A review by startjpw23
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

This book is described as a Romantasy. It stars Violet Sorrengail. In the world of the book, two kingdoms have engaged in a war of around 400 years. In Violet's kingdom, there are 4 war colleges - Riders, Scribes, Healers, and Infantry. When people hit age 20, they go into one of the war colleges. The first is by choice in most cases. People are conscripted into the others. Violet's mother is a general. Her father was a scribe who passed away before the book started. Violet trained for her whole life to be a scribe. Six months before the 20-year-olds are scheduled to go to one of the war colleges, Violet's mother tells her she has to go to the Riders college. The Riders college trains people so they might be selected by a dragon as a partner. The dragons are intelligent, and they channel a power to their riders. The Rider College is brutal. Trainees can be killed by other trainees at any time except when they are asleep. They can be killed during the training exercises. Violet has 6 months to try to catch up on the training she missed during the time she training to be a scribe. She has a condition that caused her bones to be brittle and her ligaments to be loose (her bones can easily get out of alignment because of this). Also, she is small. Five years ago, a group of members of the kingdom rebelled. They were executed in front of their children. The children were then forced to go the Riders College when they hit 20. The most lethal of these children is Xaden Riorson. He is a third year at the Riders College and the commander of a whole wing. He hates Violet's mother for executing his parents. Thus, he hates Violet. The story goes from there.
Before I give my view of the book, I need to say that the book does have some issues that may cause people to choose not to read it. Although the world building is good in many ways, there are some noticeable holes. Violet thinks about sex a lot. Sometimes when she is in danger. There are some graphic sex scenes. The writing confused me a fair amount. I found myself pausing and trying to understand what was going on sometimes. For me, only the last one was an issue.
I loved Violet. I thought she was a great heroine. I thought that the author came up with creative ways for Violet to pass challenges despite her issues and these ways seemed mostly realistic. I loved the other characters I was supposed to love. And hated the ones I was supposed to hate. I loved the dragons and their interactions with their riders. I thought the story was great. There were some amazing twists. Despite what I said about it being confusing in spots, I reached a point fairly early where I didn't want to put the book down. I wanted to read more to see what would happen next. And I wanted to pick it up again the next to see what happened next. This is one of the best books I have read this year. I will definitely continue with the series.
I recommend this book for someone who is coming at it from the romance angle. If you come at it from the fantasy angle, be aware that it might be lighter on the fantasy elements than you are used to.  People should take into account the issues I listed above.
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