A scribe forced to be a rider, fighting for her life.
Fourth Wing is a new adult fantasy novel by Rebecca Yarros that seemingly took the
internet by storm this year.
Violet Sorrengail is the daughter of a fierce general, who has forced her to join the Rider Quadrant, even though she spent much of her time training to be a scribe.
Forced into the intense training and tests of the Riders, Violet has to let go of what she knew and try to survive. With her life constantly threatened by others, her body betraying her and the the son of her mother's enemy leading her wing, Violet has a lot on her plate.
While Violet pushes to make it to the end of training, or die trying, where she will hopefully bond with a dragon.
In a twist and turn of events, Violet finds herself falling for an enemy and having her eyes open to the corruption of the world around her.
I know a lot of people have read this, but I still want to keep this spoiler-free for the most part. I also want to comment a bit more about what the book did, and didn't do for me, since it was so hyped online.
I'll start with saying this was a 4 out of 5 star read for me. The things that were a 'hit' really worked for me while others didn't. I can also see why some who might not normally read fantasy really enjoyed this novel.
I am a big fan of dragons, so as soon as the dragons were more involved I was definitely in. The dragons can speech to those who they have bonded with through their mind, and I found Violet's dragon to be really enjoyable. When dragons are 'mated' (a term a hate, truly) they also have access to each other's riders through the mind-talk too, which was a fun little twist.
Dragons also supply specialized magic to their riders, which was fun to see how the Riders handle what powers people get and how strong that makes the rider. I think there were a few that were predictable and others that were really exciting.
A place where I really wish there was more was the world building and the history of the world. Even though Violet would talk a lot about the history while she was training, there was a lot that left me questioning what had happened. There was an entire group of Riders who were the kids of those who tried to rebel, and I feel like exploring that would have been way more interesting. I wanted a lot more of the world too, overall there was enough but I love a good, drawn out fantasy world.
Another place I struggled was with some of the relationships between the characters. The idea of random hookups and 'living like no tomorrow' was a big ideal for the Riders, since they never knew when they might die, but it felt overdone at some points? (There is a scene where Violet is 'turned on' because her dragon is, which is weird and mildly uncalled for). This book is definitely for those over 16, and probably more so over 18 when it comes to that stuff. I think there was a chance to have more disability representation within the book as well. Violet doesn't have full strength in her legs and is pretty frail when it comes to her bones. I think though its brought up a lot, especially with fights, there are a lot of times she is just seen as weak, which feels unfair.
In the sense of being a kind of easier fantasy read? It did great, I think that is probably why so many people liked it. It had those steamy scenes for people where that is their vibe, but not that deep high fantasy that make people intimidated. Violet is a fun character to watch grow, but I do think some of her decisions are hasty.
Overall, it was a decent book. I get the hype, but I also get why some people didn't like it. I'll definitely be reading the sequel to see if some of my questions are answered.
Also, more dragons please, just in general. Give me dragons.
Have you read Fourth Wing? What were your thoughts/feelings?
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