Book Review: Onyx Storm (SPOILERS)

What to expect from this Onyx Storm reivew

It's been over a year since we'd been waiting for the release of Onyx Storm—so of course I took a day off work on January 21 and spent it glued to my Kindle. It actually took me four additional days, but I finished the book last night and I have thoughts. Lots of them.

Just to preface this review, so you know what to expect: it is not going to be a detailed run-down on what happened in Onyx Storm. It will however have spoilers, so if you haven't read the book and want to go into it blindly, it's better you close this tab right now.

I'll be sharing my general impression of the book, alongside a few topics (characters and things that happened) that I had especially strong reactions to. Or still have questions about.

My overall impression of Onyx Storm

I gotta admit, I was a little bit scared going into it, as Iron Flame was a huge disappointment for me. I spent most of that book feeling frustrated and overall thinking it was way longer than it should have been. Luckily, Onyx Storm was the redemption this series needed for me.

It didn't quite hit the same as Fourth Wing had, but it made me laugh out loud, feel nervous and on the edge of my seat, and even a little angry at times. It started out a little slow in the first third but really picked up after that first 30% and having a single theme (going on a quest to try to find a cure for Xaden and find Andarna's kind) helped pull it all together.

I was pretty surprised though, and maybe even a little disappointed that there was no Liam-level death in the book. After Rebecca said in an interview that she wasn't afraid of killing main characters, I was anticipating something hude happening at every fight scene—but the biggest death ended up being Quinn. Don't get me wrong, it was sad, but I feel like she wasn't someone we (and Violet) connected to on a deep enough level for it to really hurt.

Ridoc and Mira had close calls of course. Ridoc's scene was so well written with Violet's terror then relief, and his own comedic reaction that I felt happy it turned out the way it did. But Violet and Brennan saving Mira miraculously after the Teophanie slit her throat? It felt like Rebecca chickened out and I was almost disappointed.

The ending of Onyx Storm

Let's get the biggest one out of the way first and talk about the ending. I can't be the only one who was left staring into the void thinking: what the hell just happened? But now that I had some time to sit with it, here's what I think.

Who's Xaden's newly turned venin brother?

We saw Xaden clearly lose all control as he had no other way to protect everyone, so he channeled and ended up with Merwyn, who's unconscious yet Xaden's unable to kill him.

First, he just mentions that the Sage has a sibling he can use against him. But it obviously couldn't be his newly-discovered half-brothers, as it's a single sibling.

But then we find out he's going to be used against Xaden, because he turned venin. Honestly, I'm still kind of torn whether I think it's Garrick or Bodhi.

Bodhi makes sense because he's the closest Xaden has to a sibling-not just a brother, who could be any close friend, but a blood relation. Yet if it was Bodhi, wouldn't Xaden be more upset about having his de facto heir turn venin?

So the lack of Tyrrendor-related thoughts suggest Garrick. He was also there "watching him stumble and fall over the last five months." He could 100% be the one he expected the least to turn as Xaden knew Bodhi was always trying to fight his command to stand down and stay safe.

And to turn, either of them would have had to be in a situation where they needed more power than they had to channel. Which, they both were.

Bodhi tried to counter Teophanie's storm with his signet. Violet told him he wasn't strong enough against her, but what if he channeled to become stronger? What if Teophanie didn't drop the winds but failed against Bodhi? We saw him retching in the town square, could that be connected to his channeling?

At the same time, Garrick spent most of his power with all the traveling, when he still needed to be making more trips. Needed to be there. So he very well could have also channeled to be able to go and save his friends. He's also unaccounted for at the end, so we can't 100% say it's not him either.

What happened to Violet and Xaden in the end?

Violet wakes up super confused with a ring on her finger, along with her and Xaden's marriage certificate, not remembering anything. So what happened and why doesn't she remember? Here's my theory.

We know Violet's promised Xaden that she'd protect Tyrrendor—and with Xaden advancing as a venin and Bodhi potentially joining him, she's the province's last hope. But for Violet to be able to speak for and lead Tyrrendor instead of King Tauri appointing someone, she has to be Xaden's wife—or consort as Xaden foreshadowed it for us.

Hence the marriage, made possible by the Dunne priestesses, who owed them a favour, after Violet and Rhiannon saved them during battle.

But that's not all.

What about the bond between Xaden and Violet that now, even though they're married, seems to be non-existent?

I saw a theory by Emma Halbrook on TikTok, which says that when Xaden begs Sgaeyl to persuade Tairn, it's about Andarna breaking the mating bond between Tairn and Sgaeyl, effectively breaking the one between Violet and Xaden too. With that, she cannot be used to find or kill Xaden, ensuring her safety.

According to Emma, "her decision" here refers to Andarna and whether she's willing to break the bond. We learned earlier from the irid elder, that bonds are merely magical ties, and since irids themselves are magic, they can break and forge them as they will.

Andarna also says at the end that Tairn needs a cycle of rest to recover—and since he hasn't gotten injured as far as we know, that most likely refers to his recovery from breaking the mating bond.

Why does Violet not remember getting married to Xaden?

