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creativeworld's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. I was worried as so many people didn't enjoy it, I'm certain this is a marmite book. My only criticism is the descriptions of places could have given us more but otherwise it was great to dissappear into a fantasy world with sassy dragons and a main character I can relate to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
dkamada's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
klsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Ok. Is this book good? I don't think it is. Is it readable, especially if you haven't read a lot of fantasy? Absolutely. Fourth Wing is a mishmash of fantasy and romance tropes that have been done countless times before (and likely much better). The worldbuilding isn't good, and the political intrigue plot falls apart if you look at it for a moment. Despite how it's marketed, this isn't high fantasy - this is a modern romance book in a theoretically medieval dragon school ("war college" barf barf barf).
This school makes no sense. If you are hemorrhaging military recruits and having to conscript the children of literal rebellion leaders (??????????????????????), why are you allowing hundreds of talented young folks die during Hunger Games-esque trials and Harry Potter-esque games and Divergent-esque quadrant pruning?
This brings me to another point that has been repeated many times - nothing in this book really feels original. It seems like Yarros took the most popular tropes, ideas, and characters from fantasy series and smudged them together. There were points where I recognized lines similar to Hunger Games, Six of Crows, Twilight, etc. Many people have pointed out similarities to other series that I haven't read (ACOTAR, Red Queen, Eragon, etc.). This is a book for people who wanted Alina to get with the Darkling. [Wait, are we sure this wasn't Alina/Darkling fanfic? Violet commands light(ning), Xaden is a morally gray shadow-wielder, and Dain is a rule-bound, childhood friend hottie with an undying crush on Violet.]
Fourth Wing was easy reading but too long, and extremely predictable. It's ok to borrow inspiration from the others' work, but the only thing I felt was marginally original was the disability representation. However, even though Yarros has EDS herself, I still feel like she flubbed the rep. Violet spends most of her time busting her ass and getting hurt to perform at a similar level as her able-bodied peers. Instead of continuing to utilize accessibility devices and her intellect, she rages against modifications that might help, nearly dying dozens of times due to her stubbornness. Though she eventually accepts a saddle from Xaden and Tairn, it's with much complaining (everyone should have a saddle. Why the fuck would you want your riders to fall and die after all that work?). She compartmentalizes her pain, with the overall message being, "See? You, too, can overcome your disability with hard work." I don't think this is a good lesson, and would've liked to see something more along the lines of, "Even with a disability, you can modify activities to reach your goals, kick ass, and be engaged with the things you love." We get some of this messaging, but it's not enough, and I left disappointed.
Relatedly, Violet's plot armor was unbelievable. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR/WIPEOUT COURSE?? The gauntlet literally ends with a steep ramp. This killed me. How does someone with a connective tissue disorder get through these military-ass challenges without years of strength training? For someone who (assumedly) has POTS, how is her balance so excellent? How is she so fast? This is shitty disability rep, sorry. It's cool that her disabilities turn off when she needs them to.
I have one last thing to say, though, because I think this part really sucks. Yarros is unashamedly pro-military. She calls her husband her "Captain America" in the dedication and talks in the acknowledgements about how she landed her military hero hubby. Her characters aren't supposed to "get used" to death, but recognize that it's a necessary evil to keep their people safe. Characters are proud of their service, even though it's likely that the military school will kill them. Though the ending of Fourth Wing introduced questions about Basgiath's leadership, the overall message is still, "The military is good and necessary as long as the right people are leading it." This is gross, and I will never be ok with the things this type of reasoning excuses (wiping out a population of trapped people, for example. Is that a necessary evil, Yarros?).
I know this is a lot of complaining, but I enjoyed reading Fourth Wing because it read like a fanfic, and I gobble that shit up. I'm under no illusion that it's groundbreaking, though. If this is one of your first romantasy books and you can get past her political views, I say go for it. You will probably love it, since it's an amalgam of the most popular enemies-to-lovers tropes. It's a nostalgic YA story with smut - sexy, predictable, and satisfying if you don't look too closely. Probably a 2.5 or 3 stars, but rounded up to 4 because I did eat it up until about the 70% mark and I got really excited about the dragons.
This school makes no sense. If you are hemorrhaging military recruits and having to conscript the children of literal rebellion leaders (??????????????????????), why are you allowing hundreds of talented young folks die during Hunger Games-esque trials and Harry Potter-esque games and Divergent-esque quadrant pruning?
This brings me to another point that has been repeated many times - nothing in this book really feels original. It seems like Yarros took the most popular tropes, ideas, and characters from fantasy series and smudged them together. There were points where I recognized lines similar to Hunger Games, Six of Crows, Twilight, etc. Many people have pointed out similarities to other series that I haven't read (ACOTAR, Red Queen, Eragon, etc.). This is a book for people who wanted Alina to get with the Darkling. [Wait, are we sure this wasn't Alina/Darkling fanfic? Violet commands light(ning), Xaden is a morally gray shadow-wielder, and Dain is a rule-bound, childhood friend hottie with an undying crush on Violet.]
