 5 book series, three written, but two that actually matter. Was there a plot? Perhaps. You just don’t realize there is a purpose to this book until you’re faced with the last few chapters. 

Parting Words

Yarros is saying “trust me bro” over and over and never delivering. She makes Sarah J. Maas seem like a genius, and I don’t even like Sarah J. Maas all that much.