Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Name: Fourth Wing
Series: The Empyrean #1
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Format: Kindle
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Noted Tropes: Found Family, Enemies to Lovers, Deadly Trials, Dysfunctional Family, Dragons, Military Academy
Steam or Spice: Spice

Rating:

Synopsis: Goodreads
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…
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.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

Review:

I had already read Fourth Wing last year and it was my favourite book of the year (actually, technically that was Iron Flame – the sequel but still!). I was doing this as a buddy read with a friend of mine as I told her Fourth Wing had spice, enimies to lovers and sassy dragons! I figure that’s a damn good way to get someone to read Fourth Wing.

I started with Fourth Wing due to BookTok – I was seeing it everywhere and as a result picked it up and devoured it (both the first time and second time). We follow Violet as she’s forced to join the Rider’s Quadrant at the military academy, Basgiath. These trials are deadly! They kind of remind me (and a lot of others who have read the book) of the Divergent series only the stakes feel a lot higher, and I personally enjoyed this story a lot more.

Yarros gave us the lore of the world in a very interesting way – Violet recited sections of books she’d read (while originally studying to join the Scribe’s Quadrant) while nervous or needing to concentrated. It was an interesting way to be given elements of the world lore without it feeling like we were being bogged down by it.

Let’s talk about Xayden, our MMC for a moment – I loved him. Violet is given one instruction from her sister (other than survive) and that is STAY AWAY from Xayden. So, naturally the universe throws them together – and I’m here for it. Even when we weren’t meant to love him, I loved him. And as the series goes I continued to love him and his troop – even though they’re certainly the morally grey bunch.

Next up, are the Dragons. I won’t talk too much about them for fear of spoiling things, but the Dragons are extremely important in Fourth Wing. Unlike some other books that have Dragons (I’m thinking When the Moon Hatched) where they are there, and they’re important, they’re not a central focus throughout the book. Fourth Wing put a huge focus on the Dragons and their bonds with each other and their riders and I am here for it!

Click here for some minor spoilers about the Dragons

I’m here for the Dragon Sass! Between Violet and hers, and Xayden and his, there is plenty of dragon sass to go around! And this is something that my friend who did the buddy read also enjoyed – I think it’s impossible not to. The dragons do have their own personalities and so it stands to chance that the sass and interactions differ between the bonded pairs.

I’m so glad BookTok got me with this one, because Fourth Wing was, as I said, one of my favorite reads (second to it’s sequel) of 2023 and I’m excited to be jumping back into the series on the lead up to the release of Onyx Storm in January 2025.

“I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sorrengail.” – Tairn

Reading With Tyler