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A review by travelseatsreads
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
OK, so here I go.
Onyx Storm was one of my most anticipated books for 2025, I spent months and especially the few days beforehand giddy with the excitement of getting back to as I said to hubby 'my dragons'. This wasn't because I thought it was going to be the most groundbreaking or well written book but because I had enjoyed Fourth Wing and Iron Flame so damn much. They felt like pure compulsive escapism, I was deeply invested and was finding every opportunity to squeeze a page in.
Then along came OS and I've just been left completely deflated and let down by the absolute lack of EVERYTHING. I went from squeezing pages in at every opportunity to having to tell myself to sit down and just finish it.
There's so many reasons for this but mainly I just found there were so few moments to actually enjoy within the book. It screamed of that filler failure middle book syndrome where characters and irrelevant mini plots were thrown in just to make up the word count. I spent so much of the book screaming 'what?' 'why? ' 'who?' with even a few 'ffs' being growled!
That on top of the fact that the majority of characters, especially the dragons, completely lost any trace of the personalities which had kept me so enamoured, meant I was left searching for scraps of enjoyment.
I've seen many people on here try to claim it as high fantasy, but can we call a spade a spade and acknowledge it's far from high fantasy and sits firmly within the romantasy genre. Which is exactly how and why FW and IF worked.
I'm honestly so disappointed after reading it as I've gone from being hugely invested to just not bothered but I am truly hoping RY takes time and comes back with some of the magic that made FW so enjoyable.
I've read so many posts and I'm delighted and envious that some people did find that enjoyment, so how did you feel about it?
Onyx Storm was one of my most anticipated books for 2025, I spent months and especially the few days beforehand giddy with the excitement of getting back to as I said to hubby 'my dragons'. This wasn't because I thought it was going to be the most groundbreaking or well written book but because I had enjoyed Fourth Wing and Iron Flame so damn much. They felt like pure compulsive escapism, I was deeply invested and was finding every opportunity to squeeze a page in.
Then along came OS and I've just been left completely deflated and let down by the absolute lack of EVERYTHING. I went from squeezing pages in at every opportunity to having to tell myself to sit down and just finish it.
There's so many reasons for this but mainly I just found there were so few moments to actually enjoy within the book. It screamed of that filler failure middle book syndrome where characters and irrelevant mini plots were thrown in just to make up the word count. I spent so much of the book screaming 'what?' 'why? ' 'who?' with even a few 'ffs' being growled!
That on top of the fact that the majority of characters, especially the dragons, completely lost any trace of the personalities which had kept me so enamoured, meant I was left searching for scraps of enjoyment.
I've seen many people on here try to claim it as high fantasy, but can we call a spade a spade and acknowledge it's far from high fantasy and sits firmly within the romantasy genre. Which is exactly how and why FW and IF worked.
I'm honestly so disappointed after reading it as I've gone from being hugely invested to just not bothered but I am truly hoping RY takes time and comes back with some of the magic that made FW so enjoyable.
I've read so many posts and I'm delighted and envious that some people did find that enjoyment, so how did you feel about it?