By: Cait Marie
Blurb
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die
Review
I held off on reading this for so long for two reasons. The first was simply because it sounded really good. I’m one of those people who really just becomes obsessed with things, and I didn’t have time for this to consume me. The second reason was because then it started really taking off and I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype OR I’d really, really just make it my entire personality.
But when I started seeing people talk about the disability rep, and that people were arguing whether it was ableist and offensive or not, I needed to read it for myself to figure out what was going on.
For those who don’t know, I’m physically disabled. I was born with spinal muscular atrophy and have never walked a day in my life. I’ve used a power wheelchair since I was five years old and had a little manual one before that. So, as a disabled reader and author, I’m here to tell you, Fourth Wing is absolutely perfect. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in fantasy with disability rep. It was not ableist or offensive. Quite the opposite, actually.
There are very few fantasy books about characters born with disabilities. Most of the time, it’s a character who’s been injured or something, and they’re trying to fix or cure them. It’s almost always the focus of their story. Whereas, in this book, it was just a part of Violet’s life. Yes, she had to overcome challenges because of it, including bullies and characters who treated her as if she couldn’t do anything, but it wasn’t the sole point of the book. I’ve only ever read one other book that addressed a physical disability like this.
It was so refreshing, and it was honestly just an incredible reading experience to be able to finally connect with a character similar to me. Granted, my disability is much more severe, but still. This book and what she had to deal with in that regard was so relatable. (For my full ramble on this topic, check out my TikTok here.)
The rest of the book was just as wonderful. Violet is such a kick-butt character who truly grows as the story unfolds. I loved seeing her develop into this strong fighter. Maybe not entirely physically, but mentally. She wasn’t afraid of a challenge. Or at least, she didn’t let her fear hold her back.
And the tension with Xaden? So. Freaking. Perfect. I love that man with every fiber of my being. The way he didn’t coddle her or treat her differently. The way he continuously straight up told her “friend” to stop doing so because it wouldn’t help her. But he also didn’t try to fight her battles for her. It was like, even while hating her, he respected her enough to support her without overstepping.
This book honestly might be my new favorite of all time. From the very beginning, it was full of action and intrigue. The world building did get a bit confusing at times, especially in the beginning, but it’s like that with every new fantasy series. It’s a fairly lengthy book that didn’t feel like it. It was so easy to get lost in the story and so difficult to put it down. I read it slowly because I’ve been busy, but also because I wanted to savor it and not have to wait so long for the next book…
Because I was right. I’m fully obsessed.
I have literally zero complaints about it. Except that part of the end made me cry so hard that it gave me a headache… and that I now have a book hangover.
Is it too soon to re-read? What book gods do I need to pray to for an ARC of book 2?
Functionally Fictional 