It goes without saying that THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven’t read this chapter of Onyx Storm, please go read it first.
One thing is for certain: Rebecca Yarros has found a new way to keep Xaden and Violet from… doing a LOT of young adult things. Basically, spice is off the table.
We can all agree that the book is already intense. Xaden can sense Violet’s power. I had a theory about Xaden losing control and boom, turns out, I was right. Xaden’s control did snap. Somewhat.
It’s nice that Xaden cares so deeply for Violet that he stops himself, though. He would do anything not to hurt her.
The book is in its early days, but I underlined this:
“I’m not quite sure how I even did it. Is the thought sharing an intrinsic thing? Or a bond thing? It’s happened more than once with us.”
We haven’t revealed Violet’s signet yet, and I’m starting to wonder—is it an intrinsic thing? Or a bond thing?
Another Easter egg here:
“I’m…well, venin. Great on the battlefield, but not a good governing quality.”
While Xaden admits this about himself, I wonder if this opens the door to high-level venin infiltrating leadership at Basgiath. After all, in Fourth Wing, Violet did say she felt uneasy around Melgren.
We’re diving straight into politics. Navarre is trying to create an alliance with Poromiel, which was predicted before—it’s the logical step given how history repeats itself. Navarre and Poromiel have been allies before (including some of the isles) to defeat dark wielders. It feels to me like this is a nudge toward the same effect.
I also took note of this phrase: “then [Xaden] storms toward the door.” Given that this is the name of the book, I’m paying more attention to the word storm everywhere. Is this about Lilith? How her death is bringing weather changes? Tairn? Xaden? There’s still a long way to go to figure it out.
I’ve been waiting so long to see more dynamics between Imogen and Garrick. I’m still surprised there hasn’t been any development between the two of them. Also, I’m kinda sad Garrick is “partying” with someone else.
I can see that Bodhi is feeling a little left out, given how he’s part of the “watch Xaden” group, as per the Prologue. Rebecca Yarros told us that it fits in with the song “i look in people’s windows.” He’s feeling rather jealous.
Oh, this chapter is getting better and better. Let me tell you, I read it three times (no joke) to make sure I fully understood it. So…runes. Runes can be tampered with. We know that putting several runes over one another can create all sorts of new effects. But it turns out we can change and alter a rune by removing one single layer. Runes can be nullified. I have a feeling this will become very important information down the line.
I’ve also been stuck on the idea that Kylynn is an agrarian. Why would we ever need them in the Empyrean series? And then it hit me. My theory about Sloane how she will somehow make the Barrens full of magic again right? If she can imbue magic into objects (or people), then people like Kylynn will be needed to restore the land and nature. This is just a theory, but I’ll expand on it later.
Again, I’m so surprised that we’re getting answers right away. Andarna wants to find her family. We don’t know if the Empyrean will eventually agree, and Queen Maraya is now involved in negotiations too. They’re hoping to find out how to defeat venin, given Andarna’s age. I did say that Andarna is the weapon. At least, I still think so—but we’ll see.
“She needs to prepare herself,” he says. “And so do you. There’s every chance this mission will kill us.”
This was part of the previews, and it’s nice to finally see who Tairn was talking to and about. I think he’s right. I can’t imagine a bunch of dragons who left on their own accord welcoming dragons from the continent again.
There’s so much about Andarna’s kind. They need to find answers: Where is Andarna from? Why did they leave? How can they defeat venin? Why was Andarna left behind? Also, they want to cure Xaden, and clearly, they’ll need another to fire the Arentian wardrone. A lot of action in just four chapters. I’m already shaking with anxiety.
I’m starting to feel there’s a lot of tension in the Sorrengail family, especially between Mira and Brennan. There are so many unresolved emotions, which I think the siblings need to work out—and FAST.
Alright, Chapter 5 is next…
Read the Next Chapters:
- Onyx Storm Read Along: Prologue
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 1
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 2
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 3
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 4
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 5
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 6
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 7
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 8
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 9
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 10
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 11
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 12
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 13
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 14
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 15
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 16
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 17
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 18
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 19
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 20
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 21
- Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 22
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