Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #1)
Published: May 2, 2023, Red Tower Books
Format: Audiobook narrated by Rebecca Soler with Teddy Hamilton (borrowed from library)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Book Synopsis
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
Fourth Wing was everything I expected it was going to be going in, and I loved it! It had some YA dystopian vibes but with dragons, 20 year olds, and a main character with a disability that made her not physically capable of doing all-the-things. Honestly, it was a thrilling, past paced read overall.
I loved all the characters in Fourth Wing including the dragons. I thought that Yarros created an intriguing world where all of the principle characters were training to become dragon riders and go to war. However, I wish there was a bit more setup in the world building. I would have appreciated a bit more history behind the on-going war and the history of their connection to dragons. Things were revealed slowly, which I kind of understand why, and yet, I’m still left with questions. Listening to the audiobook did help to fully immerse myself into the story and the world Yarros created. I think Soler was a fantastic narrator. I do feel a bit left out, though, because I have no map to refer to when they’re discussing military posts and borders. I’m going to have to buy a copy with a map for sure.
Plot wise, some parts were predictable. For example, I had an inkling of which dragon the female main character, Violet, was going to bond with. But Yarros did successfully keep me on my toes throughout, and the revelation at the very end was something I would have never predicted. I wouldn’t say it was a major cliffhanger, but it’s enough to leave me wanting more.
Going into it, I think depending on your preference, you’ll either love or hate the amount of romance. I’m familiar and a fan of Entangled Publishing. So I knew that even though the romance was a sub-plot, it was still going to be prominent in the story. I’d say most of the romance was in the latter half of the novel. I appreciated the slow growth in relationship between the love interests, especially considering their pasts. There definitely was insta-lust, though.
Overall, I think Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is perfect for anyone that enjoyed stories with similar vibes to Hunger Games or Divergent but set in a college-type of setting where the characters could die at any moment.
Note: The female main character is disabled and physically at a disadvantage. I cannot comment on whether or not the representation is done well, but I personally enjoyed how Yarros approached it. I think she kept it realistic despite it being a fantasy and stayed true to who Violet was as a person both physically and in personality.
Comments