A review by emmybtaylor
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

Honestly, this was one of the worst books I’ve read in my entire life. The more I reflect upon it, the more I am assured of its negligible merit as a work of literature. The characters are deeply flawed and each characterized by selfishness; there is no true heroism on display on any page of the novel. Moreover, the author seems to laud contemptible behavior such as deception, brutality, lust, etc. The romance between Violet and her enemy-turned-lover is extremely toxic, and all the constant descriptions of how Violet responds physically to simply being in the same room as him are overdone and gross. The author really demonstrated the great number of ways to describe how Violet’s “lower abdomen went warm at the sight of his bare chest.” The open-door sex scene is gratuitous and obscene, contributing nothing to the plot or character development.  
There is zero substance to the story - it is merely a rehashed version of Divergent, or a variety of other fantasy plot lines. There was potential to develop Violet’s relationships with her dragons - an interesting facet of the story being that she has two dragons - but all for naught since Violet hardly ever speaks with her dragons. 
I wanted to like this book, but was truly shocked at how much I hated it. The constant use of foul language was the “cherry-on-top” of this garbage read. If I could “unread” it, I would, and I’m cleansing my palate now with some good, old Jane Austen. 
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