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sjexley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
zydecovivo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I’d like to start by saying it is good. If you like romantasy (fantasy+romance) with a touch of dystopia, you’ll have a great time reading Fourth Wing. The main character is also explicitly disabled and it is intertwined with her journey of self-discovery, as well as challenging the status quo of the society she is in. Based on the descriptions, I think she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I also love the dragons. They are characters in their own right, not just tools to be used. However, the entire time I was reading, I couldn’t help but tell myself “This is just Divergent with dragons.” The general plot is almost identical. Everything was predictable because of this and the only things that I didn’t predict were because something we were told was “impossible” was, in fact, possible for our super special main character. This occurs multiple times. I don’t even think it’s an unreliable narrator at that point. I think it’s an unreliable universe. The upper hand that Fourth Wing has over Divergent is that this fantasy setting allows for more creativity (and covering up for narrative mistakes). Additionally, I did not enjoy most of the main character’s “love life”. This is enemies-to-lovers, so much so that it is almost anti-friends-to-lovers. I don’t care about either trope, but the blatant comparisons get old. I also felt that the main character thinks about “spice” a lot more than I care for, especially considering the actual spice level of the book. There may be people who want to see this since women’s sexuality is largely swept aside in many stories. But this was not it for me.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Blood, Chronic illness, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Vomit, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Sexual content
venlareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Not bad. Not bad at all. This was an action filled medium to fast-paced fantasy novel, based around a battle college called Basgiath. In a world where there are four quadrants (slightly reminiscent of Harry Potter): healers, scribes, infantry, and riders, the main character, Violet, is definitely a scribe. She could never have the strength to battle, ride a dragon, or kill somebody. Until her mother, who just so happens to be General Sorrengail, decides she's a rider. So off she goes to war college. Now, I thought initially that the main character was naive and annoying, but she did eventually grow on me and had strong character development.
I made notes on my first impressions, and I pointed out that it was irritating to have so many expletives in one sentence. This book really had the F-word twice a sentence at times, which made it quite useless and repetitive, to say the least.
What I enjoyed by far the most was the dialogue between mythical creatures. In this case, dragons were a central part of the story, and they really had an attitude which was entertaining to read. Violet's dragon really humbled her at times and made her think.
In conclusion, I will be delving further into the fantasy genre after this. I enjoyed the action and adventure this book had to offer and although it took me a long while to read (started in February) it was worth my time just the same.
rating: 3,75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and War
chinomi's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
eleek0609's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Basgiath has to be the world’s worst military school - it seems like it exists simply to kill off its cadets which seems counterproductive? Call me crazy but there are stakes higher and fates worse than death. In a book written in first person POV you know from the jump that the narrator isn’t dying soooooo the tension I wanted in the first part of the book simply wasn’t there.
In the year of our lord 2024, I simply cannot get into a hero named Xaden, even though I liked him just fine in terms of his actual actions/personality. Tairn was the best character in a SEA of named characters who were interchangeable and forgettable. Violet is very much a 20 year old dystopian fantasy heroine.
Graphic: Chronic illness, War, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
elisalasater's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual content
bookswithpao's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Cursing
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Classism
dlsmk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal death, and Blood
rowstream's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, War, Death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Vomit