So I finished reading Fourth Wing. Because of all the hype on my TikTok Feed, I was persuaded to buy it. It took me some time but finally, I finished reading it and I have things to say. For those who have no idea what this book is about I will give a brief intro. It's the story of Violet who goes into War College to train to become a dragon rider. The Empire is at war on so many fronts and they constantly need soldiers and riders so they recruit a lot of young people and make them go through brutal training to make them ruthless killers. There was some controversy surrounding Rebecca Yarros due to her support in the latest genocide but she posted on Instagram that she is against war of any form. Personally, I wouldn't support an author who blatantly comes out and supports the side that is ruthlessly killing children. But I would say these authors and celebrities choosing the wrong side don't know any better. I am here to do an honest review of the book I read and I am not endorsing or supporting it. I will suggest you to do research on this current issue. let's get to review (spoilers ahead)
GENRE
Fantasy
THEME AND TONE
Serious
LANGUAGE AND WRITING STYLE
Easy to Read
CHARACTERS
good-ish characters
TROPES
☙ Disability Rep
☙ Dragons with personalities
☙ Forced Proximity
☙ Enemies to lovers (not really)
☙ Wars and Battles
MY REVIEW
The concept of the book is different I would say. it's the story of Violet who is the daughter of General Lillith Sorrengail who is a high-ranking dragon rider in the army. She has prepared all her life to become a scribe because of her father. He was a scribe. Scribes are kinds of writer who writes and note down every event happening. But Violet is forced to apply to become a rider by her mother. She passed all her initial tests and now she has to do a physical test to enter Fourth Wing.
She also has a disability; her bones are brittle and they break on a slight pressure. This makes things difficult for her but she manages to some extent. She has to cross a parapet to enter the school, she crosses it making an enemy and a friend and thus her training begins. She is put in the Fourth Wing under the command of Xaden Riorsen who is like their enemy because he had killed her brother 6 years ago during a rebellion. So the tensions start from here.
Another interesting fact is that every rider gets a dragon. The dragon chooses their human rider and the process is brutal Many soldiers are killed in the process by the dragons. Dragons are intelligent creatures in this book; they have personalities (the only fact I loved). Anyway, Violet passes trials completes training and the day of reaping comes when the dragon chooses its riders. She enters the gauntlet and clashes with Jack and company who try to kill Andarna because she is small and is not capable of fighting. So she saves her and in the process gets bonded with two dragons. Tairn is a fierce one and Andarna is a cute and small one.
On the whole, I like the book. It is different with dragons and humans bonding. There are other creatures too like Griffins and Wyverns. Humans also ride them. There is also a different kind of human too called Venin which was considered a storybook tale until the group actually have to fight with them. Venin drains energy or magic from all around them and uses them as their power source. Important people die in the first book but they are not that important anyway.
There are also hints of a great conspiracy hatched by the king or the Gernas but I guess it will be revealed in the next book. It contains the same old context of an empire brutalizing a specific group of people by declaring them as monsters (ring a bell). The Rebellion was hatched by some top brass because some people had conscious and Riorson was the son of their leader. On the whole, it was a good read.
MY RATING
Overall: ★★★|3 Stars Plot: ★★★ | 3 Stars
Characters: ★★★| 3 Stars
Ending: ★★★| 3 Stars
Fun: ★★★| 3 Stars
Bookcover:★★★★ | 4 Stars
THE BEST PART
☙ Dragons have personalities
☙ Violet going through the pain of patching up her bones
☙ Grumpy Tairn and cute Andarna
THE WORST PART:
☙ Jack and his friends
☙ The empire is evil and a liar.
BEST CHARACTER
☙ Violet
☙ Xaden
☙ Imogen
☙ Liam Mairi
WORST CHARACTER
☙ Jack