A review by takarakei
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

  • Dragons
  • War School
  • disability rep (MC has EDS although it's not called this specifically in the book)
  • Enemies/Rivals to lovers*
  • Civil unrest
  • other monsters 

Is it mind-blowing, no. If you're a regular fantasy reader the plot is fairly predictable, but it's still done in an engaging way. Honestly it reads a lot like many other YA fantasies I've read (except this is NOT YA cause 🌶️ ). I felt like some of the world building and more particularly the history could've used some more fleshing out. I understand some of this is left out intentionally for storyline development, but more history in particular about the school would've helped me to understand the drive behind students attending such a brutal place. Like is the chance to bond with a Dragon really it? Seems like there needs to be some other motivation beyond that imo considering I think 80%+(?) of students don't get there.

*The term enemies to lovers gets thrown around a lot, and it doesn't 100% applies here. The two characters in question are not true enemies. One (the love interest) just comes from a background of being from a different part of the (same) country and that region previously was involved in an uprising against the current people in power. So there is mistrust from our MC of said person because of their families' history (as she is the daughter of a General and therefore on the side of those in power). To me that's not true enemies to lovers, it's more along the lines of rivals to lovers.

3.5/5 🌶️ (a bit sub-par imo, even though I knew the spice was coming it still caught me a bit off guard with how abruptly things got very adult and I was kind of chuckling at how out of place it seemed in a book that otherwise reads very YA).
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