Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Join Violet Sorrengail as she joins hundreds of candidates striving to become dragon riders. With fewer dragons than ever before and knowing she is the smallest and most fragile candidate, Violet strives to merely survive. Political intrigue, fantasy and romance are all combined in this fast-paced tale.

Lucy’s Review – 5/5

I have to be honest, I was fully taken in by my Tiktok on Fourth Wing, I love a good Romantasy book anyway and this sounded completely up my street and I was right. It was a great first book, fast paced from the first chapter which made it clear that no-one was safe!

It definitely followed a lot of the same tropes you see in a lot of Romantasy books and I’d go as far to say that Rebecca took a lot of inspiration from some of the most popular fantasy (like ACTOAR) however this doesn’t take away that the story was great. The world building for a fantasy whilst extensive did feel quite basic to me, most of the information was regurgitated to you by Violet reciting it, so it felt a little like being spoon fed.

I found the descriptions of the dragons and world to be immersive and I could really picture every scene in my head. Now knowing it was optioned for a TV show prior to release I can see why this happened and I do look forward to seeing it on the small screen. I unfortunately was a lot more critical of book 2 (Iron Flame) which I don’t think had the same success as the first book and I personally found it quite weak. I do think though that Fourth Wing is a great introduction to the Romantasy genre if this is new to you.

Claire’s Review – 4/5

This was a fun and entertaining book – I think the core premise of training the dragon rider cadets to graduate and protect the Kingdom of Navarre was strong, the creativity and detail Yarros put into the various trials and challenges was engaging, and I liked the interplay between myth and (fantastical) reality in the final third of the book.

I agree with Lucy that the novel is very formulaic at times and borrows a lot from elsewhere. I thought some parts were resonant of the Divergent series (the split into four factions with a protagonist that is expected to join one particular quadrant) and also the Hunger Games (in terms of the slightly casual attitude towards frequent loss of young life). The unlikely leading lady choosing between the reliable and safe love interest and the dangerous ‘bad boy’ (it would also appear that acting on her attraction somehow transforms her body from fragility to invincibility…) also lacked some originality.

There were patches in the book where I found the language a bit colloquial and thought Yarros over relied at times using verbal dialogue to deliver plot which was a bit taxing as a reader, but, overall, this was an enjoyable holiday read!