Life of Bry

Welcome back to Life of Bry!

One thing about me, I’m a sucker for trending books. If I see a book all over my Instagram feed or on those little spotlight tables at Barnes & Noble, I will probably end up buying it. I just NEED to see if the hype is real.

This is one of those books. 

I actually had Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros in my hands in B&N back in probably April or May (the first edition with the beautiful sprayed edges) because the cover looked cool, and I set it down for a specific book on my TBR list. I immediately kicked myself because it blew up and very quickly I couldn’t find any copy let alone that sprayed edges edition. 

Thankfully a friend ordered a second-wave copy before B&N sold out and graciously allowed me to buy it off her so I didn’t have to wait for yet another print. Which brings us to now!

I actually did a Read With Me on Instagram and updated every 10 chapters, so you can check that out here if you’d like to see what I was thinking while reading this journey. Since I did that, this will be more of a breakdown of my overall thoughts rather than reactions.

But first, a non-spoilery review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is a book that lives up to its own hype. While far from perfect with a few plot holes to fall into, a sprinkle of teeth-clenching dialogue and a love triangle straight out of 2007, it’s a fast-paced and exhilarating adventure that is the definition of fun. Violet is your typical girl way in over her head who goes on a journey of proving to herself that she is far stronger than she appears when her mother shoves her into the riders quadrant of  the Basgiath War College where it’s survive or die amid the brutality of attempting to bond with dragons to protect the kingdom. An epic fantasy romance with traces of dark academia, Fourth Wing tackles personal perseverance alongside a war clouded by historic corruption. But the fog is lifting, and Violet finally has a decision to make all on her own.

Rating: I initially gave it a 3.75 … after sitting down and sorting through my thoughts, I’m going to be generous and up it to 4 golden retriever dragons out of 5.

And now, here are all my thoughts on Fourth Wing: 

• World-building is such an important element for me. If there’s holes, I will fall out of the story and get lost. Yarros did such a good job executing her world-building in Fourth Wing by allowing it to be delivered naturally through the story itself via battle brief, history or Violet’s calming tactic of delivering information she learned while studying to be a scribe. That allows the information to not feel as if it’s being dumped on the reader and that you’re already immersed in the world rather than being tossed into it without a map. It fits into the academic setting to make it flow perfectly throughout, while also shaping Violet’s characteristics.
  However, sometimes the lore was hard to follow. I found myself confused about the war and dragon history at points, especially the dragon information. For example, it’s explained as if feathertails are a breed of dragon, but down the line it’s inferred that feathertails are just immature dragons — at least that’s how I took it. I would legit read a little companion book with the lore from the breeds of dragons to important events to prolific persons profiles. Get on that shit, Yarros, because I want it and you can make so much cash with it. Get that money, honey. 

• I loved the blurbs at the start of each chapter. They were also a smart way to add to the world-building without needing it to be inserted into the plot. It felt more personal, in a way. The Book of Brennan inserts were my favorite, because they were little tidbits of him that worked against the idea that there’s a finality to death that erases the person. Violet mentions several times she struggles with the thought that people die and their names are read, their belongings are burned and then they are forgotten. Brennan isn’t. His words live on, and they are essential to her survival. To go along with that, it can also be a bit of foreshadowing that he isn’t really gone. 

• And I have to say, this is a pretty fundamentally sound book. Sometimes these popular books that become phenomena gain ground on the concept or the characters alone, while the actual writing and storytelling falls into the abyss. Not this one. I was really impressed that it remained a consistent story with equal parts character and plot development. I think the way Yarros framed the story was her biggest asset. Having readers start the journey through the riders quadrant with Violet allows for there to be a clear path and objective that carries the story that’s experienced together. In this case, it’s graduation. We just have to survive everything else to get there. And then the focus shifts at the very end to set up Book No. 2. Yarros always keeps the biggest focus minimal — first graduation and now our focus is overturning a corrupt government — and that makes Fourth Wing a very digestible fantasy book, which I bet is why it’s become as popular as it has. That and the fact it’s actually a very engaging plot line. That definitely helps.
  The writing isn’t complicated either. It felt very YA to me, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s not special or unique, but it also doesn’t pull you out of the story. It’s casual, and that’s appealing. Another reason it probably gained traction so quickly.
  There was some predictability in the front half of the book, especially with deaths. We learn a detail about a person, then they die. It took away the impact Yarros was pushing of casual brutality, because I grew expectant rather than shocked. There were also a few other instances, like the emphasis on the rare black dragon that’s super powerful but won’t bond being the exact one that shows up for Violet. Or the elusive golden feathertail. It’s like Yarros kind of sat back and said, “How can we make Violet the most special girl?” and then ran with it, which was … sigh … something. I wouldn’t say it “ruined” the book, it was just one of those things that made me laugh/roll my eyes while reading.
  
