**The following will contain spoilers for Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm.**
Once upon a time, I was better than this. I had original thoughts. And taste. And a decent perception of plot twists.
Background
These days, I’m a slave to BookTok. (Weren’t we all before the great deletion?) Most days, I’m a strong advocate for the online reading community, especially when those spaces are created by women discovering a love for reading. As someone who grew up feeling more or less alone in that interest, there is something magical about seeing the book world truly flourish and embrace new readers at every level. (This, by the way, is a much more complicated and layered discussion than simply, “Yay, BookTok!”, but for the sake of getting to the review, I will save those thoughts for a later article.)
Now, the problem with a powerful community is the influence of groupthink. A few influencers decide a romantasy book is the next big thing, and suddenly, being part of the rider’s quadrant is a necessity for existing in bookish spaces online. Fourth Wing absolutely took off, the fun-filled fantasy novel providing easy entertainment and accessible world-building to readers. I admitted as much in my Goodreads review, claiming “hype is hype” and that, while the story wasn’t entirely unique, my rating was “fully on enjoyment.”
The general consensus about the sequel, Iron Flame, was that the story suffered from second-book syndrome, a common diagnosis when the second book in a series flops. Even mega-fans found parts of the book confusing, and I personally had to drag myself through it. It took me much longer to read, and I honestly gave up trying to understand what was happening and opted to care solely about the romance element.
Suffice it to say, the world was itching for Onyx Storm, which promised to be a redemptive installment. After surviving the fiasco that included botched pre-orders and Target special edition scandals, I finally got my hands on a copy.
Spoiler-free review
I was pleasantly surprised by Onyx Storm. Once again, it’s not the most impressively crafted story — and indeed, it suffers quite a bit from repetitive word choice and clumsy info dumping — but Violet spearheaded the action-packed plot of this book in an undeniable way. After the initial sludge of names and places, I felt thrown into the chaos. My eyes simply could not leave the page, and the stress sat in my chest for the entire book.
Don’t be fooled, this is no fantasy masterpiece. However, if you’re on the fence about the series, give Onyx Storm a fair try before you give up. It might be worth the ride.
⭐⭐⭐/5 for organization, writing, technical elements, and world-building (this is generous)
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 for pure enjoyment, sheer fun, and a post-read obsession with crazy fan theories (y’all are crazy)
Spoiler review
My thoughts on this book are never-ending, so I will attempt to keep it brief. Honestly, the girlies on the internet probably know more than me. This is not a space for theorizing. I don’t care enough for that.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Info dumping (1-150)
I was truly lost for the first 20% of this book, and I even reread Fourth Wing beforehand. I watched recap videos of Iron Flame, and I still could not place half the names, countries, and treaties that were thrown our way at the beginning of the story. Every person sitting in the Senarium was a blank face with inconsequential actions, in my opinion. Any rider or flier outside of “Quest Squad” was chopped liver, too. Dropping last names with no context, defining riders by their dragons, and simply tossing new names in from all directions had me so confused I almost quit. At some point, I just figured anyone important would return later on. No one did. You can just keep reading.
Before the quest (150-250)
All I know about this portion is that Xaden with self-imposed restraint is genuinely so attractive I could melt. His and Violet’s relationship is solidified in this book, and their constant praise for and defense of one another only gets sexier. Their solid base made me respect Violet significantly more than the doubtful version of her that possessed Iron Flame.
Am I certain of the plot yet? Not the details, but somehow it involves finding the irids, and to do that we need some old books, and to get those, we need Dain to break some rules. People online are obsessed with Dain’s redemption arc, but aside from a few one-liners and a general willingness to follow Violet’s wishes, what does he do? He was just a side piece to Aaric and a sounding board for Sloane.
Also, Theophanie is hunting Violet. She has the world’s worst name.
(Professor Riorson is an excellent one, though.)
Quest squad!! (250-375)
After Halden’s glorious failure, all hail Ridoc, the savior of Quest Squad and Basgiath’s most hilarious rider.
Somewhere in there, we meet Xaden’s mom (ouch), Garrick is poisoned by chocolate cake (ouch!), Trager dies (ouch), and Violet basically brings multiple islands to their knees before she discovers she was partially dedicated to the goddess Dunne.
Finally, an interesting tidbit.
I’m curious about the six most powerful riders at play, and I’m hopeful each is tied to a god similar to Violet. I really enjoyed watching her thrive as a leader and demonstrate her mental strength and the raw power of her signet.
(Also, poor Andarna gets rejected by the overly peaceful irids. I fear we hyped them up too much.)
Back at Basgiath (375-450)
You cannot send these characters back to class! They’ve seen too much! (What’s a rune?)
Sh*t hits the fan (450-527)
Andarna, why!? I cannot believe she abandoned Violet, especially when we just discovered that Violet is a dream-walker. How that happened I have no idea, but we drop that piece of information and practically grind it to dust without acting on it.
RIP Mira, except maybe not? For sure RIP Quinn though. That hurt more than I care to admit.
I actually enjoyed the final battle scene immensely. It uniquely challenges every character, pushing them to their limits and testing their boundaries by tugging at their individual flaws. I thought it was smartly crafted and generated the maximum amount of stress and understanding on behalf of the reader. Violet’s magnificent murder of Theophanie combined with Xaden’s epic shadow display sold the final show. Aaric really came in clutch, along with Imogen, though we once again started dropping random second signets that go unexplained.
The ending
Um, respectfully Rebecca, WTF.
Listen, I’ve been in a similar situation before, but this hits different. What happened in those twelve hours that allowed Violet to marry Xaden, Xaden to disappear with Sgaeyl, Imogen to willingly wipe those memories, and presumably Garrick or Bodhi to turn venin?
I don’t know but come 2026 I’m going to find out.
Random Questions
- How many times does Rebecca use the word “desiccate” in this book? The answer is too many.
- Is Lewellen a place or a person? The world may never know.
- Did Xaden get hotter the more venin he became? Absolutely.
- Is Andarna back for good? She better have brought an army of irids.
- Are Tairn and Sgaeyl still bonded? I’m worried they are not.
- Is Sloane not the key to all our problems? She has to be, right?
- If Xaden dies or we try to introduce a new love interest, do I DNF?
Final thoughts
I can’t deny the power this series holds over the masses. The following is honestly unheard of in recent years. Onyx Storm is the fastest-selling adult novel in the past 20 years, selling 2.7 million copies in its first week. Well-written or not, perfect or not, that is some serious magic. That’s community.
If you want to stay up to date with the theories, this website is a massive hub for book information and fan theories. Honestly, it’s helpful during the book, too, if you have questions. Or you could just live for the post-read memes like I do. Either way, remember to fly true, for a dragon without its rider is a tragedy.