Fourth Wing Review

The Albatross
Jun 29
3 min read

Updated: Jul 20

“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.”

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Rating:

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Tropes & themes: Magical academia, rivals to lovers, dragon riders, animal/human bond

reference my rating system here

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of The Empyrean Series

Plot: "Violet Sorrengail joins the deadly and ruthless riders quadrent in hopes of being one of the lucky few to bond with a dragon. Most cadets would kill to better their own chances--like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die."

Read if you like: Crowns of Nyaxi, ACOTAR, or From Blood and Ash.

The cover of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros — On Kindle Unlimited

The Vibe:

Our FMC is a chronic pain survivor and wicked smart, she enters the riders quadrant and we get found family with her squad, fun banter with her rival to lover, and the deadly anticipation of fighting her way through school.

What I liked:

I love the way Violet's chronic illness/pain is portrayed, it doesn't make her weaker it just means she has to find accommodations and work harder for what she wants. As a chronic illness girly myself I found her very relatable and realistic.
THE DRAGONS. I love their bonds with their riders and their different personalities, they're scary and badass and I loveeee them.
OBSESSED with the MMC. Some people call it "enemies to lovers" it is definitely more "rivals to lovers" with a bit of "insta-love" but honestly I love him sm I don't care.
There is a twist in the end that I actually didn't see coming!

What didn't work for me:

The world building feels a little shallow and the beginning kind of just starts throwing people and places and terms at you with zero context.
The writing is also a bit disconjoined which was mostly okay but every now and then it would take me out of the story a bit.

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Thoughts:

I've read this book three times now and I can confidently say I LOVE this book....I do NOT love the series. You can read my Iron Flame Review and my Onyx Storm Review here to get a better idea of what I think of the story as a whole, but I want it known up front that the first book is the best one IMO.

That said I've clearly reread it three times because I enjoyed it. Really I just love the MMC, he's snarky and broody and angsty in all the right ways and the "fuck it" moment???? I'd reread the whole book just for that. 🥵

If you read my rating page then you'll know I do my ratings based on ~vibes~ I immensely enjoyed this book, but it's important to point out that if you are a big fantasy reader...maybe lower your expectations lol. Its 100% possible to enjoy this book provided you check out and kickback lol

Would I recommend it?

This is a hard question, if you're new to fantasy then I'd say yeah sure go ahead! If you're a big fantasy fan of the likes of ACOTAR, Zodiac Academy, or TOG then yeah go ahead! You'll probably enjoy it!