Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Series: The Empyrean #1
Published by Entangled: Red Tower Books on May 2, 2023
Length: 20 hours 43 minutes
Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic, Magical Realism
Pages: 498
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.
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
Look at us. Writing a joint review. Julie and I both read FOURTH WING this month for book club and thought we’d share our thoughts!
Julie’s Review:
So I got convinced by two friends that I have to read this series when the second book released. So I had to pull Lynn into it because that’s what friends do, apparently. And Lynn made it this month’s book club selection, which I finally joined in, so I had to get it read in time.
We both did the audio, because that’s how life is these days, and I’m happy I was able to listen at 1.5 and even 1.75 speed through some so I could read it in time. It’s a bit lengthy, and my time is not free most of the time. But worth it. I enjoyed Rebecca Soler’s narration – I’m used to her voice and cadence from other series and I like her. She did great here, and speeding it up did not take away from the narration. She speaks clearly so even faster it was clear and understandable.
This book is one of those fantasy books that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you engaged. I was never wanting to set it down, but I had to because, work, life, etc. I listened between meetings, I listened when cooking, and at times, I had to listen at very low volume (*ahem*).
The characters were interesting – troubled, with baggage, with secrets, and desperate to reach their goals. The support and betrayals and lies and truths, it all worked well to make an interesting story. Violet, small in stature bug mighty in character is amazing. Every turn she should fail and yet she perseveres. Her mom, total basketcase. Her sister, I want to know more about her. Xaden, I feel like we are just getting to know him and he seems so much deeper than we even get to see here. Plus, I like my book boyfriends strong, dark, secretive, but deep.
The worldbuilding could use some (a lot) more explaining. I do feel like we know what Violet knows, and she is just learning so much has been kept from her. But I don’t understand why – why are some of these things, which seem to be um, vital information to stay alive, kept a secret. Why does it seem like there is so much world beyond this school and beyond these dragon riders that we are not privy to? And why is everyone so brutal and careless with each other’s lives and lives of their own children? Yes, the strongest survive to be the dragon riders and protectors, that’s the premise, got it. But do we not need humans to perform other jobs?
The romance – not instalaove but insta-attraction. Sometimes your enemies in a stressful high pressure environment are exciting, and that’s all it seemed at first. But, grew into so much more. I did like how the enemies to lovers was done here, not unexpected, but also well built up. Tensions, denials, but getting to know each other better through it, before finally giving into it.
The cliffy ending, well, it’s a good thing I already bought the second book and we already scheduled our next book club discussion for it. So many bombshells at the ending of the book. So many secrets revealed, and world expanded. I have so many questions. Can’t wait to dive in.
.5 rounding up to 
Lynn’s Review:
Holy Fraking Heck. Let’s see if I can write this review without spoiling everything. And WHOOPS for that one spoiler I already shared with Julie. In my defense, I thought she was ahead of me in the book.
- 12/5 stars. In the grand scheme – probably one of the better books I’ve listened to in quite a while.
- All the emotions.
- Amazing narration.
- I’m going to have the WORST book hangover.
Let’s talk about the narration first. We know Rebecca Soler from the LUNAR CHRONICLES books. And listening to FOURTH WING was the first time I didn’t think about the characters in this book sounding like Cinder or the rest of the group. I was on the edge of my seat, listening the whole time. I’m sure the narration increased my enjoyment of this book. Those 20+ hours went by like nothing!
Next, let’s talk about the writing: When I first started listening, I thought to myself, oh yeah. Yet another YA\NA Fantasy with a love triangle. Shocker. This has action and adventure, peril, DRAGONS, and a heck of a lot of sexual tension. A HECK OF A LOT. Like I stated earlier, I was engaged from the start and hard-pressed to turn off my audiobook for reality. All of the characters, including the Dragons, are well-developed and distinct. While I may not have liked all the characters, I was invested in their fate right from the parapet. With Violet’s point of view telling the story, I absolutely connected with her trying to stay alive every day.
I have lots of spoliery thoughts. But I won’t share them. But stay away from fan art if you haven’t read this one yet!
Have you read FOURTH WING yet? If so, what are your thoughts? If not, get on it!
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