Why is this book so good?! Tikok did not lie about Fourth Wing!

Hey book lovers! Where do you go when you’re looking for book recommendations? Booktok, Instagram, maybe Twitter? Any book recommendation will be a hit or a miss, but personally for me, booktok has given me a lot of misses, so when I saw Fourth Wing trending, I was rightfully hesitant.

Foruth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is everywhere from book collectors hunting down the special editions with dragons sprayed on the edges of the page to book reviewers sharing their favorite moments from the novel. I thought surely this book cannot be that great, but I was wrong! Yes, the hype is true!! I am so happy that the novel was not only entertaining to read, but also featured an exciting world to set foot into. 

Fourth Wing is an enemies-to-lovers romance set in a war college with characters in their early 20s and students bound and bonded to dragons! No, this is not a monster romance, although if you’re looking for a dragon lover book series, may I suggest my checking out my review of A Ruin of Roses by K.F Breene.

Summary:

Violet Sorrengail always thought she’d spend her life buried in books and working as a scribe. Until her mother and commanding general orders her to enlist in the dragon riders instead. Being a dragon rider is highly dangerous as they are not just fighting in the war but bonding with a dragon and surviving Basgiath War College is a task only a few survive.

But despite Violet’s small size, she believes she can survive college without killing anyone. However, Basgiath is known to kill its riders through its extreme task to ensure the survival of the strongest fighter. And students are also allowed to kill each other during training exercises. If a rider survives to bond with a dragon, the giant beasts may also kill anyone they deem weak.

Unfortunately, Violet has many targets on her back, the most notable being Xaden Riorson. Xaden’s father led a rebellion against Navarre, lost, and was excuted by Violet’s mother. Now Xaden has become the strongest dragon rider at Basgiath and Violet’s Wing leader.

Violet’s headstrong, and despite opposition, she’s determined to survive Basgiath. But just as she finds her footing, she also starts to suspect that Basgiath is hiding a terrible secret.

Thoughts:

This book was good and kept at the edge of my seat. I loved that this book main setting was a college campus because we need more magical school books! The fantasy element ensures that characters in this story don’t deal with the typical student problems, they’re no rules against murdering each other, and a lot of their tasks ensure the strongest survive. It’s very dystopic, but because the plot moves along quickly, it’s easy to forget when characters move on to their next task.

As for the story aspect of this novel I think the beats are just fast enough to keep readers engaged. Additionally, Fourth Wing is full of plot twists. Every time, I thought I knew where this plot was going, I was wrong. The author kept me on my toes, and that only made it more interesting!

I really liked the world building of this novel. From what I learned of this world, dragons and humans have a symbiotic relationship. And their lives are tied together through a bond that allows them to speak into each others minds. Additionally, the dragons choose their humans and will kill any that they find unworthy. And some dragons are life mates which is super cool and interesting. I really liked the plot point that ties Violet and Xaden’s dragons together. Not to mention the dragons we meet in this story are diverse as they have different types of magic, skills, and appearance. I thought that was so cool.

“Fascinating. You look all frail and breakable, but you’re really a violent little thing, aren’t you?”

Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing

The romance between Xaden and Violet builds slowly through the story, but readers won’t have to wait too long for their first kiss. Although the romance in this story is technically enemies to lovers Violet and Xaden don’t remain enemies for very long. For most of the novel the two have an uneasy friendship with sexual tension. But it is very much resolved by the end of this novel.

As for the characters in this novel there are so many loveable ones! And no one was more loveable than the protagonist Violet. Violet’s a bookish girlie, and because she’s booksmart, she must work harder to train as a fighter, a dragon rider, and to weild magic. Despite other characters in this series, cough Dain, trying to encourage her to transfer to the scribes. And while Violet would fit easily there, she’s stubborn and determined to prove to herself that she can be a phenomenal dragon rider.

Violet’s best friend in this story is Rhiannon, who she meets on her first day. And despite all the obstacles and dangers, their friendship survives. Rhiannon is so sweet, and in a novel with so many people attempting to murder and hurt Violet, I found it refreshing. And Rhiannon is also a hottie and has flings with both men and women at Basgiath. She’s actually one of the few characters we meet whose LGBTQIA+.

I’m going to keep you. You’re mine, Violet.”
“Only if you’re mine.”
“I’ve been yours for longer than you could ever imagine.”

Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing

Violet’s love interest in this novel is none other than her sworn enemy Xaden Riorson. Xaden’s cold and threatens to end Violet’s life when they first meet. Despite all that, Violet can’t help but find Xaden attractive even if she has to keep her guard up around him. Xaden’s reputation isn’t unfound, he is the strongest warrior at Basgiath, and his dragon is ruthless making them a deadly pair. Xaden has his secrets, but he also has a soft spot for Violet and ends up aiding her numerous times through this novel. And I ate that up. It was delicious. Xaden and Violet are more idiots in love than enemies.

There were some characters I was not a fan of in this book, and number one on my hate list is Dain. Dain is Violet’s childhood friend turned squad leader at Basgiath. He’s handsome, but his bad attitude makes him a two. As in too annoying! Violet has a little crush on him and is very patient with his opinions because she’s known him for so long. But throughout this book Dain pushes Violet to transfer to the scribes because it will keep her safe despite Violet telling him multiple times that she wants to stay and train with the riders. His utter lack of respect for someone he considered a friend was astonishing. And I will eagerly await the ass kicking he will receive in the next installment, which comes out in a few months!

This novel is a miss for some people, and the critique I’ve seen the most is that the writing feels like Young Adult rather than New Adult. Although this novel is rather easy to digest. I also initially thought this was a teen novel. Despite that I think it’s great that this novel is aimed towards older readers, as I feel like there is a demand for more books that feature characters in their early 20s and in college.

Additionally, despite all my praises of this novel I will say it does lack diverse characters. We have some characters, but let’s get some more!

I highly recommend Fourth Wings to fantasy lovers, dragon lovers, readers looking for magical school novels, and readers who want a little smut and danger with their fantasy.

Content Warning:

violence, sexual content, character deaths, murder, poisoning, and bullying

until next time book lovers I’ll be living in libros,

Gabriela

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