FOURTH WING Book Review

Fourth Wing¹ (book 1 in The Empyrean series) by Rebecca Yarros, physical, 518 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a 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 chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader 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 deadlier; the kingdom's protective wards are failing; and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

BOOK REVIEW: I have finally read Fourth Wing y'all! It has been on my TBR for a long time. My favorite mythical creature is the dragon and I'm actually quite irritated with myself for it taking so long for me to read this. While I know how to pronounce most of the names because it has been around for a couple years now and I've learned from others, this is a world that I would love to enter. Maybe not the Rider Quadrant but I don't know. Violet reminds me a lot of how I was in my early 20s. I'm short and I was barely over 100 pounds soaking wet but I have a mouth on me and could take someone down a peg with a look and a quick retort. I wasn't as brittle as Violet though.

This is a big book. The story itself is almost 500 pages and then the book I read had two scenes from Xaden's POV. There are a lot of great parts but the only thing that I wrote down is when Tairn tells Xaden,

"You can ride me when my flesh rots off my bones, wingleader."

I literally laughed out loud. There are also a few spicy scenes, some touching moments, and ones that made me want to punch some characters...oh and parts where I was so anxious and nervous I couldn't sit still. I was literally moving in my seat.

If you haven't guessed, it's a 5 star for me. The world that the author has built is wonderful. I'm not even talking about the fandom that has surrounded this author because of this series. Her characters and bless her for making dragons the good guys! I love a dragon story...Her characters are wonderful. They're all unique and easy to get attached to. It can get dark at times though. Now that I've read it, I might listen to the dramatized version that's out but I have other things to read before I do that! I can't wait to read Iron Flame next! Just waiting for my momma to send it to me!

5/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 17/55 complete

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