There are very few pop culture phenomenons that I miss out on. I am usually right there in the center with bells on -- I love being part of a community, to be united by a common interest is one of life's greatest joys. Though, there are always exceptions to that rule of mine, and for the past few years, the rule was Fourth Wing.
Aside from Harry Potter and Twilight, I'm not big into fantasy genres. I've read ACTOAR and didn't love it, and have never found myself super interested in anything else that becomes popular.
I've seen Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros around the block and knew everyone goes feral for it, but it never sparked my interest. I thought reading about a war college with dragons was too complicated and felt I was better off staying in my own lane.
That is, until I had a near nervous breakdown a few weeks ago and needed something to sink my teeth into to distract myself from the hellscape that was unfolding around me. I wanted to lose myself in a book, to really immerse myself in the world, in the characters and become one with the words I was reading.
With Onyx Storm just being released and everyone very much in Fourth Wing mode, I decided to try my hand at it.
Well, I simply have no words.
I finished both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame within 4 days, and then took my time with Onyx Storm which I finished this past weekend...my life will never be the same.
This won't be my traditional book review, and I already talked about my obsessive personality and how it relates to Fourth Wing on Substack , so we're just going to chat about the entire series.
There will be spoilers, so please exit if you do not want to read anything that happens in the series!
I don't think I was expecting to love the series this much, to be so connected to the characters and relationships, to be so enthralled with dragons and war in make believe lands. I don't remember the last time I got this sucked into a book series, the last time their world became my world and everything was thrown off kilter. It was truly incredible, and Rebecca Yarros is a genius.
I have to admit, I don't understand a lot of what happened in the book. I don't understand the geography of the islands and have a hard time keeping track of the side characters and their dragons. Some of the more technical government stuff goes over my head but at the core of it, I get what is being communicated to me and quite frankly, that's enough.
When the book started, I thought we were getting a friends to lovers romance between Dain and Violet; and then I was confused because both Jack Barlow and Xaden were giving enemies to lovers, so I just buckled up for the ride.
And oh what a ride it was... Xaden Riorson is the best book boyfriend we have ever had. It makes me sad that he is not real, it makes me giddy when I read the silent dialogue him and Violet have through their bond. Everything about him makes me smiley like a school girl, and I need them both to survive and live happily ever after with their dragons.
Violet is one of my favorite book characters ever; she's strong, determined, brave, snarky, sexy and lovable. She is kind and smart and wants what is best for everyone -- it's remarkable how incredible she is.
When it comes down to it, Fourth Wing is my favorite in the series -- first books usually are because you get all the juicy setups. But then, when you add in the cliffhanger that Fourth Wing was left on... I nearly died. I screamed, I shouted, I jumped around my house. It was very unexpected and it made everything better.
Iron Flame was less than satisfactory, mostly because it felt a little slow and I was not a fan of all the back and forth between Xaden and Violet, though I did love seeing them play house at Riorson House. It also had the most intense, sexy scenes --I mean, the throne room? HELLO. CRAZY! And then, when it came to the end of Iron Flame, I was gobsmacked again...how does Yarros continually deliver the most intense cliffhangers? It's unbelievable!
Onyx Storm was my least favorite of the bunch so far, I think because it was the most confusing...trying to keep track of all the creatures, new characters, deaths and signets...it was a lot to take in but I managed. I also hated seeing Xaden in so much pain, and just wanted Violet to find a cure which obviously does not happen.
And yet, once again, the ending was superb. I had to re-read it a few times to double check that I knew what was happening. I knew something along those lines were going to happen because marriage and babies were sprinkled throughout the pages of that book, so it was a bit obvious. What I wasn't expecting was the revelations of Violet's 2nd signet, of everything having to do with the temples, and the 7th breed of dragons.
Everything Yarros writes continues to surprise, delight and thrill me. It's wonderful!
Fourth Wing is one of the best book series I've ever read. It's exciting, thrilling, thoughtful, sad, funny, sexy, romantic, intense, dramatic and truly everything you could ever want from a fantasy novel. There is so much to be explored, so many stories to tell, I just want it all. I want to live inside these pages and never come up for air.
If you need something to get lost in, if you want to take your mind off the real world for a while, or if you want to jump on this train before the film or TV adaptation comes out, I cannot recommend it enough. Even if you think you don't like fantasy, you might like Fourth Wing.B
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