Audio Review: Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Narrator: Jasmin Walker, Justis Bolding, Teddy Hamilton, Rebecca Soler
Series: The Empyrean #3
Published by Recorded Books, Entangled: Red Tower Books on 2025-01-21
Length: 544 pages
Length: 23 hours and 52 minutes
Listening Speed: 2.25x
Reviewing Audiobook, Hardcover from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2025 Audiobook Challenge, 2025 New Release Challenge

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.

Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves―her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find―the truth.

But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.

😭🐉🫣💋🫣🐉🤯💀 Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros is the newest installment in her series The Empyrean which follows Violet Sorrengail as she leads the fight against a new enemy. Please note if you have not read book one or book two of this series, there may be spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk. The story picks up during the aftermath of the Venin attack at Basgiath War College. Lives have been lost and irrevocably changed. Violet is reeling with grief and guilt, but her constant, the person she needs, can’t be there how she needs. So like the last book, she channels all of it into finding answers: answers about how to stop the Venin, how to strengthen their failing wards, and where to find the Irids, a rare breed of dragons.

I loved every page of this book, even the parts that were hard to read. Violet is yet again in emotional turmoil and having to keep secrets from her friends. This secret wouldn’t cost her life, but it would put Xaden in danger. She’s so tired of secrets, tired of fighting, and yet it has only begun. Violet and those who rebelled during the last book are now back at the college, integrated in with Gryphon riders to band together and fight the oncoming storm. There is tension at every turn and fights breaking out all over campus. The only thing that protects Violet is the power her dragons give her. Power she is training to use at full capacity.

The plot is again fast-paced and multi-faceted. A part of the story follows Violet and a group of her own choosing as they travel to the neighboring islands, outside of the ward and away from magic, looking for allies in their fight against the Venin. But that isn’t all they are looking for. Andarna revealed herself as a rare breed of dragons known as Irids. She is the only one of her kind, and they are needed to power the wards. Violet also hopes this breed may know how to stop the Venin, and, even better, cure them. Their travels introduce readers to new cultures and lots of new faces. It was interesting to see how they interacted with countries that had been cut off from Navarre for so long.

Overall, I loved Onyx Storm. My emotions are still all over the place after that heart-stopping ending, which I reread about four times to make sure I read it correctly 😂 The stakes are high and the cost they’ll pay even higher. If you are a fan of epic fantasy, adventure, and romance, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen to this one as I’d listened to the previous two in the series. Soler is a fantastic narrator, breathing life and emotion into the story. She had me holding my breath at times while laughing out loud at others. If you are a fan of listening, this one is great.

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