Buy:  Amazon |   B&N  |  Apple Books  |  Kobo

---

---

Review

4 stars

Phew! Once again I have finished a book in this series with my mouth wide open and wondering what the hell just happened. It’s a wild ride in a world that I love, with characters that I adore, and I really enjoyed this one.

The much anticipated third book of The Empyrean series, this book dives right back into the story where the killer cliffhanger of Iron Flame left off – thank God. Violet’s whole world has been turned upside down and, once again, the story has shifted direction. I do love a good twist, and I’m enjoying the ride that Yarros is taking us on with this series.

Just a note that these books are a run-on series, and should absolutely be read in order. I will keep my review vague to avoid spoilers.

Violet and her “Quest Squad” are off on a mission to find the answers to a recently uncovered secret, and to search for allies in their ongoing war. It’s an adventure that takes us to new places with new people and new challenges to face, and though I did really enjoy the character interactions, so much of this book didn’t move the plot forward and could have been completely removed without impacting the story at all. It felt a bit like filler just dragging the series out. Everything seems to happen towards the end of the book as the war continues, and the action scenes are great, the dragons are awesome, and I was engrossed as that all played out.

I enjoyed the romance in this book. After communication issues plagued the love story in the last book and frustrated me to no end, I was happy to see Violet and Xaden together and committed, and though they are facing some monumental challenges, there is no doubting the love they have for each other, or their emotional, passionate (wildly steamy) connection.

He cradles my face and leans down, resting his forehead against mine. “I am yours and you are mine, and there’s no law or rule in this world or the next that will change that.”

Violet’s own personal story progresses (again, mostly at the end of the book). We learn more about her past, and some big questions are answered, and I loved seeing her embrace her intelligence and her growing power as she gains confidence in who she is and her place in her world. She has some truly badass moments in this one, delivering a couple of well-deserved verbal slapdowns which were highly entertaining. And, of course, she’s continuing to hone her strength and skills as a rider and is become a true powerhouse.

“Tell me something, Violence.” A muscle in his square jaw ticks as he stares down at me, rippling the tawny-brown skin of his stubbled cheek. “Why is it always you?”

There is a phenomenal cast of characters backing her up, and with each book I fall in love with more and more of them (Ridoc owns my heart!). It’s a close knit group with unique dynamics, and each one of them has their own backstories and journeys to go on, and I love the details that we get to explore with them. It connects you to the characters, and I felt so much for all of them – heartache at their losses, intrigue as hints are dropped and their stories develop, and I cheered at their big moments. It’s such a great group, and I love spending time with them.

Having said that, Yarros knows how to write a bad guy, and holy hell I have so much hatred for people in this series. But we all love to hate a bad guy, and it just makes the moments where our heroes shine even better.

There’s more than one big twist at the end and yet another hideous cliffhanger, and I’ll be hanging out to come back to this world to see where it’s all going to go from here.

Not quite as epic as I was hoping, but still a great read – 4 stars.

Note – I listened to this as an audiobook, and like the earlier books it’s narrated by Rebecca Soler (with a few alternate POV chapters from other characters – Teddy Hamilton as Xaden FTW!), and it’s such a great audio to listen to. Soler does an amazing job bringing all of these characters to life and I highly recommend listening to these books.

 

The Empyrean

 

Find more great reads on our Rebecca Yarros Author Spotlight