20 year old Violet Sorrengail was destined to be the pride and joy of the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Instead, her mother, also known as the commanding general, is forcing 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? They would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—especially Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
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.
I know there is a ton of hype around Fourth Wing, but I gotta admit, I think it is warranted. This book is fantastic, with incredible world building, character development, and a great plot.
Who doesn’t love a fantasy world where you bond with dragons and gain power (also called signets) that manifest as a combination of your power? Where you have to fight for your life every step of the way, and death is just a part of a normal day? Where you can challenge those you have issues with to fight and beat the shit out of them?
Basgiath War College is ruthless for those in the Riders Quadrant, and not for the weak. Which is why, with Violet Sorrengail as our FMC, it gets good right away. Violet is tiny, weak, and extremely smart. She was destined for the Scribe Quadrant and has grown up preparing to be essentially a scholar. So, it gets really interesting when she is thrown into the Riders Quadrant by her mother and expected to survive or die. We learn that Violet’s joints don’t work like everyone else’s, a condition in the real world known as ehlers danlos syndrome. So, you can guess that it won’t be a walk in the park for her to survive.
I love Violet as a FMC, thinks like a scribe and right away begins to come into her own strength and willpower, much to the chagrin of her oldest friend, Dain Aetos. From the moment he sees her cross the Parapet, Dain tries to get Violet to run away and hide from her mother in the scribe quadrant. At first Violet thinks it is sweet of Dain to try, but by the 239577365th time it naturally pisses her off… Who wants their best friend to continuously tell them they aren’t strong enough to be where they are? It really bothered me that her closest friend wouldn’t respect her decision and listen to her when she said she was staying, let alone reminding her that he thinks she doesn’t have what it takes.
Thankfully, Xaden enters the picture and while apparently Violet’s enemy, he seems to be doing a lot of advice giving and help for a person who supposedly wants to kill her. As they continue to interact and their chemistry grows, WHEW!! It is steamy and tense and oh so good.
Fourth Wing can boast a host of villains, all really well entwined in the story. General Sorrengail, Jack Barlowe, Xaden Riorson, Dain Aetos, The Venin, The riders, and a few sprinkled in I am sure I’m forgetting. for a book about your time at school it certainly doesn’t lack danger or death.
Both the villains and the rough-around-the-edges characters were brutal, sharp as a blade and tough as hell, and I appreciated that. There wasn’t a lot of gushy happiness or hiding behind fake smiles. It was all aggression all the time. You run from the dragons? Dead. You have an enemy? They will publicly announce they want to kill you. Someone hates you? You will sure as hell know. Scared? Well the leadership will not be telling you it is fine, that’s for sure.
The plot of Fourth Wing was great! I was interested in the story line the whole time, and was completely invested in everything happening. I love a good story of facing your weaknesses and bettering yourself, pushing your mind and body to the limits, and not letting any of your shortcomings hold you back. With fantasy, betrayal, spice, dragons, and magic sprinkled in? It makes for a great story.
My favorite characters were Tairn, Andarna, Rhi, Ridoc, Imogen, Obviously Xaden and Violet, and Liam. I don’t think I could pick from the crew who I liked best, because they all have a soft spot in my heart.
I loved all the dragons, the folklore, and how the bond works. Tairn and Andarna’s mental conversations with Violet were so interesting, and I loved the personalities they had. When Sgaeyl and Xaden were brought into the mix? it got even better. I loved the aspect of mind talking in ACOTAR, and love it just as much here in Fourth Wing! I think it was totally different but done just as good.
The signets were one of my favorite things in the book. There were so many different ones and we didn’t really see a repeat at all which I loved. With some of them being illegal, and the professor who helps hone your signet skills not appearing until the signets appear, it made for a very intriguing plot line. In general, the whole aspect of the school, classes, and professors was really interesting. Flight class, gauntlet training, challenges/sparing, battle review, signet training, history, etc. It all was interesting and a great way to weave additional world building into the story.
The ending though, WOW. I had no words. I will not spoil it for you, you will have to read it for yourself.
Overall, I LOVED Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. The plot, characters, romance, character development, all of it was fantastic. There were so many twists and turns, it kept me on my toes the entire time! This was my third time re-reading it, so I could prepare for Iron Flame, book 2 in the Empyrean series. I would definitely recommend Fourth Wing to anyone who loves good world building, great sexual tension, and high stakes in a tough world to live in.
Worthy of a re-read
See what other books I think are worthy of a re-read here.
