Reading the Hype: Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
A new romantasy series that is doing the rounds on bookstagram
Recently, a date gifted me Fourth Wing, a book that I had been seeing a lot on bookstagram and had been really intrigued by. I was very happy because it was said to be quite a read, with dragons and romance and set in a war college. From what I had heard, it definitely gave me The Hunger Games and Divergent vibes and I was all for it. But did I end up liking it? Here are my thoughts!
What is the book about
Before we dive in however, here is a brief description of the book, as mentioned in Goodreads:
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.
My first impressions
As I read the book, I loved the tension and the build up from the very beginning. This is quite a fast paced book, with only a few slow paced events spread throughout to maintain the balance. And was it done well? Hell yeah!
Since it is a war college that the story is set in, there are always tasks and practise and challenges that the students are engaged in, at one time or another. The flow of the storytelling is always on a rise and the pace never falls.
It is action packed and I was so hooked from the beginning! Based on all of these facts alone, I can easily say that I recommend it to you all — if you like dragons, and romance and cut-throat competition in fantasy.
Tropes galore
I could figure out the following tropes in this book:
- dragons!!
- fantasy + dark academia
- found family
- enemies to lovers romance
- slow burn
- “touch her, you die” (oh my lord!!!!)
- a morally grey male main character (mmc)
- forced proximity
- there was also disability representation (one of the characters was deaf, and Violet also has a chronic illness). Although Violet’s disability is not specifically mentioned, it could perhaps be Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic condition that the author also has.
Character development
The fact that Violet, our female mc was not even supposed to be in the riders quadrant and rather in the scribe quadrant, was a major jumpstart in itself. From the beginning itself, we see her do her very best to make sure she gets into the riders quadrant, cramming in about one year’s of preparation, what many other rider aspirants have been training for, for years!
As such, her development from a more or less meek participant to her mother’s whims, goes through drastic changes as the book progresses. I think her character arc was drawn very well, for that matter.
Moreover, Dain, her best friend, also points out that being in the riders quadrant essentially strips people of her moral values. Therefore, I was kind of expecting that maybe Violent may turn out grey by the end of the book. But she shatters our expectations and rises even higher! She keeps her sense of morality intact, her humanity too and by that, shows the quiet power that can be in a person who refuses to simply take revenge when unnecessary.
Then, talking about Xaden, I mean, hello?! This man has owned my soul from the very first moment I came across him, at the parapet scene. Those smoldering eyes, excuse me?
Okay, fangirling aside, I think the author presented us with a textbook villain and then slowly chipped away at this hard exterior to show us the cutie that was inside (or rather, Violet tore down his walls one at a time). This man needs to be protected at all costs!
He is also the perfect coil to Dain, because where Dain constantly criticizes Violet at all times, saying she is too frail or weak to do something, Xaden pushes her to work harder, to try and improve herself. That itself told me in the very beginning who I was going to ship Violet with. Contrary to popular belief, I do think sensibly even when faced with handsome and powerful morally grey heroes!
The romance
The way romance bloomed between Xaden and Violet was so natural and yet inevitable when we look back at them. Even apart from the spice scenes, these two really understand each other and as time went on, their bond only grew stronger.
The sex scenes were really (very) good. I mean, what else can you expect from a man such as Xaden. He truly is the embodiment of everything a girl would love in a man. He made me blush and giggle. No wonder real men have been able to do neither. My standards have been clearly raised very high by these fictional (perfect) men.
Anyway, moving on to the romance, like I said, it is not just the sex. Xaden embodies the whole “touch her, you die” vibes from pretty much the very beginning. He pushes her. He trains her. He tells her to do better. He was willing to step onto the arena for her defense even when he was not allowed to. That one time he helped her pick up her pen in class! He had the daggers made for her. The saddle! The special attachment for Andarna. And the violets!
This man has my heart! I also loved how attracted even Violet was towards him. Her mental talk made me cackle!
“beautiful. fucking. asshole.” “you are not attracted to toxic men, i remind myself, and yet, here i am, getting all attracted.” “toxic. dangerous. wants to kill you. nope, doesn’t matter. my pulse still skitters like a teenager.” (all quotes from the book)
Family
Rebecca Yarros has put in as much effort into the side characters as Xaden and Violet. I loved how close and tight-knit the squad got. My personal favourites were definitely Liam and Rhiannon. Sawyer and Ridoc were also interesting characters.
Any discussion on family will be incomplete if we do not talk about the dragons. My personal favourite ofcourse, is Tairn. He is just so sassy! Tairn’s brand of dry humour had be chuckling throughout. Andarna is also just the sweetest and she has my heart!
Sgaeyl was also a badass in her own rights. I loved the whole dynamic where dragons spoke to their riders but here, we have an entirely different scenario. I will avoid writing more in this aspect in order not to give you any spoilers. But this little family unit has my heart!
The writing style
At this point, I don’t think I need to make a separate section for this but, guys, the writing is so good! Rebecca Yarros perfectly describes the scenes and I am in love with her descriptive writing. There is a perfect balance of showing and telling. I believe I saw someone on bookstagram saying that this has the capacity to be adapted into a movie/series and I vehemently agree!
Conclusion
Overall, I think it was a really well-written romantasy first book in a series. Nonetheless, the fact that Xaden and Violet are already together in the first book has me biting my nails. Is something unexpected going to happen in the next books? Luckily, we won’t have to wait longer because book two is coming out just next month. I cannot wait to get my hands on it!
Have you given in to the hype and read this book? What are your thoughts? Do let me know in the comments!
Nayanika Saikia recently graduated with a First Class Master’s Degree in English Literature, and is currently working as an editor at a publishing house. She is also a Booktuber and Bookstagrammer. She can often be found on her Instagram account Pretty Little Bibliophile.
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