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Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

Rebecca Yarros

Start date: February 1, 2024

Finish date: February 29, 2024

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jul 20, 2024 Melany rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I was going to, mainly because I don't like books written in first person. I will say it being in first person did put me off for a while but I wanted to try it because it's popular and I like dragons. So I am pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it.

I think the overarching story and world are super interesting. I think Violet is a fun and compelling main character and I like the personalities that surrounded her. I really like the magic with the ...more

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Jul 21, 2023 Eunice rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, romance, tt-x

This read like a YA novel but with R18 sexual content. The best thing about this novel was the dragons; everything else ranged from ok to ugh.

The worldbuilding seemed interesting, but the fact that the war lasted for 400 years and the revelations we get at the end just seem unbelievable and illogical. It feels like forced worldbuilding to me in order to set up the premise and the conflict, near the levels of middle-grade fantasy where adults are evil and kids need to save the world.

The character This read like a YA novel but with R18 sexual content. The best thing about this novel was the dragons; everything else ranged from ok to ugh.

The worldbuilding seemed interesting, but the fact that the war lasted for 400 years and the revelations we get at the end just seem unbelievable and illogical. It feels like forced worldbuilding to me in order to set up the premise and the conflict, near the levels of middle-grade fantasy where adults are evil and kids need to save the world.

The characters are meh, I guess. The main characters stick to the tropes, sometimes a bit too much. Violet is the underdog character with a special destiny. I think she has some physical disability, but it was only vaguely mentioned once at the beginning. Despite this, her small stature, and her lack of training, she somehow defies all odds. Actually, that's just the start of the novel, and then in the other half, everyone is trying to help her survive :> At this point, I realize it's a feel-good novel where even the underdog can rise and be a hero. Then we have the bad boy first lead and the nice-guy childhood friend second lead. There is also the sometimes-comically evil classmate who hates Violet's guts since day 1 to the point of making it his goal to kill her just because of her famous general mother.

Lastly, the romance. I hate instant love and bad-boy romance, and it's the main reason why I don't like this book, so maybe there's some bias here. But the romance overall just feels so... trashy? Another review described it as juvenile, and I think that fits better than trashy. The entire book, every time Violet stares at him, she's reduced to a horny mess and she often thinks along the lines of "He's so hot, but he's dangerous, and I shouldn't but I want him, but I can't". The instant attraction and the conflicting emotions about it are also mutual on the side of the male lead, but his thoughts go "I want her but I can't. When she knows the real me, she'll stop liking me." Well, I just can't with both of you too. That type of push and pull isn't my thing. Another thing is that the connection between them is sexual attraction disguised as love. They've already said their ILYs, but I don't see why.

I understand why people like this book. I also understand why the opinions are polarized. I'd categorize this book as addictingly trashy like Patterson books and East Asian webnovels (if you've ever read some). I like both, but this just wasn't my kind of trashy. ...more

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Jan 19, 2024 Alexandra Murphy rated it really liked it

I was ready to give about 7/5 stars till 3 fifths through, then it fell flat for a while. Hate to love is much more interesting if you leave it to the end of the book- what’s the point in carrying on after they get together?!? The last page was good though!

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