Wandering and Wondering

SPOILERS – DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SERIES!

Introduction:

Rebecca Yarros has been writing Romantic novels for years, Yarros is an incredibly successful writer breaking and healing hearts on a large scale but it wasn’t until she took a risk and decsended into the world of fantasy fiction that worldwide success slapped her in the face so much so that her and her family had to move house due to stalkers.

Personal Note from me:

I only ever write what I personally believe however I want to preface by saying I originally really enjoyed ‘Fourth Wing’s’ narrative flow, character descriptions, world building, romance and over-all production. Rebecca has been very open and spoken on many platforms about her condition of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), specifically the hypermobile type (hEDS) which inspired Violet’s character and how writing to quick deadlines has been a struggle. I believe that Rebecca can clearly visualise the story of Onxy Storm in her head but could not relay it sufficiently on paper perhaps due to the pressures of the publication deadlines.

Review:

The wait was brutal, we wanted Onyx Storm as badly as the UK wants to be back in Europe. However if I am being really honest perhaps our need of the third book in The Empyrean Series was based on our need for resurrection of the story we were blessed with in the original debut of Fourth Wing. We began descending the slippery slope of disappointment entering Iron Flame early last year (the second book in The Empyrean Series). Iron Flame tore the heart of the series in half; we had two incredibly different stories in one book – Rebecca, you and I both know it should have been two books giving each story an allowance of more detail and commitment.

But let’s move on to Onyx Storm;

The plot. What plot? We jumped from location to location attempting to find a cure and failing every time… by the third location hope was a four letter word that I had lost all interest in and so had the characters. It made no sense for them to be making these trip as every piece of literature and evidence in the entirety of the books stated there was no cure. Move on Violet and stop leading your closest friends into deathtraps for a man who has quite frankly lost all appeal. We were also blessed with a sprinkling of entertainment when the ex graces us with his presence – FINALLY the moment we had been waiting for since Cat showed up in Iron Flame (who doesn’t love a good ex appearance) but that was cut short after TWO CHAPTER’S. The stakes disappeared immediately and so did the fire in my belly.

The most important plot twists in the entire books were;

1. Meeting Xaden’s mother – the woman who abandoned him, the woman who scarred him, the woman who in his head ran because she was ashamed, the woman who never loved him… The expectations were high but apparently devoting three chapters only was enough and killing her clang immediately causing no real plot line but a toss of ‘hopefully this will keep readers interested’ was all that was needed… well I beg to differ.

2. Discovering that Violet’s father was lying to her and that he believe her and Dain would be together (we brushed over this really quickly too…XADEN where is your jealousy!!!), there was other important information here but truly I have forgotten it, that’s how badly it was implemented.

Let’s talk Xaden. The character that for a moment in time topped Rhys, Cassian and Azriel alone – well bring back the Batboys because I refuse to fall for a sulky, silent, boring heroine who has so many problems and lack of labido that I was routing for the jacka** ex to swoop in and get the girl. Xaden has lost all appeal; he had no banter, no charm, no humour, he refused to use his powers (as not to ‘weild’ and grow stronger in venim abilities) – a brave decision thrown into the plot by Rebecca. He could not sleep with Violet which seemed to be his strongest weapon of choice when originally winning her over (and the young following of female readers) and due to his self-awareness he lost all sense of leadership as to let Violet do so. Basically we all turned to Garrick (who had minimal screen time) and Arac (who we now believe is endgame). AND since when is Xaden British and adding ‘love’ to every sentence? It’s a little creepy.

Dragons. Due to all the fuss of Xaden’s betrayal in Iron Flame we have lost all contact with him and his Sgaeyl…fun, so another reason to feel on the outside! Oh and another plot line thrown in – Andarna wants to find her family who initially refuse her and then decide to come back and accept her, throwing us into emotional spirals (Violet is thrown into an emotional cave too however even though we have been told numerous times sometimes riders die due to loosing a dragon,Violet seems to pull herself together after a week and get moving again…she’s obviously heartbroken). The cherry on top of the cake is when Andarna arrives back at the scene ‘Surprise I AM BACK!!’… what was the point?

The Ending:

There are no words…not in a ‘oh wow I am on the edge of seat, please can we have the next book’…as in pure confusion… The amount of unanswered questions made me feel sorry for Rebecca’s task for book four. If you have read Onyx Storm you will understand the entire ending felt like when a tv series shows you the worst possible outcome and then says ‘and then I woke up’. You have no recollection of why something happened, how, and if you will ever find out…so basically I have been left thinking ‘do I really care?’

Conclusion:

There are so many features of the book I’ve left out; the plethora of characters we had literally never heard, the objects and signets that seem to appear out of nowhere, the unconventional other plot lines that make absolutely no sense and seem to add nothing at all to the book; hints at Garrick and Imogens crushes, Ridoc’s sudden leading role (no one cares and every time he spoke I told him to stop talking), political decisions that I could not explain to you if put a gun to my head.

Now…I do not think that this is fully Rebecca’s fault. Yes it is her story and her words however the pressure for writers who have successfully delivered a book to re-deliver the same numbers and quality in a short of space of time is deadly. We have seen it with Emily Henry’s most recent book too. Writers need to stand up for their stories, if you cannot deliver quality in the time given you NEED to ask for a deadline (this is an incredibly naive statement from me I am aware). The quality of a novel at the end of a day is everything and this book may have gotten the numbers but what is the point if people come away from it thinking ‘what the hell did I just read?’. Rebecca I enjoyed your initial story but if I do manage to pick up the fourth book I really hope it doesn’t take me two months to read and it re-gains that charm that the first book had.

If you have made it this far…would love to know your thoughts :)

G x