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Associated Press

To celebrate a coming milestone, Alyssa Math could think of nothing more fitting than front-row tickets to Onyx Storm author Rebecca Yarros’ appearance at The Town Hall in Manhattan, New York.
“I’m getting married next weekend, so this is my hen night,” said Math, an accountant who travelled with friends from her home near Annapolis, in the US state of Maryland.
She is one of millions of admirers of Yarros’ work and a year ago drove two hours to Reston, Virginia, to see the author.
“It’s a huge cult following,” said Math, wearing a white veil in homage to one of Yarros’ characters. “The drama [of her books] keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

Friday night at The Town Hall had the feel of a costume party, rock concert and family reunion as a capacity crowd of around 1,500 clapped, laughed and shouted, “Yes, Queen!”
The “Empyrean” series has made Yarros one of America’s most popular and obsessed-about leaders of romantasy, a newly branded genre combining romance and fantasy.
Onyx Storm is the much-awaited third instalment of a planned five centred on the lovers Violet and Xaden, and the first since the million-selling Iron Flame came out in 2023.
In its first week of publication, Onyx Storm has already topped bestseller lists on Amazon and sold more than 300,000 copies just through Barnes & Noble, according to a spokesperson for the US bookstore chain.
Yarros, interviewed for some 75 minutes by Olympic gymnast and avowed fan Laurie Hernandez, shared a few insights about her writings (she already knows how the series will end) and spoke lovingly of her husband (“He’s 6’4” and hot as hell with a baby strapped to his chest”).

She expressed relief and pleasure over completing Onyx Storm, noting she had to block out her own popularity to get the writing done.
“As much as I love you guys, I kind of pretend you don’t exist,” she said. “I kind of ignore you, but I love you at the same time.”
Onyx Storm is not quite a Harry Potter-level phenomenon – the final Potter book by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold more than 8 million copies in the US in its first 24 hours – but it carries a similar feeling of obsession, identification and spontaneity.
Like the Potter books, the release of Onyx Storm was welcomed with midnight store parties around the country, gatherings for which fans showed up in costume. Some fans at The Town Hall finished the 500-plus-page Onyx Storm within hours of receiving it, while others were in no hurry.
“This is a book I personally want to take my time with,” said Scarlett Fuentes, who arrived with her friend Zy Bao-angan, both of them in black leather.
“I want to savour this moment,” Bao-angan said.

Like Potter, enthusiasm for the Yarros books extends well beyond any organised publicity campaigns. The Potter books helped inspire some of the first internet fan sites for books.
Yarros and fellow romantasy authors such as Sarah J. Maas have been favourites of the young readers on BookTok, a TikTok community that has emerged as one of the most effective drivers of sales in publishing.
Countless fans on BookTok and other social media platforms – some crying, some swearing in amazement – have been posting their responses to Onyx Storm.
On Friday, Hernandez and the audience posed questions about her books as if gossiping about friends. If Violet and Xaden were at a bar, what would they order? Violet would go for a lavender lemon drop, Xaden is fine with a beer. And which music genres define them? Xaden is heavy metal, Violet harder to label.

Asked what were the most important lessons she has learned from writing the books, Yarros reminded her fans that she was not only a writer or public figure.
“I can say plotting and I can say everything, but probably the most important thing I’ve learned is that real life is what happens in my house, and what happens around my kitchenette and what happens in my living room chairs and what happens when my kids are all together and my husband’s together. Real life is not what happens on the internet,” she said.
“I love you guys,” she added. “But peace out.”


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Onyx Storm author Rebecca Yarros meets superfans in New York as new book tops charts

Rebecca Yarros (right) takes photos with audience members who attended a fan event at The Town Hall in Manhattan, New York, about Yarros’ new book Onyx Storm, on January 24, 2025. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

Laurie Hernandez (left) and Rebecca Yarros discuss Yarros’ new book Onyx Storm at The Town Hall, on January 24, 2025. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

Fans at the event hold copies of Yarros’ new book. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

Around 1,500 fans attended the event. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

Yarros discusses her new book at the event. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

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Shelves at Amigh’s home are filled with Hong Kong-themed memorabilia. Photo: Kylie Knott

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Lifestyle

Arts

Culture

Books

Yarros was interviewed by Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez, answered fan questions and took photos with them in Manhattan


Yarros was interviewed by Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez, answered fan questions and took photos with them in Manhattan.


United States

Gen Z

Fame and celebrity

Icons and Influencers