Day 249: The Fourth Wing

In my first impressions post about this book I said I was having a hard time getting into it. Really my problem was that I found it difficult to take seriously, especially in the first few chapters. At times it felt like the book was trying as hard as it possibly could to shake me off and make me walk away, but there were moments where I felt like I wouldn't put it down if my life depended on it. The characters are equal parts cliche and cringe, but somehow the combination results in unlikely loveable people, moments of triumph and sorrow, and of course a few steamy romances because why not? I'm not sure I could ever rate this book highly, or even say I enjoyed it, but something about it kept me coming back even if it hurt to read sometimes.

The first few chapters were a whirlwind of information where it felt like author Rebecca Yarros had thrown out as much as she could as quickly as possible without much regard for the reader's sanity. She went as far as giving the main character Violet a habit of spewing facts about the world she lives in when under duress, which is by far the most egregious method of speedy exposition I've ever read. I almost put down the book after the sixth paragraph of her directly stating factual information to the reader. That said, things did improve after I pushed on into more important things, the characters. Immediately established at the beginning of the book, Violet Sorrengail is destined for the life of a scribe when her domineering mother, a highly respected general in the kingdom of Navarre, conscripts her into Basgiath War College instead, a do-or-die school for elite dragon riders. Completely out of her element and surrounded by former rebels that despise her entire bloodline, she struggles to survive in an environment designed to 'strip away all the niceties to reveal what's underneath.'

In the first few scenes, Violet is able to show off her compassionate side when she makes fast friends with another first-year, Rhiannon, by trading one of her boots to make sure she has a good chance at passing the first test to enter the college: crossing an exposed stone bridge during a thunderstorm without a railing. Also during this fateful moment she crosses paths with the one person she must absolutely avoid, the son of a disgraced rebel known as the Great Betrayer who Violet's mother executed just a few years ago. She's been warned that he'll kill her as soon as he lays eyes on her, which is conveniently legal at Basgiath. She should absolutely, unquestioningly, stay far, far away from Xaden Riorson, the tall, ominous, tattooed former rebel with "Gold-flecked onyx eyes," (because it's super important to his character, ok?) dressed in thick, all-black leather that somehow still can't contain his rippling muscles. Oh but shucks, wouldn't you know it, he's really hot. "Flaming hot. Scorching hot. Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot." What is she to do but instantly fall into a love-hate relationship with a man who has an inappropriate level of seniority over her and a giant dragon to boot?

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) her best friend from childhood, Dain, is also at the college (also very hot now) and is more than happy to protect his oldest friend from tall-dark-and-handsome.

I'm sure you can surmise most of the plot from that alone. At some point Violet permanently bonds a dragon, makes a few new friends along the way, reveals a giant conspiracy, the whole shebang. There are some cool magic powers, the dragons fly people around real fast, Violet gets good at fighting. It's a straightforward story with straightforward intentions. There is really nothing groundbreaking going on here, but it is absolutely intentional. I highly doubt Yarros thought any of this was a completely original idea or anything. By leaning heavily into tropes both romantic and fantasy she's able to offload much of the heavy lifting while simultaneously appealing to an extremely wide audience. I don't think this book will ever go down as a fantasy standard, but it was fun, and Yarros clearly had a lot of fun writing it.

Despite the obvious plot, questionable phrasing, and borderline caricatures throughout, the author's attitude toward the world and the characters still shines through in 'The Fourth Wing.' If you haven't already read much better material then maybe it'll come off as a spectacle at least. It reminds me of watching a Marvel movie, but not like the first Marvel movie I ever saw, more like the Marvel movies I'm really, really tired of watching.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley