Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1)

⚡️ Romantasy⚡️ Enemies to Lovers⚡️ Dragons⚡️ Found Family⚡️ War College⚡️ Slow BurnOh gosh. I worship this book. Easily one of my favorite books of all time!Okay, when I first learned about this book, I was very intrigued and intimidated. Eventually, I read the sample and it instantly reminded me of Divergent…I IMMEDIATELY bought the book 🏃🏼‍♀️💨It was well written. I was/am deeply emotionally invested in it, in the characters, and in this world. The map was easy to follow. The characters are 👩‍🍳💋 Reading it felt like I was watching a movie or actually living in it.I hardly ever cry over the books, and this one managed to make me bawl (IYKYK 😭). Violet and Xaden…oh my. I SHIP THEM SO HARD 😍🥵 Their chemistry is UNMATCHED. Their interactions never cease to get me kicking my feet every single time.Violet (FMC) was portrayed as “weak” but her determination & intelligence were unbeatable, proving people wrong. I resonate with her because people do underestimate me sometimes, and I am inspired by her to prove them wrong. Violet’s confidence built over time. She is authentic. She knows what she wants, and she knows her stuff. I respect her a lot.I absolutely adore Violet’s friends! The trust, loyalty, integrity, and humor they shared from the start are great examples of what a friendship should look like.Last but not least, the dragons…I LOVE them, especially Tairn. He’s so hilarious. The comebacks he made- I can’t even 😂I literally can go on about this book. I gotta 🤐. I just wish I could read it again for the first time.

Guys. I’m not lying here: 2023 is MY YEAR for reading. I cannot tell you how many books I’ve read that have been so astonishingly beautiful and amazing and overall top tier. This novel is no exception.Coming into this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The only other book I’ve read by Rebecca Yarros is The Things We Leave Unfinished. Also amazing, but if you’ve read it you know it’s on a completely different playing field than this book. I mean, Fourth Wing is on a different world and isn’t a historical romance novel. It is epic, though, and I’m not using that word lightly.Fourth Wing is a fantasy novel set in the world of Navarre where dragons, griffins, and magic are real. If you’ve followed a majority of my reviews on my blog, you know that I hardly ever review fantasy novels. I honestly think the only other fantasy novel I’ve reviewed was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which honestly was a real world fantasy, so wasn’t that far outside of my realm. With that being said, this book is outside of my typical comfort zone but holy hell did I love it. Now I’m thinking I’ve been missing out on all of these amazing fantasy novels and I might just go on a binge.So, what exactly did I like about this novel? Everything. But to break it down: the world building that went into writing this is absolutely insane and makes it an amazing read in itself; the characters that don’t necessarily make you think “oh this again” with the main heroine; the unbeatable plot; and the beautiful, comical writing style that Rebecca Yarros demonstrates.The world building speaks for itself, but the characters that don’t follow typical patterns particularly made me like this novel. For instance, our main heroine, Violet, is way weaker than other riders. She doesn’t fit the mould. While this is typical for our main character, what follows isn’t. Instead of her beating all odds and becoming the strongest rider of all, she basically just… adjusts. She has to do things differently and doesn’t just become a natural born rider. It’s amazing and you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve read the book.The plot is just like what I said: unbeatable. You have foreshadowing, a romantic subplot, tension and high stakes throughout the entire novel, and man is it satisfying. I’m not sure how long this series is going to be, but I am here for it.Lastly, Rebecca Yarros’ writing style in this novel is nothing short of spectacular. You get epic battle scenes, romantic moments that play with your heart, and comical snips that make you laugh out loud. It really does have everything and I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire novel.Overall, this review is huge but I had a lot to say. I honestly can’t even point to something that I disliked about this novel, which just goes to show you how much I loved it and how great I think it is. If you enjoy fantasy novels, you’ll fall in love with this book. If you don’t enjoy fantasy novels? You’ll still fall in love with this book. I’ve already recommended it to my book club, my mom, and my brother. Y’all are welcome.Favorite quote: “And when others are quick to stand in front of me, Xaden always stands at my side, trusting me to hold my own.”

