Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros || Publication Date - 02.05.2023
Basgaith, a war college where you either graduate... or die.
Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure | Romance
Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781649377371
She
is instead, however, being pushed to become a dragon rider by her mother who is the
General of the Rider's Quadrant. Understandably she is terrified. There
is only one way to measure success within this area of the college, by students surviving, or dying.
Despite her
fears, she emerges on the other end of the parapet as a Rider. What
comes next is a variable onslaught of studying, training, and dodging
death as she makes her way becoming a force to be reckoned with. A force
that is ensnaring her greatest rival, Xaden Riorson, who holds the key
to blowing apart all she understood about their world and what could
possibly be existing outside Basgaith's protective boundaries.
The Review (may contain spoilers)
It
has been so long since I've read a Fantasy like this. It was gripping
from page one, the premise was interesting, the characters were amazing
and the entire world was shadowed and mysterious. I loved how the
characters were all challenged in different ways. They all had their
strengths and weaknesses which made it interesting to see how they would
overcome their struggles, or simply die. I appreciated that Violet from the beginning is actively dealing with a chronic illness that affects the way she achieves her goals at Basgaith. Not only was she resourceful as a character, but she also didn't let her condition impede her success. This further cemented Violet as the feminine warrior I was really hoping for going into this series.
Rebecca's
writing is fabulous. She has an amazing writing style that is easy to
follow and explains the world, magic, dragons and action scenes very
well. There is also just enough put out by the story that things remain
very obscure, until they're revealed, and everything clicks into place smoothly. It was very satisfying!
There
was no sugar coating how this college operated and I appreciated the
blunt nature of a lot of the characters in this novel. It was very
matter of fact, living where death could take anyone at any time,
especially with the training and dragons. There was a real sense of
uncertainty through the novel and it only made the final words of this
book all the more impactful.
After finishing
Fourth Wing, I genuinely sat on my couch staring into space for a good
10 minutes before I registered what I had just read. I then immediately
pre-ordered Iron Flame and had been waiting impatiently for November 2023 to roll around so I could continue this series.
Overall Thoughts
What
do I think of this novel? Almost certainly one of my top books for
2023. If you love fantasy, a strong female lead, dragons and great
characters I won't even hesitate to ask you to read this book. I've
recommended it to everyone I know who loves Fantasy.
I
do want to warn you, this book put me into a HUGE hangover after
finishing it and also put me into a slump. It took me a month of mediocre
reading afterwards to get back into normality. Nothing felt as amazing
or as polished as Fourth Wing until I had read another amazing Fantasy
later that same year (review incoming).