Book Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Empyrean (Book 1)
Publication: Entangled: Red Tower Books (May 2, 2023)

Description: Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

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 own 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.

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. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

My Thoughts: Violet Sorrengail's life is changed when her mother who is a general in the army demands that she enter the Riders Quadrant instead of the Scribe Quadrant. Fragile since birth, Violet has been educated to be a scribe. Now, out of depth and with very little of the right training, Violet has to survive the brutal training to become a dragon rider. 

Luckily, Violet is very smart and has the written advice of her older brother Brennan who, along with his dragon, perished in the Tyrrish rebellion some five years earlier. Her older sister Mira who is also a dragon rider passed the book along to her to help her survive. 

Survival will be an issue. Not only are there not enough dragons willing to partner with all the candidates who are willing to kill to better their odds of securing a dragon, but the quadrant is also the home of the children of losers of the last rebellion who will do anything to kill the daughter of the general they blame for their parents' deaths. 

She should have a friend in the place. Her childhood friend Dain Aetos is a year ahead of her. But he is so busy trying to protect her and encourage her to flee to the Scribes Quadrant that he is stifling her growth. Then there is the wingleader, third year Xaden Riorson whose father led the revolt and who would really like her dead. Or would he?

I enjoyed the worldbuilding in this one. I thought it was a great adventure filled with romance and political intrigue. I liked the way Violet found a way to survive in a brutal environment. I also liked the way the mostly unlikely of romances between Xaden and Violet grew. I loved the dragons including the unprecedented two who lay claim to Violet.

I can't wait to read the sequel.

Favorite Quote:

"In war, people die. It's not glorious like the bards sing about, either. It's snapped necks and two-hundred-foot falls. There's nothing romantic about scorched earth or the scent of sulfur. This" -- he gestures back to the citadel -- "isn't some fable where everyone makes it out alive. It's hard, cold, uncaring reality. Not everyone here is going to make it home...to whatever is left of our homes. And make no mistake, we are at war every time we step foot in the quadrant."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.