By: Stephanie Wyatt
Fourth Wing tells the story of Violet Sorrengail’s first year in The Riders’ Quandrant at Basgiath War College. Violet trained her whole life to join the Scribe Quandrant, which is responsible for recording all of the country of Navarre’s history. Her mother, the commander of Basgiath, forces her to join the deadliest Quadrant. Only about a quarter of cadets graduate every three years to join the war effort. Violet also has a condition where her joints frequently dislocate and can break easily. There’s the issue of even surviving to get to bond with a dragon, which is the ultimate goal as a First Year if they decide you are worthy. As if there wasn’t enough to worry about, another Third Year, Xaden Riorsen, wants to kill her as revenge on her mother for executing his parents and the parents of all of the people involved in a rebellion a few years ago. The children of those involved in the rebellion are now forced to join the Riders’ Quadrant as punishment for their parents’ treason.
Let me start by saying the treatment of disability in this book is amazing. It’s just something Violet has to deal with, which I love. She doesn’t whine about it, and she actively trains to make things easier for herself. She’s incredibly intelligent and uses that intelligence to survive.
There is a ton of world-building, but it didn’t feel like it was an information dump. Reveals had a logical reason. The characters are all interesting and complex. They all make decisions for personal reasons, but those reasons aren’t always obvious. Loyalties are always up for debate, which always kept me on my toes.
There are sex scenes in this book, and they are semi-explicit. You can skip them, but they usually reveal something important to the plot.
Overall, this book is one of my favorites. 5/5 because I want to read it again and I just finished it last week. It’s a large book, but it doesn’t feel like it. I highly recommend you read it if you love romantasy and enemies to lovers.
You can find it at most major bookstores, but most have it on back order. I would recommend getting it on Kindle and getting a hard copy later. The second book Iron Flame comes out November 7th 2023.
Happy reading! Have you read Fourth Wing? Let us know in the comments!
Functionally Fictional 