*** This review contains spoilers ***

“Onyx Storm” is a strange mix of hope and despair, making it a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the whole book. As I began the current end of the Empyrean series by Rebbeca Yarros, I was hopeful. That changed promptly about an eighth into the book. 

I say “current end” because Yarros has taken a break from writing, which is extraordinarily sad, but the reason is understandable. According to every source out there, she has taken a break because she promised to spend the summer with her kids, as well as the fact that she pushed herself past her limit, physically and mentally. 

Yarros also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and POTS, according to Business Insider, Yarros said, “I’ve been really clear that I’m going to rest now, I drove my body to a place that was untenable, and I knew it, and my family knew it, and my husband knew it, and it shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have allowed it to happen.”

The book takes on a quick pace after this point, a few chapters reserved to Violet and her mourning, but when the book is 89% over, the plot continues to twist, the end nearing and the adrenaline higher than ever, the venin have kidnapped Violet’s sister, Mira.

The end of the book has to be the best/worst cliffhanger ever, leaving the readers needing more yet unable to comprehend what they have just read. 

(A quick but HUGE shoutout to Mavrie Durham – a fellow reporter at the Thunderword, go check out her work it’s amazing – because they were able to get “Onyx Storm” placed on hold for me and got it to me in record time so I could start reading it!)

One of the main storylines within this book is Violet and the “Quest Squad” (of course which was nicknamed that by Ridoc) searching for the Irids, the seventh breed of dragon that was introduced in the last few chapters of Iron Flame, whilst Violet is still processing the death of her mother and trying to find a cure for Xaden, who continuously slips up and draws power from the earth throughout the book.

As we finish out the Empyrean trilogy, Yarros takes a trip back to the beginning. Throughout the book she references the first book – “Fourth Wing” – and the events that happened in it. Yarros also brings back Violet using her specific knowledge of poisons and her extensive knowledge of languages and puts them into play in some drastic ways as she and her squad travel the isles.

Xaden’s slip ups – drawing power from the earth – add so much tension and worry through the whole story, especially when Violet is in danger or when there’s a particularly straining conversation with the members of the Quest Squad. 

The members of the Quest Squad unfortunately dwindle as the story follows the trips the squad takes to each Isle, with Yarros track record with character deaths, such as Liam and Violet’s mother – it is honestly surprising that more characters close to the readers haven’t passed.

Yarros, however, did think it a good idea to give the readers a heart attack in chapter 36, page 311, when Violet and Ridoc are trying to find a cure for Garrick, who has been poisoned by Xaden’s “step-father” and end up fighting a cook in the kitchen.

“Air gushes from my lungs as Ridoc looks down. The cook’s knife is lodged in his side.” The string of curses that left my mouth when reading this sentence have probably traumatized my poor dog, and Yarros, being the amazing writer she is, had me convinced that that was the end of Ridoc in the series.

As the next chapter begins, the dread intensifies and you experience the absolute terror Violet is experiencing as she believes one of her closest friends is dying, only to feel the deepest relief when she realizes that it only cut through his flight jacket, and that he is only pissed off because he hates sewing and it’s the only jacket he has.

Chapter 40 is when the readers and the characters finally get to meet the Irids, however the meeting does not go as planned, this is a huge turning point for the book as it changes the whole mood to a less confident one. 

The Irids pride themselves on being a peaceful breed of dragons and are disappointed with how Andarna has grown within the Empyrean, because of that they refuse to help with the war against the dark wielders and destroy Violet’s spirit when they announce that there is no cure to the dark wielder curse.

The Quest Squad returns home to Basgiath three and a half weeks after they first left in search of the Irids and a cure, and Violet is devastated, Andarna refusing to talk to her anymore. 

“There is no sense of victory as I unload Tairn’s saddlebags on the flight field, not even with having secured an army to come to our aid. The overwhelming failure of losing the Irids feels like mold growing on my tongue, souring everything I eat and drink,infecting my words and the very breath in my lungs. The disappointment festers and spreads until I feel wholly, completely rancid.”

A bright spot in the book however, is Sawyer. Having had his leg bitten off late in Iron Flame, he’s been healing and adjusting to his prosthetic, and finally attempts to mount Sliseag, his dragon,with the help of Violet.

The plot thickens as the readers continue through the book. Around the three fourths mark of the book, it is revealed that Xaden’s suspicions are right, and Violet has a second signet, gifted to her by being bonded to Andarna, the moment however, is quickly doused in adrenaline as Basgiath falls under attack once again.

The battle between the riders and the venin, and the dragons and the wyvern is intense and bloody, and yet it seems more effective than the past battles have been, in the sense that Violet has more power, knowing how to control it better and use it to her full advantage when bringing down the wyvern.

The tension doesn’t exactly dissipate when the fight is over, but perhaps gets replaced with dread and sorrow. The Irids have arrived. They have fired the wardstone, effectively protecting Basgiath, but they convince Andarna to break the bond she shares with Violet and come with them.

The dangerous thing about this is the fact that a rider cannot live without their dragon. This has been known since the “Fourth Wing”. “A dragon without their rider is a tragedy, but a rider without their dragon is dead.”

“My heart stutters, and my lungs cease their struggle. There is no air and no reason to seek it. I was infinite yet moored, and now I am hollow and adrift in waters too vast to comprehend. – Rhi’s still here. So are Mira, and Brennan, and Ridoc, and Swyer, and Dain, and Jesina, and Imogen, and Aaric…everyone but her.”

Violet defeats Theophanie with the help of Aaric and his precognition signet. Andarna returns to help as well, but that is about all the readers get before we are thrown for another loop in the very last chapter. 

Violet wakes up in Riorson House with a wedding ring and a blessing from the head priestess of Dunne’s temple, and no memory whatsoever of the last 12 hours of her life, and when she asks Imogen, whose signet is the ability to erase memory, what happened, Imogen’s response is “What you told me to,” ending the book.