The Book Nook Chronicles

At the end of each year, I read a book that’s blown up the world of literature over the last 12 months. Fourth Wing was clearly that book in 2023. Trusting the internet with my reading choices is a dangerous game (see my review of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic for proof), but after having multiple friends rave about Fourth Wing I decided it was time to R&R–Read and Review!

In my brain, Fourth Wing is How to Train Your Dragon, The Hunger Games, and Cheesy Smut all wrapped into one. I love dystopian novels so I was game for the overall plot of this book. However, I am not a huge smut reader. I find sex scenes very difficult to write well and when you throw fantastical elements like lightning-inducing orgasms into the mix, smut can be downright laughable. Thankfully Yarros keeps the romance light in the majority of this book and leaves the lightning orgasms to a minimum.

This romantasy starts off with a clear love triangle between the book’s main character, Violet, her childhood best friend, Dain, and the dark and mysterious, Xaden. Back when I would get deep into YA series like this, the love triangle trope was always my favorite. I would root for the best friend in any scenario–Ron and Hermione, Jacob and Bella, Gail and Katniss (just to name a few). So when Yarros introduced Dain, I was convinced I would be rooting for Mr. Best Friend yet again. I very quickly discovered that Dain was, and is, the absolute worst. I’m not sure if this disdain for Dain is solely because of how annoying he is as a character or if it’s because, unlike teenage Erica, I now know what it’s like to be loved by a supportive and mature man. Either way, it’s pretty much impossible to see any other possible love interest outside of Xaden after about page 100.

While the romantic portions of this read were rather cheesy, the world-building and plot were fantastic. Authors are constantly told that they need to show and not tell for successful world-building in any story. Yarros is phenomenal at this through Violet. As our main character, we find out that Violet originally trained to be a scribe but was forced to become a rider by her mother. Whenever Violet gets nervous, she starts to recite history in her mind to keep focus. So, while you’re still sucked up in the suspense of the novel, you’re learning valuable details about the world Violet and the rest of the characters live in. I personally think J.R.R. Tolkien could have taken a tip or two from Yarros when writing The Hobbit to make that a bit more digestible (just saying).

Looping back to Violet, I find it truly refreshing that our badass main character suffers from some form of chronic illness. Yarros never lets her delicate nature get in the way of the fierce, clever, and independent woman inside of her. If anything, being seen as fragile becomes Violet’s secret weapon. It’s great to have such a unique representation in a popular novel like this one and I hope it makes someone out there facing the trials and tribulations of chronic illness feel seen and gives them strength.

Another great part of this book is clearly the dragons. (What is a fantasy book without dragons, really?) The riders in this book are all able to speak with their dragons in their minds, so we get some great bonus characters added to the cast once the dragons are introduced. I can honestly say that out of my three favorite characters, two of them are dragons–Tairn and Andarna. Tairin is the quintessential grumpy, begrudged old man you can’t help but love. In my head, he sounds like a mix of Brendan Gleeson and Robert De Niro. Andarna is straight-up Tinkerbell in a dragon’s body and you can’t help but adore her too. Since Yarros kills off my favorite human character (leaving out who to avoid spoilers) I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she leaves these two alone in the books that follow.

If you’re ready to commit to a new dystopian series reminiscent of the YA books of your youth; filled with good suspense, girl power, and chiseled men with secrets, I highly recommend giving Fourth Wing a chance. I can’t wait to see what book two, Iron Flame, has in store, and I hope I finish reading the series before they start filming the MAX or Netflix series (we know it’s bound to happen). Here’s to more books like this in 2024!

---

Erica’s Experience

Title: Fourth Wing

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Genre: Romanatasy

Page Count: 498

Publication Date: April 5, 2023