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A review by betsubara
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
While I've given an extra quarter star because I did finish the book, this was far and away one of the worst things I've read in recent history. The hype this book has gotten in the year I've been waiting for my library hold to come through has left me hoping that all who read it before me have found better literature since. Friends, when I tell you there is truly nowhere but up.
This is fanfic-level writing, and I don't mean in the good way. WAS this book edited? From typos to the most repetitive, thesaurus-lacking speech I have ever read in my LIFE, every sentence in this book felt untouched by professional hands. I could drop three obscenities right now and cover 80% of the inner and outer dialogue of this book. An F-bomb dropped here and there throughout a book can spice things up, but we're four curses deep by the end of page two. There are genuinely no words left with which to intensify the dialogue any further, so the author uses. This. Kind. Of. Sentence. If that bothers you, and you find yourself thinking "Wow, I hope I don't have to read that thirty different times in one book," then I cannot stress enough that this is Not. The. Book. For. You.
If you can push through literally every instance of character interaction in this book to find it in yourself to enjoy the plot, kudos to you. There are approximately no non-toxic relationships in this book, and I have never found hot-in-fictional-men-but-literal-crimes-in-real-life tropes to be such a turn-off (in your head, referring to the 20-year-old love of your life as "this woman" exclusively? Genuine *chills,* and not the good kind). I know I need to wrap this up, but I would be remiss if I did not at least spoil for you that the main character receives possibly the worst nickname imaginable, and that nickname carries through every single critical scene in the book. Not a single moment goes unmarred by the least-nickname-y nickname I have ever heard.
This book was so unappealing to me that I've genuinely spent more time thinking about this review than I have thinking about the actual story. If I read the sequel, it will only be to see if the author's writing skills have improved since this volume. Rebecca Yarros, if you have read this far or have read this at all, I am cheering for you. I see the vision. I see the passion. All the ingredients are there, but I think the next cake needs a little more time in the oven. Congratulations on your bestseller.
This is fanfic-level writing, and I don't mean in the good way. WAS this book edited? From typos to the most repetitive, thesaurus-lacking speech I have ever read in my LIFE, every sentence in this book felt untouched by professional hands. I could drop three obscenities right now and cover 80% of the inner and outer dialogue of this book. An F-bomb dropped here and there throughout a book can spice things up, but we're four curses deep by the end of page two. There are genuinely no words left with which to intensify the dialogue any further, so the author uses. This. Kind. Of. Sentence. If that bothers you, and you find yourself thinking "Wow, I hope I don't have to read that thirty different times in one book," then I cannot stress enough that this is Not. The. Book. For. You.
If you can push through literally every instance of character interaction in this book to find it in yourself to enjoy the plot, kudos to you. There are approximately no non-toxic relationships in this book, and I have never found hot-in-fictional-men-but-literal-crimes-in-real-life tropes to be such a turn-off (in your head, referring to the 20-year-old love of your life as "this woman" exclusively? Genuine *chills,* and not the good kind). I know I need to wrap this up, but I would be remiss if I did not at least spoil for you that the main character receives possibly the worst nickname imaginable, and that nickname carries through every single critical scene in the book. Not a single moment goes unmarred by the least-nickname-y nickname I have ever heard.
This book was so unappealing to me that I've genuinely spent more time thinking about this review than I have thinking about the actual story. If I read the sequel, it will only be to see if the author's writing skills have improved since this volume. Rebecca Yarros, if you have read this far or have read this at all, I am cheering for you. I see the vision. I see the passion. All the ingredients are there, but I think the next cake needs a little more time in the oven. Congratulations on your bestseller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail