Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm not normally interested in romance or fantasy books but this was pretty good. I really enjoyed the world building and the action but I feel like the characters were a bit cliché and there were times when I was rolling my eyes from some of the dialog. I'm still deciding if I'm interested enough to read book 2 but either way, I did enjoy just how well the book was able to flow and it was easy to enter the fantasy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Death of parent
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Cursing
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My husband has been telling me to read this book since it first was released. I finally got around to reading it, and man, I wasn't disappointed!
I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre already, so the book already appealed to me only because it touted dragons. The premise: kids enter the Riders quadrant of a war college to hopefully live long enough to "Threshing" where dragons bond (choose) their riders. Once riders and dragons bond, their lives are intertwined, so the death of a dragon will also kill a rider. Fairly cool premise, imo. Getting in to the story, there is combat, there is adventure, there is friendship...and there is love. Quite a bit of it, so if that's something that doesn't appeal to you, this is likely not going to be the book for you. The whole story has a Game of Thrones vibe to it, but slightly toned down.
The main character, Violet, is an unlikely candidate in the Riders Quadrant. She is weak, she was originally positioned to be a Scribe (so more brains than brawn), she is short (hard to hop on a dragon when you're short). She has every disadvantage against her. She also is the general's daughter, so random assassination attempts are a real threat just based on her parentage. I won't give away the further complications Violet encounters, but let's just say it will keep your interest.
Let's talk about the mechanics of the book: The writing is excellent; it's funny, thoughtful, engaging and overall easy to follow. The characters and their dialogue are believable, and their character development matches their actions, words and overall personalities. There are some basic stereotypes amongst the characters (the heart throb "bad guy," the concerned best friend, the overall nice guy, etc.), but they work within the story.
The love story...it's at times intense and a bit much. At first I thought this was a young adult book meant for high school aged readers, just based on the way the characters spoke and interacted, but later in the book some spicy scenes clearly put this out of the young adult category. If I had one gripe, this would be it. I want to clearly know this is or is not a young adult novel. I don't want to second guess whether it is or not.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and would recommend it to others. I found myself wanting to sit down to read it, something I haven't had in a book in quite some time. I will suggest people read the physical copy. I read this via Kindle and while it was fine, it wasn't until I got my hands on a physical copy that I realized their were maps (very typical of the fantasy genre) in the front that would have been very helpful while reading.
I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre already, so the book already appealed to me only because it touted dragons. The premise: kids enter the Riders quadrant of a war college to hopefully live long enough to "Threshing" where dragons bond (choose) their riders. Once riders and dragons bond, their lives are intertwined, so the death of a dragon will also kill a rider. Fairly cool premise, imo. Getting in to the story, there is combat, there is adventure, there is friendship...and there is love. Quite a bit of it, so if that's something that doesn't appeal to you, this is likely not going to be the book for you. The whole story has a Game of Thrones vibe to it, but slightly toned down.
The main character, Violet, is an unlikely candidate in the Riders Quadrant. She is weak, she was originally positioned to be a Scribe (so more brains than brawn), she is short (hard to hop on a dragon when you're short). She has every disadvantage against her. She also is the general's daughter, so random assassination attempts are a real threat just based on her parentage. I won't give away the further complications Violet encounters, but let's just say it will keep your interest.
Let's talk about the mechanics of the book: The writing is excellent; it's funny, thoughtful, engaging and overall easy to follow. The characters and their dialogue are believable, and their character development matches their actions, words and overall personalities. There are some basic stereotypes amongst the characters (the heart throb "bad guy," the concerned best friend, the overall nice guy, etc.), but they work within the story.
The love story...it's at times intense and a bit much. At first I thought this was a young adult book meant for high school aged readers, just based on the way the characters spoke and interacted, but later in the book some spicy scenes clearly put this out of the young adult category. If I had one gripe, this would be it. I want to clearly know this is or is not a young adult novel. I don't want to second guess whether it is or not.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and would recommend it to others. I found myself wanting to sit down to read it, something I haven't had in a book in quite some time. I will suggest people read the physical copy. I read this via Kindle and while it was fine, it wasn't until I got my hands on a physical copy that I realized their were maps (very typical of the fantasy genre) in the front that would have been very helpful while reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fourth Wing threw me headfirst into a brutal, breathless world where survival is a privilege and trust is a gamble. Violet is a protagonist I didn’t expect to root for so hard—fragile but fierce, constantly underestimated, and clever enough to weaponize it. It gave me Divergent vibes and, honestly, I’m here for it.
I love that Violet doesn’t just magically rise to the challenge. She scrapes and strategizes and sacrifices her way forward, and that makes every small victory feel like a triumph. The friendships she built were soul-anchoring moments in the book.
Not perfect, but powerful. I finished it gutted, haunted, and absolutely ready for more.
Had to dock a star for predictability and Xaden’s nickname eventually giving me the ick.
I love that Violet doesn’t just magically rise to the challenge. She scrapes and strategizes and sacrifices her way forward, and that makes every small victory feel like a triumph. The friendships she built were soul-anchoring moments in the book.
Not perfect, but powerful. I finished it gutted, haunted, and absolutely ready for more.
Had to dock a star for predictability and Xaden’s nickname eventually giving me the ick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Death, War