By Ava Shaffer
Divergent meets House of the Dragon in this invigorating, fast-paced, and addictive fantasy by author Rebecca Yarros. Set in the war college Basgiath, Violet Sorrengail is put through grueling physical tests, strategic trials, and tense enemies-to-lovers tribulation to determine if she will become a dragon rider or die trying. With excellent world-building, loveable characters, witty dialogue, steamy romance, an intricate magical system, and deadly dragons, this popular romantasy lives up to the incredible amount of hype it has earned.
Let me paint you a picture. I am seeing Fourth Wing everywhere on Bookstagram and BookTok. I am dodging spoilers left and right. I am tying myself into knots trying to get my hands on this book. I put in a six-week hold at my local Barnes and Noble, I even stooped so low as to consider buying from Amazon (they were sold out too, so I dodged a morality bullet there). Then, one day in New York, I see a cardboard box on the floor of Book Culture in the Upper West Side. Dozens of copies of Fourth Wing lie in this box, and I buy one before the booksellers even have time to put them on the shelves.
Suffice to say, I was excited about this book. And gosh am I happy it lived up to the hype! It was an absolute joy reading this and getting sucked into such a wonderful fantasy world. With characters you root for, a setting rival to every teen boarding school tv show you’ve ever watched, and a plot that whips by you with the speed of a dragon, Fourth Wing is a reading escapist’s dream.
Now we need to talk about the characters in this book, because they are really what made Fourth Wing so captivating for me. Violet came so close to falling into the camp of the annoying main character who makes stupid decisions, but as the story went on, I felt so endeared by her. She is strong, smart, and has an incredibly healthy take on relationships you don’t often find in romantasy books where the love interests hold knives against each other’s throats on the sparring mat (hot, but toxic). The chronic illness representation was also a fresh and important take on the fantasy genre. I found myself rooting for Violet the more I read, and feeling very emotionally invested in her outcomes.
Xaden is the typical tall, dark, and handsome brooding love interest who also happens to be a multifaceted character with complex motivations, sarcastic quips, and a traumatic backstory. Hooray for nuance! I absolutely adored this man and the romantic enemies-to-lovers tension between him and Violet was fantastic. His juxtaposition to another romantic interest in the story was so well done and showcased how a male character can be protective and sexy but not misogynistic (something a lot of other books get wrong. I’m looking at you, Colleen Hoover).
I also read an informative blog post about the current issue of people whitewashing Xaden in their fan art, as well as Yarros’s response to it. Read it here: https://www.themarysue.com/author-of-the-hottest-book-of-the-year-baffled-by-whitewashed-fan-art/
There were a lot of wonderful discussions in this book that went deeper than I expected. Mainly, topics about growing up and growing out of relationships and conceptions of oneself. Fourth Wing was just as empowering as it was entertaining. Along with the themes of humanity, ability, history, and trust, I also really just loved the dragons in this book. The relationships characters have with dragons, as well as the developed personalities and quirks of the dragons themselves, made this an absolute delight.
The main criticism I’ve read about Fourth Wing is the modern voice and vernacular used. I agree, reading about characters who sound like they’re in Gen-Z is a bit cringy at times, and definitely could date the book years on. But I didn’t really mind that. This writing style made the story easy to follow without sacrificing any of the complex relationships, plot, or world-building, and I am always one for making fantasy more fun and accessible.
All in all, I highly recommend this book if you want to take a fun little brain vacation to an intense and brutal dragon war college. Spend some time with these ruthless yet hilarious characters, and read about sarcastic dragons and their charming riders.
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