A review by popthebutterfly
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

4.0

 

Disclaimer: I received this as an arc from the publisher and then got my own finished copy. Thanks! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: Fourth Wing 

 

Author: Rebecca Yarros 

 

Book Series: The Empyrean 

 

Rating: 4/5 

 

Spice Rating: 3/5 

 

Diversity: Main Character with Ehlers Danlos, Sapphic Side Character, Bisexual Side Character, POC Characters, Deaf Side Character 

 

Recommended For...: Adult books, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy, Dragons, Academy, New Adult, High Fantasy 

 

Publication Date: May 2, 2023 

 

Genre: Adult Romantasy 

 

Age Relevance: 18+ (language, death, gore, violence, sexual content, sibling death, romance, drug reference) 

 

Explanation of Above: There is cursing in this book. There is death and blood gore throughout the book. There are mentions of a sibling death. There is at least one drug reference. There is sexual content, including detailed sex scenes, and romance. 

 

Publisher: Red Tower Books 

 

Pages: 517 

 

Synopsis: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. 

 

Review: I thought that this was such a fun book to read. I really liked that the main focus of the book at the beginning was getting to know the world and deep diving into this academy. I really liked all of the world building and how it seemed kind of straightforward, but a little weird, like this was maybe a writer's plot point that was lost. But then at the end of the book it becomes something more and you're like “Oh okay maybe my suspicions were correct”. I also liked the romance aspect of the book. I thought it was a really good enemies to lovers, she fell first he fell harder kind of twist on the trope. And for the most part I thought that it was just really fun. It didn't feel like I was reading a heavy romance book, but it felt more like I was reading a really good adventure with a lot of romance that was in it coincidentally. 

 However, I did think that there were some issues with the book. I thought the pacing was a bit off in places and I would have liked to see issues that are found in the real world be brought into the book. I think that it would have done good to analyze those within the context of this world, but that's just me. 

 

Verdict: Overall I think if you're looking for something that's fun with some romance then this might be your book, but I wouldn't ignore those who have a lot of issues with where the world building comes from.