This is the easiest part in my opinion. We see Imogen next to her when she wakes up, who, as we know, has the signet to erease recent memories. Most probably she ereased Violet's memories of all that happened and the plans they made, so that she cannot be used against Xaden. Because it'd make perfect sense to get someone like Dain to get into Violet's memories to find him.

There was an extra theory I heard (I thought in Emma's video, but upon rewatching it, I couldn't find that part), which was super interesting, so I wanted to share. It says that the stone in Violet's new ring is the one missing from the sword of Tyrrendor—and that it actually holds the last piece of Xaden's soul.

Xaden himself refers to the part of his soul that is his love for Violet at the "final piece to float away". When he becomes the ice and channels to drown everything in shadows but hears Violet's confession of love, he thinks:

No. Wait. I grab for that thread with desperate hands, clawing to keep her as more of my pieces are blown away, lost to the void. She is warmth and light and air and love.

And he does indeed yank his hand from the ground before that piece also floats away, leaving as possibly the last piece of his soul that remains. The piece, that, according to the theory is now in Violet's ring, which she will somehow make whole again, with her warmth and love.

It's an interesting hypothesis, isn't it?

Wow that was a lot... But I still have some thoughts and questions left about Onyx Storm that are not about the ending.

Violet's hair & Dunne's temples

Prior to the release of Onyx storm Rebecca said that Violet's hair was going to be important and we finally know why. First we just saw the silver-haired venin, who turned out to be an ex-priestess of Dunne—then all the other priestesses too. And OMG I gasped when she saw the girl with hair exactly like hers in the temple.

Later we found out that Violet's dad, Asher took Violet to the temple of Dunne in Unnbriel, where she got "the touch". However, according the the high priestess, her "dedication was not finished".

Asher returned today. Gods help us if anyone finds out. I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him for what he’s done to her.

From the dedication at the beginning of Chapter Fifty-Three (see above) we know that Violet's mother didn't actually know about it or support it at all. What we still don't know though is why Asher did it. He doesn't seem like a religious fanatic—if anything, he's the opposite. He's a very knowledgable scribe, who probably doesn't do serious things like that without a reason. But what was that reason?

And what does it even mean to "get the touch"? What difference would it have made if they finished the dedication? How come they didn't? Is that why Violet's hair is not fully silver, similar to that girl she saw?

But also, the priestesses she met during the battle said they use something on their hair to make it look like the way it does. So does that mean it doesn't just happen to everyone after their dedication? Maybe you don't need the touch to get dedicated/become a princess, and then your hair doesn't turn silver?

I still have so many questions about all this.

Violet's second signet

I totally did NOT expect her to dream walk and had no clue in the previous hints, so that was a suprise. I think we all expected her to be some type of inntinnsic but didn't realise this was it.

Even though we officially found out, I was still wondering if her second signet could be changing and manifest as different things due to Andarna's ever-changing magic. But when Andarna finally talked about it once Violet realised, she didn't mention anything like that, so maybe that's it?

I was also kinda bummed that we didn't learn more about this signet and that Violet didn't have the chance to try and hone and wield it yet. We can probably expect that to happen in the next book though.

Andarna's departure and return

Although my heart broke for Violet when Andarna broke their bond and left, I was a little disappointed when she came back so quickly, re-establishing their bond. It's like... All those emotions feel so ridiculous in hindsight and it was just so anti-climactic like this. I thought she was going to come back at least a book or two later and that it was going to be something biiiig.

As far as I remember, she also didn't really give much of an explanation, just came back and started talking to Violet like nothing happened. So we're left with even more questions.

Why did she even come back now? What did she do while she was away?

And lastly, Aaric

I was vastly disappointed that Aaric got so little part of the book. He was there a lot, yes. But it was like nobody actually noticed and appreciated him the way they should have. He proved to be incredibly smart and capable, and also humble and loyal to Violet, time and again. But he was ignored and it felt like the whole book was sleeping on him and his potential.

Not to mention his signet. It baffled me that Violet simply didn't pay enough attention to recognize his signet right away. It was glaringly obvious:

If someone you know and trust tells you to do something unexpected, then gives "It's how you save Tyrrendor" then you stop and ask WHY he says that. Or even if you don't, when it actually happens, then you stop and wonder how he knew.

But no, it took Violet to whole book to finally take Aaric seriously and realise that his signet is precognition. And even better than Melgren's. I was so disappointed in her character for not paying attention and recognising it sooner.

This whole thing leaves me wondering: maybe it was a conscious decision from Rebecca, to just sprinkle these hints to prepare him to be a surprise in the next book? Either way, I wished we could have seen more of him.

For full transparency, I might also be feeling this way, because my top theory for Onyx Storm and this series was that Xaden's going to get killed, potentially by Violet, since he irrevocably turns, and Aaric ends up being Violet's end game. After SJM, I never really trust the first (or even second) love interest, so I wouldn't be suprised.

As things are right now, I'd say I'm less sure of this theory now but still think there's a slight chance that it might come true. We'll see in a few years (and books), I guess.

Closing thoughts on Onyx Storm

These are the main things going through my head right now, less than 24 hours after finishing Onyx storm. As my friends also finish the book and more reviews and theories come out, I might add to this post.

Until then, if you need someone to talk Onyx Storm spoilers and ending with, find me on Instagram and let's chat!