Fourth Wing was easy reading but too long, and extremely predictable. It's ok to borrow inspiration from the others' work, but the only thing I felt was marginally original was the disability representation. However, even though Yarros has EDS herself, I still feel like she flubbed the rep. Violet spends most of her time busting her ass and getting hurt to perform at a similar level as her able-bodied peers. Instead of continuing to utilize accessibility devices and her intellect, she rages against modifications that might help, nearly dying dozens of times due to her stubbornness. Though she eventually accepts a saddle from Xaden and Tairn, it's with much complaining (everyone should have a saddle. Why the fuck would you want your riders to fall and die after all that work?). She compartmentalizes her pain, with the overall message being, "See? You, too, can overcome your disability with hard work." I don't think this is a good lesson, and would've liked to see something more along the lines of, "Even with a disability, you can modify activities to reach your goals, kick ass, and be engaged with the things you love." We get some of this messaging, but it's not enough, and I left disappointed.
Relatedly, Violet's plot armor was unbelievable. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR/WIPEOUT COURSE?? The gauntlet literally ends with a steep ramp. This killed me. How does someone with a connective tissue disorder get through these military-ass challenges without years of strength training? For someone who (assumedly) has POTS, how is her balance so excellent? How is she so fast? This is shitty disability rep, sorry. It's cool that her disabilities turn off when she needs them to.
I have one last thing to say, though, because I think this part really sucks. Yarros is unashamedly pro-military. She calls her husband her "Captain America" in the dedication and talks in the acknowledgements about how she landed her military hero hubby. Her characters aren't supposed to "get used" to death, but recognize that it's a necessary evil to keep their people safe. Characters are proud of their service, even though it's likely that the military school will kill them. Though the ending of Fourth Wing introduced questions about Basgiath's leadership, the overall message is still, "The military is good and necessary as long as the right people are leading it." This is gross, and I will never be ok with the things this type of reasoning excuses (wiping out a population of trapped people, for example. Is that a necessary evil, Yarros?).
I know this is a lot of complaining, but I enjoyed reading Fourth Wing because it read like a fanfic, and I gobble that shit up. I'm under no illusion that it's groundbreaking, though. If this is one of your first romantasy books and you can get past her political views, I say go for it. You will probably love it, since it's an amalgam of the most popular enemies-to-lovers tropes. It's a nostalgic YA story with smut - sexy, predictable, and satisfying if you don't look too closely. Probably a 2.5 or 3 stars, but rounded up to 4 because I did eat it up until about the 70% mark and I got really excited about the dragons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Torture, Vomit, and Grief
lenny96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
This book made me question why I fell in love with reading as a little girl. I read it once, literally skipped the middle out of boredom and frustration, continued from the point where Violet gets her dragons, and yet still managed to comprehend the plot by the end of the book despite skipping over 100 pages. This tells me there's a problem with the book and that the writer can't write.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
wondahwoman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism
newtnewt's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and War
m0czy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book had me on the edge of my seat, along for the adventure, and craving more!
Rebecca Yarros definitely knows how to build tension, and how to pull off epic plot twists. As an author she balances the emotions, physicality, characters, and dialogue of flirty and spicy scenes in a way that is refreshing and compliments the story overall.
The overall plot of the story was well crafted, with plot clues in just the right places to be noticed but not obvious. Main characters were expertly written, I just wish we had a little more development in the supporting characters.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (the build up is 🔥🥵)
Rebecca Yarros definitely knows how to build tension, and how to pull off epic plot twists. As an author she balances the emotions, physicality, characters, and dialogue of flirty and spicy scenes in a way that is refreshing and compliments the story overall.
The overall plot of the story was well crafted, with plot clues in just the right places to be noticed but not obvious. Main characters were expertly written, I just wish we had a little more development in the supporting characters.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (the build up is 🔥🥵)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Murder, and War
krisiefishie27's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Classism
mantnam's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The plot really pulled me in but I felt like the worldbuilding was weak. Also a bunch of the plot felt frustrating to me. It has a soap opera quality that both turned me off and made me curious.
It was cool to have the heroine's hypermobility/connective tissue issues as a focal point. I really appreciated the viewpoint and found it relatable. Alsohow she worked on her body but also focused on finding accompdations for herself (poisions, the knife in the gauntle, etc.) And that a large part of the romance was her refusing to be with someon who doesn't believe in her. I liked that Xaden was okay with accommodating her and letting her do things her own way.
It was cool to have the heroine's hypermobility/connective tissue issues as a focal point. I really appreciated the viewpoint and found it relatable. Also
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
kdailyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use