Fourth Wing

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was meant for a quiet life in the scribe quadrant, but her commanding mother has thrust her into the harsh world of Basgiath War College, where she must fight to become a dragon rider. With her fragile body and fierce rivals, Violet faces the risk of death as dragons are known to incinerate those they deem weak. Amid growing dangers from both within and outside the college, and with a secretive leadership hiding dark truths, Violet must navigate a treacherous path where survival depends on wit and strength.

What I liked… Dragons.

What I didn’t like… the plot execution and the lack of worldbuilding.

Typical tropes play a huge role in Fourth Wing. Specifically, found family and enemies to lovers. Xaden, the current love interest, is…. fine. He’s kind of your stereotypical fantasy romance lover interest. He’s the dark haired, brooding, mysterious, and dangerous love interest that everyone automatically loves. Violet is our main character and it’s implied that she has a chronic condition from a childhood sickness that left her frail and smaller than everyone else. Because of course she is… just so tiny and frail and weak. But she overcomes the challenges because of course she does.

The worldbuilding is lackluster and Fourth Wing could’ve really benefited from incredible worldbuilding. Information is just dumped all over the place and doesn’t feel incredibly well thought out. We also keep hearing about how there will be 5 books…5! We don’t need to know everything right now but it sort of feels like author just info dumped constantly so it felt a bit clunky.

There are part of the plot/story that just don’t necessarily make sense to me though… like the fact that children of the traitors were given the ability to become dragon riders and honestly…. how? why? Do they think they can control those with dragons easily? It’s just a huge lingering question that hung over my head as I read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame.

Let’s be real for a quick sec… Was this well-written? Absolutely not. Was it perfect? Nope. Did I enjoy this? Hell yes.