Book Review: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros | Climbing Trees Has Never Been So Sexualized, EDS Representation, and Fire-Breathing Dragons, Oh My!
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.
Discussion:
⭐⭐⭐.5
Since its ever-anticipated release in 2023, Fourth Wing has become a novel reminiscent of the Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter eras in that everyone and their mom is recommended this book. This tale quickly captured the internet and nearly the entire book community in flames because of Yarros' extremely addictive storytelling, unbelievably witty dialogue, and multifaceted characters. Moreover, Yarros mixes the ease of young adult reading with the new experiences many new adults face in her novel Fourth Wing, a first in a five-book romance fantasy series. Still, Yarros include trigger warnings for war, battle, hand-to-hand combat, perilous situations, blood, intense violence, brutal injuries, death, poisoning, graphic language, and sexual activities, so I highly recommend that new young adult readers or even young teenagers wait until they're older/more mature to read this book. Although marketed to a large audience via social media, this book should be solely targeted to adult audiences. Even at 22 years old, I found some of the explicit sex scenes uncomfortable to read, and I couldn't help but laugh at the repeated 'climbing tree' references made by our female protagonist Violet Sorrengail.
Not that I wouldn't climb [Xaden] like a tree if presented with the right set of circumstances.
And, this is only one of those references Violet makes regarding the love interest's sex appeal. Besides the sexual references, Violet does climb actual trees a few times to evade danger and mentions climbing trees in her youth, so I definitely would have chosen another analogy for the sexual situations.
More on Violet, at 20 years old, she has only expected to follow in her father's footsteps and enter the Scribe Quadrant to record the history of Navarre; however, her fantasies of working with books are quickly overturned when her mother, who is also the general of Navarre, forces her into the deadliest role of them all -- a rider. With her two siblings and mom enlisted as riders, Violet knows nearly everything riders face as they protect the citizens of Navarre with their bonded dragons. But, the mysteries within the Riders Quadrant where these riders train are kept secret from anyone on the outside. Expected to participate in hand-to-hand combat and ride dragons in their acrobatic maneuvers, Violet's already brittle bones and weak joints reminiscent of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, as well as her family's reputation, leave a significantly sized target on her back. To make matters worse, Xaden Riorson — the son of the rebellion leader who was killed by Violet's mother after that same rebellion claimed Violet's brother's life — is a wingleader in the Rider's Quadrant alongside other children of the rebellion. Especially with Violet's artistic representation of Xaden's appearance, it's obvious that Violet finds it difficult to keep her attention on not dying and instead introduces us to her love interest.
He's tall, with windblown black hair and dark brows. The line of his jaw is strong and covered by warm tawny skin and dark stubble, and when he folds his arms across his torso, the muscles in his chest and arms ripple, moving in a way that makes me swallow. And his eyes...His eyes are the shade of gold-flecked onyx. The contrast is startling, jaw-dropping even -- everything about him is. His features are so harsh that they look carved, and yet they're astonishingly perfect, like an artist worked a lifetime sculpting him, and at least a year of that was spent on his mouth.
Within a few pages of reading this book, it was obvious this was a romance novel disguised as a fantasy, so those who may be expecting a deep dive into the history of Navarre, lots of details regarding Basgiath College and its surroundings (besides the well-detailed combat scenes!), and a well-described and well-balanced magic system between humans and mythological creatures as commonly associated with high-fantasy novels, I highly recommend you pick up another story. If you want dragons and well-balanced magic systems, you'll be more inclined to read Christopher Paolini's Eragon. If you want details of Xaden's genitalia and explicit information about Xaden's and Violet's sex lives, then Yarros' Fourth Wing is definitely your fix. Also, while we are on this topic, I can only emphasize the many times (okay, maybe it was only 5) that Xaden's genitalia is mentioned, but Violet's is only referred to as either the sensory region clit (or anatomically, the clitoris) and her entrance. How is "vagina" not allowed in this book but cock/dick is? My main concern is the anatomical accuracy of the sex scenes, and this topic could easily warrant an entire discussion in a separate post. However, considering the author's background as a female romance writer, it's reasonable to assume that her primary target audience includes adult heterosexual women, though this doesn't exclude other readers who might also enjoy the genre or Yarros' content.
Further, as a romance, a love triangle between Violet, Xaden, and Violet's lifelong friend Dain -- aka, the "Gale Hawthorne" or boy-next-door is inevitable in the beginning. I'm not a huge fan of this trope, especially because I dislike the idea of leading someone on without clarifying romantic intentions. However, I appreciate that Violet makes it clear she only has feelings for Xaden as she interacts with him more. Also, I find it hilarious that Yarros describes Dain as the "boy-next-door-who-can-still-kick-your-ass." Still, the rivalry between the two boys is truly unserious and exercised my extraocular muscles by how frequently I rolled my eyes at their quips.
