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51 reviews

Alaina Dendulk

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Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)

by Rebecca Yarros (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 6th time

read in January 2025

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Alaina Dendulk said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" I …. have no words. Actually, I have one word and it’s HUH????? I wanted to love this, I really did. I am Xaden’s biggest hype girl, that’s my Xaddy. But what a monumental letdown. There’s no way anyone with a brain is rating this book 5 stars, even I …. have no words. Actually, I have one word and it’s HUH????? I wanted to love this, I really did. I am Xaden’s biggest hype girl, that’s my Xaddy. But what a monumental letdown. There’s no way anyone with a brain is rating this book 5 stars, even 4 stars. If you are, you need to read better books.

This book felt so disjointed from the first two - I felt like I was reading a different series by a completely different author. I loved Violet’s “fuck off” attitude and Aaric’s character showing more of himself (although admittedly, homeboy should’ve been revealing his skills/powers and helping out more from the BEGINNING), but that was it.

Hardly any of our questions from Iron Flame were answered, we wasted 60% of the book flopping around in different jungles, and introduced Violet’s ex for literally a hot second to provide absolutely no value to the storyline except jealous Xaden for a handful of pages? Plus, I could not STANDDDDD how Xaden is suddenly incessantly calling Violet “love.” Where did that come from? It does not fit his character at all. He called her “Violence” one, MAYBE two times in this book. The “love” really irked me.

And really, Rebecca? A dream walker? Who fucking cares. I was really hoping for Violet’s second signet to be something badass that made sense like Necromancy. I don’t see how a glorified sleep walker would a. be more dangerous than a lightning wielder and b. benefit her in the slightest. It also doesn’t make sense to her character for what she needs/who she is. And giving an explanation that she needed to be connected to Andarna during the dreamless sleep so that’s why it manifested…. When it doesn’t even work on dragons? PLEASE. WHO WROTE THIS BECAUSE IT WASNT YOU, REBECCA. I felt like I was reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child “written by JK Rowling” all over again with all the plot holes and lack of fact checking across the series.

Also, throwing in Xaden’s mom for 5 minutes - highly unnecessary. It really added nothing to the story once again except to check off a box/answer one of the very few questions we got answers to. It feels like Rebecca went on TikTok and decided to work in 15 different fan theories just for the hell of it. Plus the killing off of random characters and hoping we’d be shocked or care. She said we’d be crying through the ending of the book and I felt no emotion whatsoever. I found myself HOPING Mira would just die already so I could feel something - ANYTHING. And the cliffhanger at the end is so incredibly random. Xaden, who spent the entire book asking Violet if she’s sure she still wants to be with him and trying to convince her otherwise, would have NEVER forced a marriage upon her without her knowledge. Rebecca tried doing way too much in this book. I feel like I’m being punk’d and she did this on purpose to get this visceral reaction from me.

I have so many thoughts - so many negative thoughts - but I’m just too angry right now to write them all down and I just want to sleep but I can’t because I’m MAD. BIG MAD. ...more "

progress:

(page 235 of 544)
— Mar 26, 2025 06:17AM

Sep 18, 2025 04:48AM · see review