Fourth Wing was epic, breathtaking and consumed my every thought. This is easily one of my top favorite books, ever. This book had me screaming from excitement, gasping from betrayal, and crying all the happy and sad tears. Foreshadowing of what was to come was secretly laced into the pages, leaving us with the feeling of dread that was all consuming. The betrayals cut deep. The friendships were beautiful. The enemies to lovers romance was a slow burn that was passionate and steamy. And the battles were intense and epic. If you love romantasy, you definitely need this one on your tbr!Violet Sorrengail is one of my favorite heroines. She was smart, cunning and brave. She was so easy to connect to and feel all of her emotions. She thought she was destined to enter the Scribe Quadrant, but her mother changed her future. As the commanding general, her mother forced Violet to go to the Basgiath War College. And there she would either survive and become a dragon rider or die trying like countless others. The trials she went through were gutting, and I found myself cheering out loud for her every step of the way! Violet is a heroine that you can respect and love!Xanden Riorson was someone that was so easy to obsess over. He was Violet’s enemy, because his parents had a rebellion that went against Violet’s mom. In punishment, he and the other children of those who rebelled had to attend the Basgiarth War College. Yet by the end of Chapter 7 I was definitely betraying Violet, I was obsessed. Xaden was smart, sly and seemed honorable. His subtle banter with Violet was EVERYTHING! So when Violet would follow through with one his suggestions for training, I was grinning from ear to ear. And when he taught her how to grapple on the mats, it was so hot *fans face*. It seemed like Xaden was trying to protect Violet, yet in her world deception and backstabbing were done without a second thought. So while I was under his spell, I still didn’t know whether I could trust him or not. I kept whispering for him not to betray her.This world was fascinating! Maybe I was putting the clues together wrong, but it seemed like not everything was as black and white as Violet was taught. All the while, others around her elicited so many emotions. It was terrifying not knowing who you could trust. There were those who had no problem killing a threat, or just killing for fun. Even the grappling was intense, and I was shocked with my mouth left hanging open over how that would play out. Broken bones were the least of your concerns. So as people showed their true colors over time, some of that made my blood simmer. But at the same time, be careful who you get attached to. Death found some of them too soon. One especially I still can’t handle, even after finishing this book *sobs*.The dragons in this book were larger than life! I can’t say much, because of spoilers, but the conversations and interactions were spellbinding. Also I loved the friendships that were formed between the humans. They were the type of friendships where you knew they would do anything to protect your life. Which is desperately needed since life and death moments were always present. Throughout this story, there was always this charge in the air that left me terrified of what was to come. And it was impossible not to have sweaty palms during some of the scenes or to feel your heart pounding in your chest! Plus the twists and turns were done beautifully! Some of it I saw coming, but others left me with my mind blown!With the most epic of last lines, this book left us at the perfect spot where we can breathe. For a bit. Yet you’ll still be left desperately wanting to grab that next one! With emotions and tensions running high, this was an action packed ride! The dragons, sparring, battles, political intrigue, friendships, and scorching hot and seductive scenes made this book beyond memorable. It had my whole heart in the palm of its hand and made me cry all the tears! Fourth Wing was beyond addictive and will easily become a favorite for romantasy fans!PS The nickname that was given to Violet? I loved it so much!

I first came across Fourth Wing when I noticed it in the #1 position on Amazon’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2023 So Far. But beyond that selection, I looked at how the reviews were trending. At the time, there were more than 21,000 reviews (it’s now about to crest 40,000), and the average was a whopping 4.8 stars. It has to be good for that many people to love it, right? In need of a palate cleanser after the difficult read that was The Whispers, I decided I’d limit the likelihood of another clunker and see what all the hype is about. And I’m happy to say that I get why so many people love this book: it’s pretty great.Fourth Wing is set at Basgiath War College in the mythical land of Navarre. It opens on Conscription Day, where thousands of twenty-year-olds assemble to take their place among the healers, scribes, or infantry. The most elite of them try to join the most selective branch and become dragon riders.Our heroine is Violet Sorrengail. Bookish and smart, yet frail, she always imagined a future as a scribe, just as her father had been. But her mother is a rider and a general in the army, and she has other ideas. Against Violet’s wishes, her mother insists she attempt to be a rider as well. But this isn’t an idle push in a different direction. The stakes are the highest possible for those trying to become riders: from the opening conscription challenge through bonding with a dragon, there are dozens of opportunities to fail, and any failure when attempting to become a rider equals death.In addition to the general peril of the tasks at hand, there is also a ruthlessness among the members of the War College. Fewer classmates means better opportunities to bond a dragon, and so the murder of fellow classmates, while perhaps not encouraged, is certainly allowed, making every waking moment one filled with potential death. Yarros creates an interesting caste within the college of students who carry “rebellion relics”. They are the children of adults involved in a rebellious uprising six years prior. All of the adults were executed, and the children were only spared execution as well by being forced into conscription as riders. As a result, they all tend to possess a brooding darkness — you could think of them as the “Slytherin” of Basgiath. To further complicate things for Violet, those children of the rebels all intensely hate her because Violet’s mother was responsible for ordering their parents’ execution.The novel is packed with a ton of genre-bending elements. There is the basic plot — Violet’s unlikely journey through her first year at Basgiath War College — which stirred up memories of one of my all-time favorite books, Pat Conroy’s The Lords of Discipline, based on Conroy’s first year at The Citadel military college. There are dragons and dragon riders, which of course evokes memories of plenty of fantasy novels, with Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series top of mind. And then there’s some romance, and a potential love triangle, which starts out feeling like something from a YA novel, but ends up a lot more R-rated and steamy, and more akin to what you might find in a novel with Fabio on the cover. Add to this a nuanced backstory and some misdirection on who the reader should trust and believe, and Fourth Wing truly has something for everyone.There is depth to the story and characters, which elevates the story and I’m sure plays a big role in the stellar reviews. Yarros handles relationships well, whether it’s the strained relationship between Violet and her mother, the love between Violet and her sister, or the friendships Violet forges with her classmates. The romance is the romance; honestly I could have done without it, and while it was almost humorous at times, it works for what it is meant to be. Yarros also does a standout job of presenting how her characters handle loss. Whether it’s grieving the loss of family members or their classmates, there is an undercurrent of sadness and longing that affects many of the characters and hardens them to the task at hand. Despite the intensity of their training, Yarros does a pretty good job reminding us that they’re only in their early twenties and still figuring out a lot of life.I suspect a lot of the hype and enjoyment of the book is related to how Yarros turns a straightforward “year 1 as a student story” into something more. I can’t help but compare that to the Harry Potter books (except, of course, Harry never had hot magical sex with Ginny Weasley — at least not within the pages of any of the books!). Those novels changed significantly for me with the third book in the series, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Where books 1 and 2 were decent and straightforward YA novels, The Prisoner of Azkaban took the story to a more nuanced and mature level. Yarros does the same thing here, but all within the pages of a single book. I get why people are so drawn to the story.Overall, it’s a winner. It’s fun, and while it feels derivative of several other novels, it also combines those stories and plots in its own unique way. Book 2, Iron Flame, is already set for release this November (I’ve already ordered my copy!), and so if you fall in love with the characters, you’ll have the opportunity to spend more time with them before long (well, at least with those who survive Fourth Wing). It’s a compelling read and like the other 40,000+ readers who have this trending at almost 5 stars, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

