Where does one even begin...
The Empryean series has consumed my every waking thought for the past 4 months. My brain sounds a little like this: Where did Xaden go? Who is the "brother" the venin are talking about? Is Sgaeyl lying about her age? How will Imogen ever get over losing Quinn? Who has second signets we don't know about? Violet now has to take care of Tyrenndor? In these three books Rebecca Yarros has accomplished the impossible, combined every single trope, and I mean everything from enemies to lovers and found family. AND managed to write a plot twist I did not see coming. When I finished the last line of Onyx Storm and turned the page to see that there wasn't anything else, I sat and stared at the wall for 45 minutes. Everything I love has been shoved into these three books, and I need more... now. There are so many things I love about this series, I don't even know where to begin.
Ok let's dive in, book one.
From the second we meet Violet, I could tell she was going to be our classic fantasy heroine, except we've got much higher stakes this time. She isn't just weak and unskilled, as all good heroines start out, she is capital F fragile. Seriously, throughout the whole series I was cringing and begging her to just sit down! That girl had me nervous at all times. But something about her made me love her, dare I say more, than almost any other romantasy heroine. Maybe it's her guts, or her determination to not let her disability hinder her, or maybe it's her honesty about the fact that she is afraid. I simply loved her from the start.
Parapet. Our first glimpse of Xaden Riorson. And I am so sorry to Dain but as soon as that large gloomy, black cat aura, shadow wielding wing leader came onto the scene, it was over for me. Dain didn't even stand a chance at being the star of this show. The sweet, first love, childhood friend, boy next door vibe was simply not going to trump the dominating presence of Xaden Riorson. If there is a dark brooding option, that's the one I'm going with. Now, do I feel a tiny bit bad for Dain? Sure, for the time being. But as he gets more and more controlling, I start to feel like his rejection is deserved.
The found family. Where to start...Second Squad, Flame Section, Fourth Wing. They captured my heart, even more than Xaden did. For me the stand out point about this series is the friendships. They are so well developed and flushed out. You can see all the different relationships within the group, not just the group as a generalized whole. You can catch the little moments between Rhiannon and Ridoc or Ridoc and Sawyer. I love the banter, the subtle prep school feel sneaking around Basgiath, the comradery. I am never a fan of a group of friends in a novel who are just blind love and affection at all times. Because that's not realistic, no friend group is perfect harmony. There are tiny rifts between people, there's arguments at times. Rebecca does such a good job of making these friends feel dynamic and real. Emphasis on the real.
Tarin and Andarna.
I- cannot find the words. The found family trope doesn't just apply to the cadets, you can also see it between Violet and her two dragons. And eventually between Xaden, Violet, and all three of their dragons. The way that Tairn and Sgaeyl take Andarna in as their own (a bit reluctantly from Sgaeyl) is so precious. Every little moment we get between the three of them makes my heart melt. I love how even the dragons depict such real emotions and relationship dynamics. Andarna's sassy teenage era, Tarin's protective nature for all the girls in his life, and Sgaeyl's attitude toward Violet coming in between her and Xaden. They are just perfect perfect perfect.
The plot twists...
The one that hit the hardest for me, wasn't even really a plot twist just sort of a reveal. When I found out that Violet's mom was the one to whip Xaden and give him the scars on his back... I was distraught. I don't know why, but I cried so hard at that. Another one that got me was the whole situation around Xaden's second signent. From realizing that Sgaeyl was lying about him being a direct descendant of her previous rider, to finding out that his second signent is reading people's intentions. I was shocked, like truly. With Xaden there is always an air of mystery, but I had no clue that he was a form of an intrinsic. As for Brennan being alive, I honestly saw that one coming. They were bringing him up way too much for not to be alive somewhere, patiently waiting to be revealed.
The ending of Onyx Storm was one plot twist after another, and I honestly could not catch my breath enough to digest it all. All of the Xaden and Violet stuff aside, what tore my heart out the most was Quinn dying in Imogen's arms. As a reader who saw glimpses of my relationship with my best friend in Imogen and Quinn, their final moments together wrecked me. I need to know ASAP where Xaden went, how long did he have this plan in place, and how dare he plot to take Violet's memories. There are too many unanswered questions, and the little hamster wheel in my brain will not stop running until I get the answers I desire.
These books truly took me back to my roots. So much of these books reminded me of the things I loved as a kid and a teenager. Xaden and Violet's relationship really reminded me of Four and Tris from Divergent. Divergent was the first series I read during the dystopian era, and seeing the dynamic between Xaden and Violet felt so nostalgic. As a girl with a dragon tattoo for her favorite childhood movie, How to Train Your Dragon, I knew before evening picking up the first book that it was going to hit home for me. This series is truly for the little girl in me who watched How to Train Your Dragon 100 times and dreamed about being a dragon rider.
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