Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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

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 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.

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy.
A rider without their dragon is dead.

I had the hardest time finding a hardcover copy of this book but in the end the wait was so worth it because Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros was an outstanding read. I can see now why it’s been so hyped by many readers and I guess I’m now a part of it too. I’ve never been much into books with dragons. I’ve always felt a bit neutral about them but Fourth Wing really got me to love them. A part of me would love to be able to join Basgiath War College if I wouldn’t be dead in like one second. But for real, it was one hell of a book with such a fantastic cast of characters and sizzling hot romance!

Fourth Wing is about twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail who instead of entering the Scribe Quandrant and making a carreer around books and history she is forced by her mother, who happens to be the commanding general, to enter Basgiath War College and attempt to become a dragon rider. Death is business as usual at Basgiath and as the general’s daughter Violet makes a lot of enemies, like Xaden who wants to kill her (among others who want the same thing). Nobody expects her to survive the first day let alone bond any dragon but as she makes friends (and foes) along the way she becomes more and more convinced that Basgiath is the place for her. On top of being in danger every single day at Basgiath Violet starts to suspect that their leadship is keeping dangerous secrets. So not only does she have to worry about Xaden or Jack killing her, being burned to death and just keeping up with the other cadets, there seems to be more going on than what everyone knows.

I loved Violet’s character, especially as her confidence grew throughout the book. She got beat up a lot when she had to fight other cadets since she’s smaller than most others and hadn’t prepared for this life. Her character growth was phenomenal to read about. I also adored the group of friends she made and they all found a way into my heart. The found family trope is one of my favorites and this book had it in spades! Just don’t get attached to anyone is my advice, though.

Now about the dragons… how I loved the author’s take on them and how they can bond to humans and work together to protect their borders. I really don’t want to give too much away about Violet and if she’ll bond with a dragon because I feel like that gives too much away but I can say that I was very surprised with the way in went for her. Another thing I loved about these dragons was how they can communicate with their bonded riders and some dragons are quite the characters and snarky.

There was a lot of romance in the book too and the sex scenes were very hot to say the least. No fade to black scenes here so if that’s not your vibe you might want to skip over this book. Violet and Xaden were… electric. Literally. I loved how they went from enemies to lovers (also one of my favorite tropes) even though they knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. Their chemistry was off the damn charts and I just wanted to scream kiss already at them so many times. Xaden was also such a good character on his own. Not treating Violet like she was something breakable like Violet’s best friend Dain always did. I really didn’t like Dain. But luckily Xaden was his total opposite. I really loved him and Violet together. Such a good fit.

Like I said, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros was an outstanding read. It had so much more going on than I could possible fit inside my review but it’s definitely worth a read. With the thrilling danger, the romance, the friendships and let’s not forget the dragons… it was quite the page-turner that is now one of my favorite reads ever. I’m already so excited for the sequal that’s coming out later this year and I can’t wait to see where the story is going to go next for Violet and her friends.

About the author:

Rebecca Yarros is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifteen novels, with multiple starred Publishers Weekly reviews and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A second-generation army brat, Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for more than twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, and she and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a cat named Artemis, who rules them all.
Having fostered, then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she cofounded with her husband in 2019. To learn more about their mission, visit oneoctober.org.
To catch up on Rebecca’s latest releases and upcoming novels, visit RebeccaYarros.com.

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