Rebecca Yarros fans rejoice over 'Onyx Storm,' proving the midnight release party is back

NEW YORK – The city's hottest club is the midnight book release party.

In a sea of leather pants, braids and the occasional dragon onesie, “Fourth Wing” fans prepared Monday night like they were heading to Basgiath War College to be among the first to snag a copy of "Onyx Storm" by Rebecca Yarros.

Fans who have waited more than a year for Yarros’ latest romantasy novel, the highly anticipated follow-up to "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame," spent the final 2 ?-hour countdown spread through the four floors at Barnes & Noble Union Square in New York City, beading dragon-themed friendship bracelets, playing "Empyrean" series trivia and making friends.

At a Los Angeles event, where Yarros was present, Entangled was "literally rolling out the black carpet" alongside Glambot photo experiences, stations for friendship bracelets and temporary tattoos from local artists, says Lizzy Mason, publicity director at Entangled Publishing.

Monday was only the start of a long night for many Yarros readers. Like New York attendee Lindsey McCarthy, they plan to start reading immediately, wondering what's next for Violet, Xaden and everyone on The Continent. McCarthy, who won the night's trivia contest, took a personal day from work to read.

Readers after dark: The midnight release party is back

The Union Square midnight release was sold out – and it showed. By 11:30 p.m., the line of readers snaked several times around two different floors of Barnes & Noble. As the clock neared midnight, the roar of over 500 readers counted down from 10 with a bookstore employee over the loudspeaker.

This release party is a welcome scene for Yarros-fan Karla Fuentes, who remembers attending midnight releases for the final two "Harry Potter" books. Just months ago, she was here for the midnight release of "Skyshade," book three in the "Lightlark" saga by Alex Aster.

Fantasy books are escapist for Fuentes, and now, on the same day as the inauguration, the "Onyx Storm" release proved a welcome distraction from the news, she says. At an activity station where readers could write personalized notes to Yarros in a "Fourth Wing"-style "Book of Brennan," Fuentes wrote to thank the author for giving her that escape.

"Some very significant nights here," she tells USA TODAY. "This is kind of my home for big releases."

This is not Entangled's first flight with the midnight release party, but it is notably bigger. Yarros' second "Empyrean" novel, "Iron Flame," spurred over 400 release events in the U.S. and Canada. For "Onyx Storm," Entangled planned over 1,100.

Taking a page from the uber-popular midnight release parties of the "Harry Potter," "Hunger Games" and "Twilight" series, Entangled Publishing told USA TODAY it chose a rollout of this scale to match fan fervor for the series. Mason says that booksellers have told Entangled they haven’t seen a midnight release party of this scale in over 15 years ? a "humbling" statistic, she says.

"So many of us in the older generation of publishing remember attending or even working at midnight release parties in our younger days," Mason wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "And there is nothing like the buzz of excitement of being with people who all love the same thing that you do, waiting for the moment when you all get to experience the next chapter together."

It's fitting that a new romantasy novel should get such treatment ? the subgenre (the intersection of romance and fantasy) is a large driving force in the publishing industry, especially from titles that go viral on BookTok, like Yarros' series and "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas. The genre includes expansive world-building, steamy romance scenes and female empowerment.

After 'Iron Flame' cliffhanger, fans can’t wait to get answers

For friends Jazmn Loadholt, Ikea Carlos and Ashley Imanё Fields, the "Empyrean" books are just an extension of the love of reading they’ve shared since high school – first as Wattpad fanfiction readers, then as dark romance and paranormal romance fans. "Fourth Wing" is what got them into romantasy.

Now, they can’t get enough. The trio says they’re eagerly waiting to see what happens with Xaden after that bombshell cliffhanger in "Iron Flame." They also want to know what Violet’s second signet is, which is also teased in the last book.

McCarthy, on the other hand, is hoping for more of Andarna, the second, younger dragon bonded to Violet.

"They've been dropping a lot of hints in the first and second books," she says. "I feel like this is the book where we’re going to learn a lot more about her history."

On the Xaden and Violet front, she’s not worried – she cites a 2024 interview where Yarros said "there's no story without Xaden." But she believes in a popular fan theory about how Violet's pure power will help Xaden, who may be turning venin, an evil dark-magic wielder.

"I think we're going to get a vampire-style vibe," McCarthy says. She just hopes it's nothing like "Twilight: New Moon," as in Violet spending half the book depressed because of what happened to Xaden.

Entangled Publishing aims to avoid repeating ‘Iron Flame’ misprints

The limited edition deluxe "Onyx Storm" hardcover, like the ones passed out at midnight release parties, includes sprayed edges with a dragon design. These copies are available while supplies last, the publisher’s site says.

When "Iron Flame" was released in 2023, misprints hit the market and fans found damaged book edges, typos, missing pages and upside-down pages. To curb this happening again, Entangled developed "even deeper relationships" with printers and distributors as they gear up to publish over a million copies, Mason says.

In the event of a misprint, which Mason says "are inevitable with any print run," Entangled has stocked an overprint for affected readers. She points readers to the “Empyrean” series FAQ page.

"Readers' happiness is always our goal," said Bree Archer, art director at Entangled. "We want the outside package to be just as memorable as the captivating story inside."

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, check out her recent articles, or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rebecca Yarros 'Onyx Storm' is here: Fans celebrate midnight release