Book Club January Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

It's not every day that a series creates the buzz that Rebecca Yarros managed to do with the Empyrean series. And I can honestly say after reading it that I can completely see why.

The first of these is Fourth Wing, a spicy romantasy with particularly high stakes. Violet Sorrengail is forced by her mother, who also happens to be the commanding general, into joining the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath, a war college set in the world of Navarre. There she reunites with Dain Aetos, her life long best friend, and meets the moody and mysterious Xaden Riorson, who quickly makes a lasting impression. As the cover aptly puts it, Violet must either bond a dragon and learn to fly or she will die. The novel is full of mystery, danger, intrigue and a healthy dose of sexual tension.

***Spoiler Alert*** - I've tried to be sparing on the details, but I have revealed quite a few major spoilers in this review. If you're someone who hates spoilers as much as I do, go and read the book then come back and join in the conversation!

The Good Stuff

I feel like this book found the soft spot in my bookish heart. How could I not love a book involving dragons, a deadly war college, a mysterious love interest, and heart warming friendships?

I feel like Violet is the perfect age for the book to be a relatable romantasy to both YA and adult readers. We see a lot of character development in Violet throughout the book, and I particularly liked that she finds realistic ways to compensate for her weaknesses and her struggle with her enemy, Jack Barlow, throws some tension into the mix.

The main love interest, Xaden, is the perfect combination of hot, moody, mysterious, passionate, and morally grey. I have to confess that both CY and I were completely in love with him after only a few chapters and the sexual tension had us both shouting at them to do it already. It's worth the wait because the sex scenes get very hot and steamy and are well written.

I also found the war college setting super interesting, and of course I have a special love for Second Squad, comprised of Violet's team and core group of friends that are loyal, funny and pretty badass. Ridoc and Rhi are exactly the type of best friends that everyone wishes for, and I was rooting for them all on their journey through first year together. A special mention also goes to Liam who made me swoon nearly as much as Xaden did, so those of you who have read it know how heartbroken I was at a certain moment in the book.

The plot was done very well, with plot points that flowed nicely and were exciting, surprising and tugged at my heart strings. The pacing was thrilling enough to keep me turning pages until the very end whilst still providing a good amount of suspense and mood-setting.

The Not So Good Stuff

There were only a few small things that I didn't love about this book, with the main one being the love triangle between Violet, Dain and Xaden. I do usually love a good love triangle, but the emphasis there is on it being good! In this book it felt like a very half-hearted attempt to add some romantic tension, but let's face it: after her depiction of Xaden it was hard to see how any other guy could possibly compete. It was obvious who Violet would choose between the two, and any feelings she had for Dain ended so early on that it created hardly any tension at all. I had hoped something would blossom between Violet and Dain before Xaden came into the picture and ruined any chance any other man had of winning over our protagonist. I also felt the same about the attempt at enemies to lovers between Violet and Xaden. Both CY and I were pretty disappointed that they never actually became enemies, and he supposedly fell in love with her the moment he saw her. What was even the point of painting him as a threat that she needed to watch out for then?

The other thing I didn't like was Violet's tendency to be a little self-centred and spoiled. I found this particularly insufferable when she found out Xaden had lied to her and she couldn't understand why. Like, girl, hellooo??? You are the daughter of the General who he literally watched kill his dad. Your best friend can read minds. You literally almost got everyone killed in this exact way!!! Have some self-awareness please.

The writing itself was pretty average, with a lot of clichés used. Like, of course Violet has to have special hair, and she needs to bond the strongest dragon, and she then is the only person to bond a second dragon, and she has to get the strongest signet, and fall in love with the hottest and strongest guy. I could go on, but I think you get the picture here. And although for the most part the sex scenes had me reaching for my vibrator, I wasn't sold on her descriptions of Violet and Xaden sucking on each other's tongue's or Xaden devouring Violet with tongue and teeth.

Rating

CY - Despite the clichés, I was quite a sucker for the romance between Violet and Xaden, and Fourth Wing really did deserve all the hype. 4.5/5

Kay - I enjoyed this read too much to give it anything other than a 5/5. My romantasy-loving heart wouldn't let me rate it anything else!

Do you think this book was worth the hype? Did you fall in love with Violet and Xaden or were you rooting for Dain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!