The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – 528 pages
Book Blurb:
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. 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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is a total mashup of Game of Thrones. Divergent and any enemies to lovers rom com. When I heard this book was out of print and that people were paying up to $600 on eBay for copies, I was shocked. So what does one do? Easy. I borrowed my daughters copy that she had wisely preordered. Honestly, I had to know if the hype was real.
Based on my rating you can see that the hype was real! I loved the main character of Violet and her representation of a badass character with a physical disability. The banter was witty, the story exciting and the pacing spot on. Were there a few predictable parts, of course, but that’s in most books these days.
What makes these type of fantasy books work is the world building and the amount of information the reader knows and doesn’t know at the start. Yarros cleverly built a city I could totally imagine in my mind. I loved the romance aspect, the snarky dragon and the heroism of many of the characters. Can’t wait until book two!
Quotes I liked:
A dragon without its rider is a tragedy.
A rider without their dragon is dead.”
“And strength of courage is more important than physical strength.”
“Even when I’m not with you, there’s only you.”