I started out this book not knowing what all of the short stories were going to be about. Maybe I’m dumb, but I really didn’t know they were all going to be about these characters’ threshing days 😂. Was that just me?? I thought maybe we’d get stories from different points in the different books, but it was literally just threshing day (which I’m not complaining because we got to see all our favs but still). 

Anywayyy THIS WHOLE POST WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR FOURTH WING, IRON FLAME, ONYX STORM, AND OBVIOUSLY THIS NEW BOOK, THRESHING DAY. Do not keep reading if you don’t want the book to be spoiled for you. 

Brennan’s Story

So, Brennan is Violet’s older brother who she thought was dead until the end of Fourth Wing. With his story, we get to meet the Sorrengails’ dad finallyyy. He was so sweet and just like I imagined him (level-headed, soft, kind). Brennan’s dragon, Marb, was hilarious and I loved him so much. 

Mira’s Story

Mira is Violet’s older sister. Her threshing day was okay, but honestly not as memorable as Brennan’s. I did feel bad for her being the middle child (fellow middle child here) and feeling like she was no one’s favorite. Other than that, though, it was okay. 

Xaden’s Story

I feel like if I have to explain who Xaden is then you didn’t really read the books. BUUUUT. For the sake of continuity, Xaden is Violet’s boyfriend (and husband according to the end of Onyx Storm…). His parents were part of the rebellion and, therefore, he has always been a target at Basgiath. His threshing day was obviously one of the most memorable. You get to see why and how he killed Alic (Aaric’s brother). Then, when bonding with Sgaeyl, you get to see how Xaden really feels and the rage he kept inside. Sgaeyl was ruthless and honestly so fun to see with her side of things. 

Garrick’s Story

Garrick is one of Xaden’s oldest friends and also lost his parents since they were executed for being part of the rebellion. I’m gonna be honest here: Garrick’s story was completely unremarkable. I didn’t feel like I got much out of it and his dragon wasn’t that memorable as well. 

Dain’s Story

Dain was Violet’s best friend as she entered Basgiath. He was secretly in love with her, but never believed she would survive at Basgiath, so Violet ended up ditching him as a friend (for the most part, at least, and thank goodness for it because he was annoying). It must run in the family because his dad was super overbearing and just annoying in general. 

Also, like, what the heck is up with people and climbing trees on threshing day??? I get there’s a good vantage point, but it’s almost comical that every single person so far has climbed a tree. 

For Dain’s story, I loved how he had to choose between two dragons: the one his dad wanted him to choose, and the one he knew was good for him. It really made his character more complex and showed just how conflicted he is between what his dad wants for him and what he wants for himself. 

Bodhi’s Story

Bodhi is Xaden’s younger cousin. I personally feel like he had one of the more complex story arcs for this little series of threshing days. You get a ton of emotion from Xaden in this one and how much he loves his cousin. You also get to see just how insecure Bodhi is because he just feels like “Xaden Riorson’s cousin” instead of his own person. I loved the emotional complexities of it. 

Imogen’s Story

Imogen is another character who lost her parents in the rebellion before the events of Fourth Wing. She also lost her older sister. Imogen is sassy, sweet, and doesn’t want to get close to anyone because she feels like everyone close to her just dies. Which is why she won’t let herself get close to Garrick (no matter how much the two of them like each other). Her story follows a little of that romantic tension between the two, but you also get a lot of info about her dragon. Her dragon is pretending to be young and never bonded, but she’s actually Imogen’s grandmother’s dragon. Apparently, it was forbidden to bond or something like that, but I can’t for the life of me remember why it would have been forbidden. 

Rhiannon’s Story

Rhiannon is Violet’s best friend. She also has a twin sister named Raegan who is married and has a child. Rhiannon’s story was meh and she basically just talked about how she would do anything to protect her sister. It also mentions her potentially being a wing leader. Not too much going on in this one.

Sawyer’s Story

He is one of the characters who helped Violet succeed her first year at Basgiath. He also had to repeat his first year (so it was technically his second year there when it was Violet’s first). He lost his leg in Iron Flame after a wyvern bite. For the first couple sentences in Sawyer’s story, he seemed like such a coward compared to everyone else so far. But then he meets his dragon and you get to see all of his true emotions. I also loved loved loved the explanation for why he didn’t bond with a dragon the year before. It’s because his dragon wasn’t ready yet and that’s the whole reason he had to repeat a year. There wasn’t anything wrong with him and I think that healed something inside of Sawyer. 

Ridoc’s Story

Ridoc is one of Violet’s closest friends and is often the comic relief for the series. His story is no different and took a less serious tone than all the others. His dragon was his perfect match, and they were honestly like two little boys playing tricks on each other. It was super funny and cute. Ridoc also reminds me of Kenji from Shatter Me. Same tone, comic relief, and everything. Anyone else think that??

Liam’s Story

Liam is Sloane’s brother and another character whose parents died in the rebellion before Fourth Wing. He died at the end of Fourth Wing since his dragon got mortally wounded. He was very close with Violet, and she was devastated after his death. His story obviously makes you so sad just because you know what’s going to happen to him and his dragon. But he’s legit so chill just carving a figurine of his dragon as the dragon comes up and tells him to carve it better next time. 

Sloane’s Story

Sloane is Liam’s younger sister and ends up hating Violet for a long time because of Liam’s death. Her story was cute because of Dain saving her life. It was such a sweet little encounter that I honestly want them to be together now. You also meet her dragon who is SO CHILL. Everything that they mentioned about red dagger tails being temperamental made so sense because her and her brother’s dragons were the calmest ones. 

Aaric’s Story

Aaric is King Tauri’s third son who secretly joins Basgiath. He has a huge role in Iron Flame and basically helps them do a lot of what happens in that book. His story was okay, but not one I would’ve finished on. He basically just strong armed his dragon into being his and becoming his rider. He ended by saying he was going to take down his whole family and their kingdom (since his mother was the only one left he truly cared about and had already passed away at this point). 

Overall, it was a lot of good short stories, and it was fun reading about our favorite characters again. Definitely not necessary information in my opinion for the next book, but fun, nonetheless. 

Source: Personal Copy

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