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tealattes 's review for:
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fourth Wing
I see where the hype for this book comes from. For people who don’t read books or fantasy in general this may seem highly appealing- combining booktok’s love of romance and strong female characters while dabbling in something other than the typical contemporary setting. And for people who read more often and enjoy a good fantasy, the concept of this novel does promise something entertaining as well. Personally, I did think the plot was entertaining but the characters are very flat and distant.
Top notes:
Immersive setting and right amount of descriptions (quotes at the beginning of each chapter were an interesting touch), strong characters (physically and mentally) but unfortunately not too much variety in personalities, humor, fast-paced plot that spent more time on certain moments and sped through other parts in a balanced way. Side characters drove plot but did not seem like they were just thrown in there, instead were woven in nicely. + Great dialogue and manages to cultivate academic and death vibes. It’s very easy to read. After chapter 34 the intensity heightened and the plot was tied up well. I liked how the readers were given hints because it was satisfying to see them play out.
This is labeled as an adult fantasy, yet the excessive amount of profanity is very off putting. I understand that it might have been used to set the tone of no-kidding-survival-mode but it was too much- made characters sound so similar as well. I’ve never read such a book with this much cursing so it was definitely jarring. Main relationship seems to manifest out of little material too quickly, for those who like slower development in that department; honestly I highly disliked the romance and would take well developed friendship over it in this case (The sex scenes are very graphic and disturbing and ruined the characters for me, sorry). If the “adult” content was removed this would be a much better novel that readers of all ages could enjoy because it has well written plot, world, dialogue, and decent themes of hard work, resilience and questioning establishments.
Aside from these critiques I overall had a nice time reading about the dragons and the war college life.
I see where the hype for this book comes from. For people who don’t read books or fantasy in general this may seem highly appealing- combining booktok’s love of romance and strong female characters while dabbling in something other than the typical contemporary setting. And for people who read more often and enjoy a good fantasy, the concept of this novel does promise something entertaining as well. Personally, I did think the plot was entertaining but the characters are very flat and distant.
Top notes:
Immersive setting and right amount of descriptions (quotes at the beginning of each chapter were an interesting touch), strong characters (physically and mentally) but unfortunately not too much variety in personalities, humor, fast-paced plot that spent more time on certain moments and sped through other parts in a balanced way. Side characters drove plot but did not seem like they were just thrown in there, instead were woven in nicely. + Great dialogue and manages to cultivate academic and death vibes. It’s very easy to read. After chapter 34 the intensity heightened and the plot was tied up well. I liked how the readers were given hints because it was satisfying to see them play out.
This is labeled as an adult fantasy, yet the excessive amount of profanity is very off putting. I understand that it might have been used to set the tone of no-kidding-survival-mode but it was too much- made characters sound so similar as well. I’ve never read such a book with this much cursing so it was definitely jarring. Main relationship seems to manifest out of little material too quickly, for those who like slower development in that department; honestly I highly disliked the romance and would take well developed friendship over it in this case (The sex scenes are very graphic and disturbing and ruined the characters for me, sorry). If the “adult” content was removed this would be a much better novel that readers of all ages could enjoy because it has well written plot, world, dialogue, and decent themes of hard work, resilience and questioning establishments.
Aside from these critiques I overall had a nice time reading about the dragons and the war college life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail