Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Epic Fantasy
May 2, 2023, Entangled
Review by Jen
If you’re on TikTok, you CAN NOT escape the hype about Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.
I saw the posts. I loved the posts. I bought the audio book.
I’m going to start this review by focusing on the end first. Wow oh wow…that end, that cliff hanger! Imagine if you will a dogfight scene from one of the Top Gun movies. But instead of planes, we have dragons, gryphons and one other mystery beast that I can’t reveal. The actor on the audio book was insanely talented with this long, edge of your seat scene. I say this quite literally, my heart sped up listening to her. I physically felt the tension. I knew this could not end 100% well for these characters that I loved so much.
Ok, now onto the rest of the book.
Violet is our FMC and her mom is a general, part of a huge military force that includes dragon riders. Violet’s sister is a dragon rider. Violet has always thought she would be a scribe. She LOVES the library, loves books and has been studying her whole life. She’s also frail, with brittle bones and weak joints. Dragon riders are athletes, they’re bad asses, they’re the strongest of the strong. Violet’s mom isn’t pro-scribe, she wants her daughter to ride dragons. So, off she goes to try out for the dragon rider squad.
This isn’t like baseball try outs, this is young people dying. Very Hunger Games-esque!
Ahead of try outs, she’s told about Xaden. Xaden is a dragon rider who’s father was executed for being a traitor. In fact, there are dozens of dragon riders who’s parents were killed for organizing a coup against the existing leadership. All of them have a relic on their body (a tattoo) to signal that they’re from traitor families. Violet locks eyes with him during the first challenge. Xaden is one of the best dragon riders out there. True to all Romantasy books, he’s also crazy hot, dark hair, very broody, muscle-y, smirks a lot, raises an eyebrow frequently and appears to be a generally cold, unfeeling, heartless person.
Yarros’ world has dragons that communicate with their bonded riders, each rider develops a special magical power that is fueled by their dragon, there are other flying creatures of death, Game of Thrones type evil villains, wards protecting the kingdom, lies…so many lies, enemy to lovers, some good steam and a smart, mentally strong, curious, against all odds main character in Violet.
Was this book worth the hype? Yes. Yes, it was. With that said, it’s not groundbreaking, it just hits all the right notes so well. It’s a perfect new adult fantasy, and I loved it. I’ve read one of the author’s other books and now I’m going to start adding more of her backlist to my TBR pile. And, I can’t wait for the next book in this series. I saw Yarros on TikTok and she said there are five books total. I’m in it now, this might take years, but I’m hooked till the end.
Grade A+
I am in the midst of reading this book, Jen, so it’s timely to see this review. I also made the Hunger Games comparison to my husband as there is so much death. That said, it’s an engrossing read. Thanks for the cliffhanger warning; I hadn’t known this would be a series.
I’m glad you like it! It took over my TikTok feed and was worried that it was all hype (happens a lot on Booktok!) I was really happy that it was so good. The end…wow… :) You’ll have to tell me your final thoughts when you finish it!