FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Empyrean #1
Published by Red Tower Books on May 2 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 512
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Dragons, brutal action, deadly games and romance combine in this stellar fantasy series opener.

“If Jack wants to kill me, he needs to get in line. Besides, I have a feeling Xaden Riorson is going to beat him to it.”

Well, that was a bunch of fun! I’m happily joining in the hoards of other readers who haven fallen hard for Fourth Wing. Sometimes the hype is real, and this is one of those times. Fourth Wing is a perfectly paced, action-packed fantasy with well developed characters, romance and best of all, dragons. Red Tower Books is a new adult SFF imprint from Entangled Publishing, known for their young adult romance. And while I don’t always get along with YA, it turns out new adult is more to my liking. Rebecca Yarros is an accomplished writer, and I’m so happy to have discovered her.

In Fourth Wing we meet twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail, who has just found out that her mother, the ruthless General Sorrengail, is forcing her to become a dragon rider, even though Violet has been studying for years to join the Scribe Quadrant. Violet isn’t thrilled with that idea, especially since she was born with a disease that affects her bones and ligaments. Riders are expected to be tough fighters, especially when the chances of dying are extremely high, and Violet understands her physical limitations and knows she isn’t cut out to be a rider. But opposing the general is even worse than the threat of dying, so Violet reluctantly agrees. 

But once she’s past the first test of being a rider—crossing the deadly parapet—Violet discovers that a group of other recruits, those who hate the Sorrengails for the part they played in executing their parents, are out for blood. It seems like Violet’s days are numbered—not only is surviving the first year and bonding with a dragon extremely difficult, but more than one of her fellow candidates wants her dead. Luckily she has some allies, like her new friend Rhiannon and Dain, Violet’s childhood friend and possible love interest. And then there’s Xaden, a third-year and the wingleader of Fourth Wing. Xaden makes it perfectly clear that he’d like to kill Violet himself, after all, her mother was responsible for his father’s death. But Violet seems to be beating the odds, managing to stay alive despite the threats of her enemies. And as she and Xaden become closer, Violet realizes that everything she’s believed about the ongoing war might be a lie. 

Violet is such a great character, a girl with a lot stacked against her: her physical disability, her family’s reputation, and her small size. And yet she grits her teeth and decides to do her best to become a dragon rider. Violet’s mantra is “I will not die today,” uttered over and over whenever she’s faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. I loved her fierce determination and loyalty to Navarre, although that loyalty is tested more than once. And Xaden might be your typical hot, heavily muscled love interest, but he’s got his own secrets and agenda, and it was fun watching Violet try to figure him out. There are lots of other characters I wish I had time to talk about, like Mira, Violet’s older sister, and Liam, who turns out to be one of Violet’s best friends, but I’ll let you discover the many nuances of this book for yourself.

I was also very impressed with the pacing of the story. Fourth Wing takes place over an entire year, Violet’s first year at the battle school, so there’s a lot to cover. Even with a few time jumps of a couple of months, I never felt that Yarros skipped over anything important. The story flowed smoothly from the first page to the last, something that only accomplished writers can pull off. She also knows when to throw in a well-placed twist or shocking surprise. Many chapters end with surprising revelations, a device that compels the reader to keep going. This was one of those “just one more chapter” books for me, where I found myself staying up way too late to see what happens next.

Readers will recognize bits of other books in Fourth Wing. The different types of dragons reminded me of the dragons from Harry Potter, and the “fight to the death” battle school set up has shades of A Deadly Education and The Hunger Games. Despite this familiarity, however, Yarros has her own particular style and the talent to infuse her story with fresh ideas. The dragons in particular were wonderfully done. Riders are able to communicate telepathically with their bonded dragons, and it was fun to get to know Violet’s dragon Tairn, one of the biggest, baddest dragons around. Tairn was delightfully irreverent and snarky, and Tairn and Violet together had some of the funniest dialog in the story. My only complaint is that the dragons were almost side characters in this story, and I simply wanted more interaction with them.

And yes, this is unabashedly a romance, with several explicit sex scenes included, so readers who aren’t into romance might shy away for that reason. I’m not a big romance reader, but I thought it was so well done in this book. Violet’s and Xaden’s chemistry is off the charts, and I have to admit I loved every second of it. However, there is so much more to Fourth Wing, including plenty of high stakes action, danger, and battle maneuvers and strategies, it would be a shame to miss out on the rest just because you don’t like romance.

The last few chapters have the characters using all the skills they’ve learned up to that point in order to survive, as the story ramps up to its thrilling conclusion. Yarros throws in several shocking surprises at the end, one of which had me gasping out loud. I’m extremely grateful that the second book in the series is coming out this November, since I’m not sure I can wait any longer than that! Fourth Wing was such a delightful surprise, a perfect combination of brutal action, romance, humor and high stakes, sure to please anyone who appreciates a well crafted story.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.