The explosive adult fantasy novel Fourth Wing has had readers gushing all year, and for good reason, as Rebecca Yarros whips us away into a daunting world filled with dragons, secrets and steamy romance. If you've held out on reading Fourth Wing now is the time to dig your teeth in before the highly anticipated sequel releases this November.
From the blurb;
'Welcome to the brutal and elite world of Basgiath War College...
'Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general - her tough-as-talons mother - has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragons riders.
'But when you're smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only and 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 windleader in the Riders Quadrant.
'She'll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
'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. Ever worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
'Everyone at Basgiath has an agenda, so sleep with one eye open because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.'
The thing we love about Violet, our main character, is that she isn't foolish. Her choices, her logic, her drive are all believable, likable, aspects. She is not weakened by her compassion or intelligence, and uses both well throughout the story. This isn't a tough warrior woman playing the role of damsel in distress, but a life-like 20-year-old finding her footing in a world she thought she knew everything about.
Set against her, Xaden becomes the perfect tension for the personal end of the story. Representing everything Violet doesn't know, and everything she desires. Xaden's character is also well drawn. More than just pretty muscle for Violet, and the reader, to swoon over, he quickly becomes a character we care deeply about. His story resonating with many, while his journey throughout the book is fulfilling and justified.
Featured more towards the second half of the novel the dragons themselves also have strong characters and intricate back stories which will captivate the reader. Once introduced their presence is as enjoyable as any of the main characters and becomes a driving force in our desire to keep reading.
Fourth Wing is a well done slow burn, and we thank Yarros for it. While it would have been all to easy to make this a decadent romance, with the fantasy world a vibrant back drop, Yarros allows the reader to be completely encapsulated by this adventure, the mystery, the struggle, the ever slimming odds of survival. Making us feel like we deserve the reprieve the romance offers when it finally comes to fruition, and encouraging us to come back for both the world building and the budding love story.
Though not for the faint of heart, it should be remembered that Fourth Wing features dragons, a war and a dangerous school, leaving death and destruction sprinkled throughout the novel. Some losses hit harder than others, but loss lives through the pages of this book and readers should be prepared for tears and gut wrenching tragedies.
For those readers who love fantasy, particularly dragons, enjoy slow-burn-romances, and are not afraid of some gruesome scenes this reader would advice you run to read Fourth Wing before the second in the series drops early this November.
We give Fourth Wing Five Stars
ISBN -978-0-349-43699-9
Hardback Cover Price - £20.00 First published in the United States in 2023 by Red Tower Books