Fourth Wing: Dragons, Drama and Déjà Vu — My Honest Take

Summary

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders.

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.

Source: GoodReads

Book Review

2.5

Fourth Wing feels like a mix of all the dystopian and fantasy books we’ve loved over the years, packed into one story. If this had come out back in 2012, I probably would’ve enjoyed it a lot more—my taste has definitely changed since then. The story is definitely interesting—but not impactful.

While reading, I kept thinking of Shadow and Bone

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(shadow and light, really? Plus, the whole childhood best friend and mysterious romantic interest thing)

, Red Queen, A Court of Mist and Fury, Throne of Glass, A Game of Thrones, Divergent, The Hunger Games, Eragon. So yeah, you get the idea.

Based on that track record, I’d say this story is much better enjoyed for what it is: a fresh experience for a new generation of readers who are just starting to explore fantasy—and especially now that romantasy is having its big moment. After all, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for a story to be influenced by the ones that laid the groundwork for so much of today’s YA fantasy. Fourth Wing is a solid entry point—but it’s not bringing anything truly new to the table.

What I did appreciate, though, is that the main character stays true to who she is from beginning to end. The author doesn’t suddenly turn her into a Mary Sue who can do everything in the span of two pages. On the contrary, even after training and more training, she still fails—and fails hard. We don’t get an instant heroine; we get a real one. One who is physically incapable of doing certain things, just like many people in real life, and that makes her far more relatable.

The first half flew by with all the academy training and dragon trials, but after that, things dragged. The middle of the book felt slow and repetitive, and then suddenly everything happens in the last 50 pages. It was a bit frustrating.

that said, I’m not entirely sure I’ll continue with the rest of the series, mostly because I get the sense that it’s going to lean heavily into the angst between Xaden and Violet, and as for me, I didn't feel any real chemistry there

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All the initial interaction between the main characters was that Xaden wanted to kill Violet - which he never said, never tried, never did anything at all. And yet, it was repeated like a thousand times throughout the entire book.

Also, the author hasn’t taken much time to develop the background of this world—how things came to be the way they are, or how the magic system actually works. That lack of depth makes it hard for me to feel invested in the broader story.

And all the plot twists in the last few chapters, are you going to tell me you didn't see that coming from a mile away?

Maybe that’s just me, though. Did you feel Fourth Wing brought something new to the table, or did it also give you déjà vu from the YA golden era?

You can find it on:

Amazon