But overall, I enjoyed Yarros' characters and the witty dialogue shared between them, especially with how quickly I warmed up to Liam and Ridoc as their sarcastic remarks reflected my exact thoughts for Violet's shenanigans. Further, Ridoc's sarcasm cuts through serious scenes, reminding the audience that Basgiath College is filled with young adults who are still immature and don't have all the answers. Minus the explicit sex scenes, this book could possibly be a young adult book with Violet and other cadets enrolled in Basgiath High School of Dragons and Magic. Still, while the dialogues contain an abundance of curse words and many of the conversations revolve around sex, it is reminiscent of some of my friends' attitudes in their first years of college -- and further, we did not fear dying from a difficult chemistry exam despite our professor's stern glare. Like freshmen in college, these cadets have more freedom to explore new ideas or people they would otherwise not have been able to before, so the large number of these characters exploring sex is not out of the ordinary for their age group. Rather, it makes the characters and their personalities more authentic as newly budding adults with natural curiosities searching for a bit of normalcy and comfort in response to the constant threat of death in their environment. I think this aspect and Yarros' inclusion of diverse representation in Fourth Wing deserves praise, especially as she includes a main character with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the inclusion of sign language and a deaf character, the depiction of various races, and the use of multiple languages. I believe many readers will be able to identify with at least one character from Fourth Wing just because of this.
My only critique of the characters would be Violet's intelligence -- and not in the way you might think. Violet is consistently reminded that she has "the brain of a scribe," "thinks like a scribe," or is blatantly brilliant, and I agree. She has quick judgment and is able to assimilate information quickly, but I wish Yarros spent more time showing Violet's intelligence, such as during squad challenges when Violet conjured the plan to steal a confidential map in her mom's office, rather than telling readers that she is exceptionally intelligent. Further, I wish Yarros had not depended on Violet's memory solely for worldbuilding. Anytime that Violet is put in a vulnerable situation, she spouts facts like Eminem raps -- well-enunciated and direct. As a way to mediate this, I wish Yarros included more of Xaden's perspective throughout the book as a way to learn further about the Tyrrish rebellion or the organization of Basgiath College. Further, I would love to see a memory of whoever signed the unification treaty with Xaden after he binds with Sgaeyl because they probably were in so much trouble that rebellion children were obviously worthy enough for Navarre's dragons. Otherwise, Violet is a sensible narrator...until she feels like "climbing" someone.
Further, with the worldbuilding, Violet mentions several times that Navarre is desperate for more riders; however, nearly every trial throughout the Quadrant and even the Parapet start kills a significant portion of candidates and cadets -- all for the sake of weeding out the weakest members. Excuse me, is that not the role of the dragons? Readers are told that dragons reason who the best riders are by their innate traits such as bravery and integrity, so I do not understand the college's promotion of candidates killing each other (besides during sleep times) or these challenges with insane lethality rates. Would it not make more sense to have those who cannot complete these challenges move to another Quadrant, such as Infantry, rather than accumulating another death? Also, I would love more history into the benefits of humans and dragons binding, particularly as readers see the greed Jack Barlowe -- Violet's main villain in this first year -- has with power that eventually leads to him becoming a venin, so do these challenges successfully weed out potential stresses or are they more about pride?
In conclusion, I highly recommend this novel if you want a romance with fantasy elements. After reading the second book Iron Flame, I reread Fourth Wing, and I appreciated the book for the fun, thrilling adventure it is. Yarros' writing enraptured me and is quickly addictive -- I actually finished this book in one night during finals week and still managed to pass my classes despite now having a new meaning to "climbing trees." Violet's conversations with her dragons are drama-filled and often revolve around her intense interest in Xaden, evoking the vibe of girl talk. Entertaining and well-paced, the combat and battle scenes kept me hooked. While the book offers some valuable morals and sex-education insights, I'll mostly revisit this story because it's a fun, engaging read — and indulging my reading addiction feels a bit healthier than doom-scrolling on social media.
If you loved this book, what was your favorite part? Do you get the hype, or are you still awaiting a dragon to bind to you and gift you with a signet that allows you to read Yarros' mind? What are you most excited about with Onyx Storm? And, are you Team Dain or Team Xaden? Correspond with me in the comments below or on any of my social media.
Love,
Nicole
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