• The love triangle was worthless. I think there was enough complexity between Xaden and Violet that adding Dain to the equation as a romantic interest was irrelevant and distracting. You can keep Dain in the story to play everything out just as a friend who’s wary about Xaden simply because he’s the son of the man who supposedly killed Violet’s brother. Just like how Mira is cautious and skeptical of him. Instead, readers get an awkward forced tension between Violet and Dain that was annoying. One thing I always wish to see more of in literature is platonic love, and this would’ve been such a perfect way of focusing on that with those two rather than a non-existent chemistry. Plus, if that was the way Yarros went, there’d be so many dimensions of relationships — family, friendship, romance, humanity as a whole, etc. — to play off of and show more depth in her writing. 

• I said it while reading Sarah J. Maas’ Court of series, but I am not a fan of spicy books or smut or whatever you want to call it. It’s just not what I personally look for in books, and I was super worried that Fourth Wing would be drowned in it and the story would suffer for the sake of sex (fight me, but I will die on the hill that those SJM books would be better if she focused more on the actual plot and her writing than unnecessary sub-par sex scenes). 
  I thought Yarros did a good job at balancing it. There’s like two chapters featuring smut, and it serves a purpose of showing trust and a shift in dynamic. It’s done so well and makes the book more readable for everyone.

• One thing I absolutely could not stand was how Violet just had to mention how hot Xaden was each and every time he entered the scene. It was so unnecessary. There are far better and more effective ways to show attraction without outright sighing over looks, but also it just wasn’t needed so consistently. It reminded me of that Kardashian meme where Kim is freaking out over losing her diamond earring in the ocean lol “Kim, people are dying!”
  Also, Xaden calling Violet ‘Violence’ was the worst thing ever. I wanted to vomit every time. It’s so cringe in the absolute worst possible way.

• Let’s talk a bit about characters, because this is where I was most conflicted. I didn’t feel an intense connection to Violet. She’s our main protagonist, yet I didn’t find myself caring all that much about her. I cared that she was the mode in which this story was told, but if she was killed off and the POV shifted to Xaden fully … I wouldn’t have been mad. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t have some affection for her. She’s an admirable heroine. She doesn’t give up no matter the odds. I loved seeing the disability rep, and how even when she gained all that power, it didn’t magically cure her and erase that massive part of herself. No, she has to use that to endure — whether that’s her high pain tolerance or finding ways to slip around rules to survive.
  She had great character development learning to find her strength and who she was as a person through this process. It’s honestly such a perfect buildup because readers get to notice the little changes in physical strength as she progresses through the college despite the odds, but also from her POV, we notice the mental shift in knowing not only can she survive but she wants to excel. Becoming a rider turns from a death sentence into a personal goal, and it makes for a very dynamic coming-of-age story.
  As for Dain, I grew annoyed with him so quickly. I wanted Tairn to char him. He’s like … a vanilla Gale from The Hunger Games. 
  And Xaden? … sigh … I am predictably a sucker for morally gray characters, and as much as I wanted to dislike him, I found him the most interesting because of his complexity. His background and the mystery of it all got me invested in him, and only seeing him through Violet’s eyes for 98 percent of the book allows for a very cautious view of him that keeps you on your toes until that moment where we finally get his POV and see his genuineness for ourselves. 
  There were so many minor characters that rotated too quickly. I enjoy books where nobody’s safe, but Yarros created a pattern where you learned too much about a person and they were offed before you could care they were even alive in the first place.
  However, I grew so attached to Liam fully knowing he was most likely going to die … and boy was I right. I loved him. He was so soft, so genuine, so devoted and sweet. He had a warmth to him that contrasted the coldness of Violet’s family life and the college. His already established connection to Xaden and the growing connection to Violet made his death shattering (at least to me). 

• There’s a scale I have in my head that I rank books on. I suppose it’s more of a graph.
   I would put Fourth Wing somewhere in the top right quadrant. Really up vertically. It’s not the best-written book I’ve ever read, but it’s good enough and the fun factor is HIGH. It’s DRAGON COLLEGE FOR FUCKS SAKE! It’s war strategy and corruption and deep history and a cringe love triangle! It’s DRAGONS! 

• Minor peeve: Why isn’t there a little gold dragon on the front cover of the actual hardback? I HATE dust jackets. Usually the first thing I do is take the jacket off and inspect the naked cover. I was really disappointed. There’s one on the spine, but nothing on the front. Just a tiny foil dragon would have made it perfect. Big sad.
  

If anybody’s wondering, I did preorder Iron Flame. I will not be missing out on the first print.