Fourth Wing

Welp, after hearing about this book…and contently thinking once I’m finished with my series I’ll hop on it, but paused my series to come and I have to say it’s really good! I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but definitely got my dragon/enemies to lovers itch scratched! Looking forward to more of the empyrean series!!!

I’m not a fast reader and I don’t read this book in record time but for me I read it faster than any other book. I’m not a fantasy reader but each page not just chapter but each PAGE had me hunger for more. The cliff hangers, the love, the betrayal, and the END!!!!I NEED MORE!! So glad there’s more to this series and I can’t wait to start the next book!

This book has become a bit inescapable in reading circles, so when it was presented as an option for a Kindle Reading Challenge Achievement, I grabbed it right up. I've mostly heard bad things, but I went through a dragon shifter romance phase so I thought I'd at least like this. Given how long it is, I see the merit to both the praise and criticism that this gets and I'm at its ok as I finally reach the end. I'm not reading on in the series, though, because this book alone was unnecessarily long and it's only the first in a series that seems subject to expansion due to popularity. I may have been on board with all of that had my favorite character been treated like he should have been, eventually getting his own story, rather than being killed off. Not a fake out death and not to be resurrected like I know some other characters get in this series, he's dead dead.Xaden is a much better character than I expected, except he seems to exist only for Violet which takes away the dimensionality I want from such a main character and love interest. Violet is ok, but I hate how she's just gotta be the beloved special specialest girl boss and any who don't adore, love or praise her are evil. Give me a realistic character all day, every day, not her fantasy world that revolves around her. (Ok, I kind of hated Violet.)The dragons are great, but all the lore around them needs more thought and work. All the rules of the war college and human interactions and the war and dragon kind needed more intentional plotting and planning before the book was finished. It was so hard to get through this because there'd be good parts with great ideas or potential then it would almost mock you for wanting to enjoy the whole story and it'd go to aspects that entertain or distract rather than progress the plot. It makes for a very skimmable read, almost like a choose your own adventure. If you just want the romance read here, just the dragon fantasy fighting read here, but if you actually want to read it all... I, personally, just was not feeling it until 50% in and I should have quit but was determined to actually read this. Then Liam got pulled into Violet's friend group and I loved him. He was really one of the best developed characters in the story and that should have given him the same plot armor as all of Violet's other favorites, but the author killed him off and that was the dumbest decision. Yes, I absolutely cried at that and it was an impactful series of events, but I feel like it wasn't his time or place. If he was destined to die, I still hate it, but kill him later in the series so someone like me would keep reading. I think killing someone like Garrick or Bodhi instead would have packed a similar punch without wasting all the potential that was built into a character like Liam. Ultimately, it's better this way so I can mark this off my list of curiosities and now go back to the work I prefer reading. I'll follow this series to the end through the reviews of others to see if anything really interesting comes of anything introduced in this book and realm.

Amazing book. I am completely obsessed. It starts off a bit slow, but only because the author is providing context, world-building, and is giving a backstory on the main characters, which I appreciated. I love the idea of a magical war college and dragon riders. I love that gryphons and wyverns are also part of the list of magical creatures. While some of the magical concepts in this book may sound familiar if you read a lot of fantasy novels like I do, this plot and these characters are completely different from anything I've ever read before. I really like that the author wrote a female main character who is intelligent, isn't a damsel in distress, and has a good sense of sarcasm! And the romance in this book... whew. Don't even get me started. All I can say is... wow! Very well-written. I don't want to give any spoilers, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. 🥵 I also really enjoyed the plot twists toward the end of the book. I definitely did not see some of it coming, and now I'm really looking forward to reading Iron Flame and Onyx Storm even more!If you like Harry Potter and Hunger Games, and also like a spicy read, you will thoroughly enjoy Fourth Wing. Rebecca Yarros' writing is really great. She will be one of my "automatic-buy" authors from now on. 🤩Overall rating : 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Spice rating: 5/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

I don’t even know how to put into words everything I want to say about this book but YES! BUY IT! I was worried it would be an overhyped viral book and not be as good as people made it out to be but it is AMAZING and I really love the author as well from what I’ve learned! My favorite thing about the series is that Violet is an EDS girlie! As someone who struggles with EDS as well it was so nice and healing to read about a strong bad*** character that doesn’t let her disabilities slow her down! Not even just slow her down but makes adaptions to continue on and excel!! I’m like if Violet can ride dragons and go into battle with EDS certainly I can handle my day to day! I love the characters, the world building, the friendships, the romance, and OF COURSE THE DRAGONS! Also Xaden quickly became my favorite book boyfriend!