Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

76 reviews

brimacca's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Body horror, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Classism, Cursing, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

devincold's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

This book reads like a fantasy-flavored reimagining of Divergent. It's a fun read that feels predictable throughout. If you're looking for a romance novel and you like a fantasy setting, this might be a good option. If you're looking for enemies to lovers and LGBTQI+ representation - I would look elsewhere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, and Chronic illness

megan_wy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was my first time reading a fantasy genre book since my teen years. This story about strength, love, friendship, and complex family relationships was great! Violet is a character that embodies female confidence and independence. With everyone rooting against her, she strives even harder to continue on and outwit everyone with her knowledge. I took off a star because it was hard for me to keep track of the many many characters and confusing aspects of this book. I was constantly needing to google random words: signet, parapet, venin, wyvern, citadel, dais, etc etc. I know this is a whole other world that Yarros created, but it got really hard to follow at times. I also LOVE Andarna 🥹 she was the cutest little added element of the story that I needed. And I must say, I usually hate awkward love stories / enemies to lovers cringey tropes, BUT not Xaden and Violet. Their chemistry was amazing and I was literally giggling smiling and kicking my feet whenever they kissed or hooked up 🤭🤭🤭 The cliffhanger has me READY to read Iron Flame!!!! Overall, 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a good book for readers wanting to dabble into fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit

nickileal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was so hard to get into this book and took me a whole month to finish. Violet isn’t really the most loveable character. Also I was very tired of hearing how small and fragile she was repeatedly throughout the book. Riorson really saves this book for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Child death, and Sexual content

Minor: Cursing

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous challenging lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Sexual content

kitkatkatdog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book reads like the novelization of a blockbuster action movie. There are pros and cons that come with that.

Pros:
-The general premise is really fun. I was excited to learn more about the dragon, magic, and government systems of the world
-The action sequences actually felt tense, and they definitely felt like they would be cinematic if in a visual format
-The side characters were really fun (and often eclipsed the main character in likeability)
-Xaden is an interesting and actually respectful male lead

Cons:
-A lot of Violet's inner monologue feels jarring and sometimes detracts from a tense vibe in a scene
-A lot of scenes that would be interesting and would add to the characters' growth are left offscreen, like they were cut for time, despite this being an original work where the author could decide what did and didn't exist. For instance,

most of Violet's hand-to-hand challenges occurred offscreen, even the ones where she finally wins without tricks. Like, that's a big moment for her character! I want to hear more about that!

-A lot of visual descriptions of settings were left out, like

the Parapet or what the hell a chimney formation is

-For the most part, we have to take Violet's word for it that characters, including herself, have experienced growth. The growth seems to happen offscreen and is not substantiated by their onscreen actions 

Additionally, this book is screaming to be part of a series (I am aware that the sequel is out and a series is in the works, as is a movie). In my opinion, there is no finite conclusion of the book's overall plot quest at the end, mostly because there is not one unifying plot quest. The extent of the book is defined temporally, not from a plot perspective, which can give the book the feel of a series of episodes, rather than a unifying experience.

Obviously, this book is popular! I did enjoy it, and I can see how others may enjoy it more than me. That being said, it is not a polished experience, but if you know to expect that, it may help you brace yourself and enjoy it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Torture, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Chronic illness, Classism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Child death, Ableism, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

tess_gee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, Bullying, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, and Body horror

sdovi's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I’d describe this book as new adult Harry Potter meets dragons meets college. Not the best world building and not the most beautiful prose but the narrative voice felt authentic to the character and her age. The pacing of the development of Violet’s feelings for Xadan was one of the better enemies-to-lovers in my opinion and I just could NOT put it down!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Nothing groundbreaking (lots of cliches and tropes) but an enjoyable read. Pretty fast-paced, as there doesn’t seem to be much filler in any individual chapter outside of Violet’s internal monologue. The downside to this lack of filler can be that the world doesn’t feel fully built out, and the descriptions of some of the surroundings can feel lacking. I found my brain sort of filled in some of those gaps while reading though, especially when I didn’t overthink it. The plot was a bit repetitive and the internal monologue objectifying one of the characters was a little silly. But I don’t feel the book is trying to be anything beyond what it is, so I don’t begrudge those faults. Feels a little YA, which seems maybe to be a common theme in the NA genre, but just because it’s trope-y and your main character thinks like a lovestruck teen doesn’t make it a bad or unenjoyable book. Just not a profound one. Easy read despite the length, and while the plot was a little repetitive as mentioned, the chapters broke that up well enough that the repetition didn’t feel monotonous or at least still drove the story forward in some way. 

TLDR: Overall, kept my attention, and I found the pacing to be done well. If you can’t handle the internal monologue of a somewhat rebellious lovestruck high schooler (I know that’s not the age of the characters but it is how it reads) or relatively predictable but intriguing enough plot, this book isn’t for you. Even you want an easy read to take you out of your own head and world for a while, and you can take the aforementioned characteristics in stride, then give it a shot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Vomit, War, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Genocide, and Toxic friendship