Seeing that I love to complete the things I start, I've decided to give a review of the final book in the fantasy-romance series by Rebecca Yarros. I completed this series sometime last month and couldn't get around to writing a review about it due to “certain circumstances” of which I would be sharing soon. Accept my apologies.
Now, let's get to the book review proper. The first installment in this series–Fourth Wing– was nothing short of mind blowing. I was so thrilled to find a book that could tickle my fancy after such a long time and judging from that immersive experience, I immediately started the second installment of the book– Iron Flame– without a second thought. The second installment was not as titillating as the first but it was a decent read. I rode on the ‘thrill-tide’ I got from the first installment and this saw me through to the end of the second installment.
The idea of the third installment in this series–"Onyx Storm"–was appealing. I could finally see the end of the series of battles and how the events culminated. I began reading Onyx Storm with so much expectations but the book failed me in all ramifications.
For the majority of the book, the characters, especially the leads, were maintained and only a handful of extra characters were added. The new characters didn't significantly affect the turn of events hence my initial expectation.
I'm all for unexpected twists and jaw dropping turn of events as they sometimes define how interesting a book gets, but when the twist is not properly played out, the experience becomes very underwhelming. This was the case with Onyx Storm.
I read about 95% of this book and was still wondering when the glorious event would take place and if there wasn't a glorious event, then the disheartening event.
At the end of the book, a few pointers were given as to what was 'supposed' to happen and the rest was left to our imagination as readers and trust me when I say I imagined. For three days straight, I kept expressing my dissatisfaction and how I wished this book ended on a better note. Simply put, the end of this series was so vague and underwhelming. If I had any clue that this would happen at the end, I would have called it a wrap after reading the first installment that brought me so much joy.
In general, I'd like to praise the author for her dexterity, beautiful wielding of words and her creative mind. It must not have been such an easy task creating an entirely new world with different species of creatures and a deviation from what we know as ‘normal’. This takes so much creative power and for this, the author deserves her flowers.
Also, the books had some pacing issues that weren't very obvious but they still existed. Anyone who is easily dissatisfied may be thrown off by this bit.
The books in the series were decent reads but I must admit that this series has made me agree with Teknon, my wildflower. The thrill that accompanies some series doesn't last till the end and unless I find a very captivating series, I may not be doing this again anytime soon. I guess it's back to the single reads.
