Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die. Welcome to my review of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.
The Plot, Characters and Story Progression
Fourth Wing had me hooked from the very first page. Rebecca’s writing vividly teleporting me into every scene as if I was there and I just couldn’t put it down. I loved Violet as a character, I really strongly related to her determination coupled with her overshadowing voice of self-doubt that she refused to give into. This is a personal battle I struggle with every day and so I found myself routing for her from beginning to end.
Dain… let’s talk about Dain. We have all dated a guy like Dain before, the super “caring” but really just overly controlling and manipulative cloud hanging over your head. Constantly reminding you that they have your best interests at heart but in reality the only thing they are interested in is their own selfish motives and what they can gain from their power over you. I really, really disliked him and found him insufferable. Rebecca did a fantastic job writing his character, because even I was fooled by how much he seemed to care, but was almost a little too much and I was not at all surprised by the revelations at the end of the book.
The dynamic between Violet and Xadan was your typical enemies to lovers. I knew they’d end up coming together one way or another but I love how it was written into the plot with their dragons being mates. I thought that was really clever writing and made a change from the hundreds of other stories that use this trope. It was a tad predictable and cringe but I appreciated that the spicy scenes were kept to the minimum (I’m looking at you S.J.M)
“Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs—on the probabilities.”
One part of this book which really touched me was the scene during the thrashing where Violet has to find her dragon. Watching her stand up for the Andarna, completely defenseless and having the biggest most powerful dragon choose her. Shes on the back of this dragon questioning “why me”, imposter syndrome having her completely convinced a mistake as been made and Tairn reminds her that he also didn’t think he’d ever make it as far as he did and showing a faith in her that she doesn’t have in herself:
“You defended the smallest with ferocity. And strength of courage is more important than physical strength.”
World Building, Atmosphere and Setting
The world building and atmosphere in this book is exceptional. It was giving Harry Potter meets dragon school and I couldn’t get enough of it. From the dragon flying scenes, to the parapet. The tension and suspense was written to perfection to have you hooked from one word to the next. The audiobook also offered fantastic voice acting which was equally as immersive, I’ve also heard great things about the dramatized version which I want to listen to for my next re-read.
The Verdict
I adored this book way more than I ever expected to. When I see a book being hyped to high heaven I assume it’s going to be a disappointment as I wasn’t a massive fan of ACOTAR like everyone else seems to be. Fomo got the best of me though, and eventually I ventured down to The Works to pick up Fourth Wing. And I am so glad I did.
Fourth Wing came into my life when I was at my absolute lowest and allowed me to teleport my brain into a whole other world and read a main character I could see so much of myself in. I cannot wait to jump straight into Iron Flame. Onyx Storm is releasing tomorrow in the UK at the time of me writing this! Who is excited!?
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Add to your goodreads
Purchase from Waterstones
Please note: purchases made from the links in this post earn me a small commission.
Thank you for reading! xox