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A review by literaryintersections
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Honestly this book is lucky to get a 4 and I might put it down to a 3.5 Let's be clear, the 4 is strictly for:
- the readability - I devoured this
- the fucking dragons. Tairn and Adarna are fabbbbbb
- Rhiannon and Liam and Imogen
- the disability rep (which for some reason I haven't read a lot about.... troubling)
- the last 20%
This should be a 1-2 star for:
- Xaden legit being a rip off Rhysand from ACOTAR
- this entire book being a rip off of ACOTAR (Dani = Tamlin, Xaden = Rhys, Violet is like Feyre book 1, the family dynamics, etc.) AND of Divergent (I mean Tris and Four are legit Violet and Xaden)
- the nickname "violence". Folks that is not sexy like literally re-do your standards
- the absolutely terrible worldbuilding - like literally what is this world? How was it made? Why do dragons bond with humans? What do they get out of it? Who are the venin? How were they made?????
- The anachronistic language - I mean legit using "thrice" in the same sentence as "get laid" folks this does not make sense.
- Violet being extremely annoying for a big chunk of the book, kind of off and on. When she was awesome, she was awesome - really understanding her power, challenging misconceptions of those around her, and just being unapologetically her. But when she was like waffling, or "does he like me, does he not", blah blah blah blah blah. She seemed much younger than 20.
- the American Ninja Warrior Gauntlet. Like it's literally as if I was watching ANW on tv. Embarrassing.
Overall, I get the hype. I get that this is for many people an easy way for them to get into fantasy. That's what I hear a lot of people saying "I don't even read fantasy and I loved this" which should honestly say something for the fantasy folks out here who read it all the time. This is fantasy light, which is not a bad thing, but important to know going in. I also think that there is just better, more complex, more romantic, fantasy/romantasy out there. So hopefully this welcomes a new class of fantasy lovers into the genre.
- the readability - I devoured this
- the fucking dragons. Tairn and Adarna are fabbbbbb
- Rhiannon and Liam and Imogen
- the disability rep (which for some reason I haven't read a lot about.... troubling)
- the last 20%
This should be a 1-2 star for:
- Xaden legit being a rip off Rhysand from ACOTAR
- this entire book being a rip off of ACOTAR (Dani = Tamlin, Xaden = Rhys, Violet is like Feyre book 1, the family dynamics, etc.) AND of Divergent (I mean Tris and Four are legit Violet and Xaden)
- the nickname "violence". Folks that is not sexy like literally re-do your standards
- the absolutely terrible worldbuilding - like literally what is this world? How was it made? Why do dragons bond with humans? What do they get out of it? Who are the venin? How were they made?????
- The anachronistic language - I mean legit using "thrice" in the same sentence as "get laid" folks this does not make sense.
- Violet being extremely annoying for a big chunk of the book, kind of off and on. When she was awesome, she was awesome - really understanding her power, challenging misconceptions of those around her, and just being unapologetically her. But when she was like waffling, or "does he like me, does he not", blah blah blah blah blah. She seemed much younger than 20.
- the American Ninja Warrior Gauntlet. Like it's literally as if I was watching ANW on tv. Embarrassing.
Overall, I get the hype. I get that this is for many people an easy way for them to get into fantasy. That's what I hear a lot of people saying "I don't even read fantasy and I loved this" which should honestly say something for the fantasy folks out here who read it all the time. This is fantasy light, which is not a bad thing, but important to know going in. I also think that there is just better, more complex, more romantic, fantasy/romantasy out there. So hopefully this welcomes a new class of fantasy lovers into the genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny and Ableism
Minor: Death of parent
Other questions:
- what happened to the dragons of all the rebels who were murdered? Like did they disappear?!?!?