| I heard so much about Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros that I read it to see what everyone was talking about. When I plunged into it understood what all the hype was about. It is an amazing, addictive book. I’m sure it will be made into a movie someday. The book is written in first person present tense creating a very intimate, immersive experience. The story is about Violet, a young woman, whose mother, a commanding general, forces her to enter a deadly war college to become a dragon rider. Most of the students don’t survive the first year and Violet has less chance than most because of her small, frail body. Violet’s childhood friend, Dain, is a squad leader and looks out for her. While wingleader, Xaden, has reason to hate Violet because her mother had his parents executed for their role in a rebellion. Meanwhile, the wards protecting the kingdom are failing and war is escalating outside their borders. The book reminded me of Divergent and Hunger Games only for adults. Rebecca Yarros’s previous fifteen novels were romance and this book has a strong romance flavor with hot sex scenes. The author like the main character has a connective tissue disorder, so Yarros was able to write authentically about a woman who struggles to be strong despite her handicap. What I didn’t like about the book was that a large percentage of the cadets die violently either during the training exercises, by being incinerated by dragons, or murdered by fellow cadets. Why would the people running a military training program believe they could build a strong team of dragon riders to protect their kingdom by turning all the cadets against each other? If you love fantasies with powerful dragons and other mythical creatures, lots of action, and well-developed characters grab a copy of Fourth Wing. |
