Take a Leap with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing throws you on the back of a dragon, gliding across the skies, as it takes you on an epic adventure. It delivers the promise of danger and magic, with dragons at your side and stakes that only rise higher.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros | Goodreads

Fantasy has always been my second reality. Spending my time getting lost in magic systems, kingdoms, and epic high-stake adventures. So when a fantasy book that promises dragons has been making waves online, it’s no surprise that I immediately checked what it is about. 

To get this out of the way, I am aware of the diatribes regarding the way this book is written. Fourth Wing is written in a way that mirrors modern communication. Casual and almost colloquial. It’s not what you’d typically expect a book marketed as epic fantasy to sound like, especially if you are used to prose that leans on Latinate and Germanic stylings.  Consequently, this results in it clashing with the backdrop and timeline of the plot.

Approaching this book, my thoughts lingered on how the book would be written. Imagine my surprise when it reads like a casual YA set in the modern world. It works in the book's favor though, but I can understand why some people felt differently, especially expecting the gravitas of a high fantasy. It’s quite a stretch to call it “epic fantasy” as this leans heavily on “romantasy.”

Dragons do not an epic fantasy make. 

As for the story itself, Rebecca Yarros gathered an ensemble that you can’t help cheer for. Our main leading woman, Violet Sorrengail, is summoned by her mother—General Sorrengail—to train in Basgiath War College as a rider, despite having grown up preparing to be a scribe. With no say in the matter, she complies and completes the first task. But her presence in the Riders Quadrant inevitably places her in the path of Xaden Riorson—her eventual romantic partner and the son of the rebellion’s leader, who was executed by none other than General Sorrengail.

The entire plot surrounds them and the looming dangers inside the walls of Basgiath War College (BWC)—after all, they are training to ride dragons. Each day, death lives in the corners and crevices of that school. For the dragons, they are epic in attitude as they are in existence, especially the dragon Violet Sorrengail eventually bonds with. Within BWC, they are taught their history of their people and of their enemy.They are learning ways to be finally free and decapitate their enemies. End them once and for all. Yet it isn’t that easy.

When everything is not as it seems, the ground you walk on crumbles, and the fight you are inheriting for your kingdom isn’t all the leaders made it out to be.  The war they are fighting and the intrigue of the subtle hints that things aren’t what they seem to be pushed me to read until the end of the pages.

It’s a very fast-paced story with sufficient world-building. Sure, it’s not as grand or complex as you would expect, but it is seamless in how the story unfolds. Reading the book is quite exhilarating due to its fast-paced nature. The only thing I was really unsure of was how Rebecca wrote the romance between Violet and Xaden. I wish there were more scenes of them clashing more and seeing how they navigate through the weight of their pasts. Building up their romance, for me, would’ve made their scenes of coming together as a “couple” fuller. But I digress. 

All around, Fourth Wing is a great book that delivers readers to a world that you just want to be in. It’s a great entry point if you’re just getting into fantasy.  The modern writing style makes it easy to get into and surprisingly immersive. It takes you on a fantastic adventure on the back of a dragon as you head for battle. 

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