5/5⭐️4/5🌶️i have nothing but good things to say about this book, buckle up.i’m honestly not even sure that i will be able to gather my thoughts and form a coherent review to adequate explain how much i adored this book but i’m going to try. let’s start by saying that i am obsessed with this book.this was outstanding and amazing in every single way. i cried, i laughed, i giggled, i gasped, i did ALL THE THINGS. i have not felt so many things while reading a book since my last SJM read. fourth wing absolutely deserves all the hype and more. if the hunger games, divergent, harry potter, and game of thrones had a baby, this would be it.this book was the perfect mixture of romance and high stakes and the vibes were so spot on. fourth wing is fast paced from beginning to end and will absolutely hook you from the very first chapter. the world building was perfection and so seamless that it never felt awkward and i was never confused about the fantasy world. this is a world i would absolutely love to live in!i have heard that a lot of people found this book predictable, but i’m personally HORRIBLE at predicting endings so i may have forseen one or two things but i definitely could not have predicted the entire ending for this book and that made it that much more enjoyable.i LOVED violet’s character so much. her bond with her sister and her friends was so genuine. she is tough and strong willed and is unstoppable, despite her disadvantage (which yarrow displayed SO SO well). i loved her journey and how much she grew throughout this whole book.XADEN!!!! rhysand has been my #1 book boyfriend since i devoured ACOTAR last year and no one has lived up to the hype since. xaden freaking riorson has officially take my #1 book boyfriend spot with rhysand as a very close second. how can you not love this man?? he is an ABSOLUTE SIMP from violet even from the start despite his grumpy exterior. men who show their love through actions >>>this man had me literally gasping and giggling like a little kid because of some of the things he did. he was exactly what violet needed. i loved their tension but also how he always believe in her. and the nicknames?? 🤭the romance was perfection. usually i get really impatient with slow burns, but the fantasy aspect of this book was done SO WELL that i was such as obsessed with the story as i was with the romance. and enemies to lovers??? sign me tf up. 😮‍💨 violet and xaden had the perfect build up between them. and the SPICE?? puh-lease. absolutely amazing!!tairn and andarna were hands down, the best part of this book. yarros did SO GOOD with described all of the details of the dragons and giving them so much personality. the interactions between the dragons and their riders were so much fun. i loved tairn’s grumpy exterior, his sassy comments, and how protective he was of violet. andarna is so freaking cute and i love her to death.i could honestly rave about every single aspect of this book but i feel like this really sums up some of my biggest feelings. this is definitely a book that deserved ALL the hype and definitely a book that you need to read, even if you aren’t a fantasy lover.this book was not perfect by any means. like anything else, this book had flaws but it was perfect to me. i am obsessed. it had everything i wanted from a fantasy book AND DRAGONS!!🐉 i cannot wait to get my hands on iron flame!! this is definitely a book that i will be rereading before book 2 comes out! i know for a fact that this will be the best book that i read for this year.(peep my 73 kindle highlights from this book because it had the BEST QUOTES and xaden says the BEST THINGS -> may have some spoilers so read at your own risk)“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.”“So then why are you here, Xaden?” “Because I can’t seem to stay away.”“There’s nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn’t find you, Violence.”