Onyx Storm: Chapter 23
Mar. 13th, 2025 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaHey, so what exactly is the Krovlan Uprising? Who are the Krovlan people? Who were they uprising against? I ask because the opening quotes from this book keep referencing Violet's dad's research about it but I actually have no idea what the fuck he is talking about.
Anyways, Violet and co are on their horses riding through Deverelli, and not all of them know how to ride. Violet is being horny over Xaden, who is in a great mood because he's free from the venin inside him here. Violet and Dain can ride--they learned during childhood. They arrive at the market, which is a cacophony of sights and sounds for them, unlike anything in Navarre.
We get it, Violet, Xaden is hot.
As always, squad banter revolves around Violet, Xaden, and their relationship. This is another aspect of the book that makes it feel flat and shallow: our side characters are as obsessed with Violet and Xaden as they are with each other, even though in real life no one's friends care that much about their boyfriends.
The locals aren't happy to see them, though, and start to flee from them, calling them "fire-bringers" as they retreat. Xaden tracks down a rare book merchant that Violet is looking for, and they head for her shop.
Wait, didn't we spend a whole bit on how Xaden has the title of Duke? Does Yarros think aristocrat = royalty only?
Regardless. Violet takes Dain, Mira, and Xaden to this mysterious bookseller, where they're immediately attacked. There's been a couple references to Deverelli as being a peaceful country, and I think we're supposed to be surprised that any of them are armed, but earlier in the book the riders were greeted by a line of archers ready to shoot them down, so...duh? Why wouldn't people have weapons of their own?
We've learned basically nothing about the Deverelli in the previous chapters, so it's jarring for characters to now act like we all should be surprised they have knives.
Their sudden attack scares Narelle out, and she recognizes Violet and tells her her father left his books here. Chapter end.
Anyways, Violet and co are on their horses riding through Deverelli, and not all of them know how to ride. Violet is being horny over Xaden, who is in a great mood because he's free from the venin inside him here. Violet and Dain can ride--they learned during childhood. They arrive at the market, which is a cacophony of sights and sounds for them, unlike anything in Navarre.
“Anyone feel like our home is a completely dreary shithole?” Ridoc asks as traffic pauses us outside a cloth merchant, and I find myself staring at a bolt of shimmering black silk so diaphanous it’s almost silver.
It wouldn’t last a day against the dragon-scale armor currently covering my torso.
“Speak for yourself,” Xaden says, swinging his leg over and dismounting next to me. “Aretia is the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He hands me his reins, turning those gorgeous, gold-flecked onyx eyes into weapons capable of melting the underwear straight off my body as he looks up at me. “And my home is the first.”
Unh. Yeah, I flat-out liquefy.
We get it, Violet, Xaden is hot.
As always, squad banter revolves around Violet, Xaden, and their relationship. This is another aspect of the book that makes it feel flat and shallow: our side characters are as obsessed with Violet and Xaden as they are with each other, even though in real life no one's friends care that much about their boyfriends.
The locals aren't happy to see them, though, and start to flee from them, calling them "fire-bringers" as they retreat. Xaden tracks down a rare book merchant that Violet is looking for, and they head for her shop.
“Just wondering if we did the right thing letting Halden go by himself to see the king.” My stomach sinks as I consider every way it could go wrong. “Didn’t exactly give us a choice,” Ridoc says. “Courtlyn only allows aristocrats to enter.”
Wait, didn't we spend a whole bit on how Xaden has the title of Duke? Does Yarros think aristocrat = royalty only?
Regardless. Violet takes Dain, Mira, and Xaden to this mysterious bookseller, where they're immediately attacked. There's been a couple references to Deverelli as being a peaceful country, and I think we're supposed to be surprised that any of them are armed, but earlier in the book the riders were greeted by a line of archers ready to shoot them down, so...duh? Why wouldn't people have weapons of their own?
Then Xaden plucks the blades from the man like they’re toys. “I knew some of you carried blades. There’s no society in the world that doesn’t keep some kind of cutting tool, and eventually… well, we all cut, don’t we?”
We've learned basically nothing about the Deverelli in the previous chapters, so it's jarring for characters to now act like we all should be surprised they have knives.
Their sudden attack scares Narelle out, and she recognizes Violet and tells her her father left his books here. Chapter end.
