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Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

Rebecca Yarros

Start date: July 1, 2023

Finish date: July 31, 2023

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What Members Thought

Mar 28, 2024 Michael rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2024, spring-reading-2024

The algorithm that shows me fellow readers' choices of reading material seems to have burned me yet again this year with Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing. News of it selling out, getting a television option, and hearing so many online readers referring to it as the greatest thing since sliced bread may have put my expectations for this one at a level no book could hope to live up to.

And yet, it sounds like it should be a lot of fun. Sentient dragons coupled with a dystopian setting sounds like a grea ...more

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Apr 12, 2024 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: play-book-tag, fantasy, dragon, read-in-2024

Violet Sorrengail has trained all her life to become a scribe (scholar) but after the death of her father Violet's mother is determined Violet will become a dragon rider. The problem is Violet is frail and has joint problems. The rider shcool is deadly, many people die just on the entrance test, but Violet manages to make it with a little help from her rider sister. There is a romance brewing between Violet and the head of her wing, Xaden. My favorite part of the book are the dragons. The two ma ...more

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Mar 07, 2024 Cha rated it it was amazing

Absolutely worth reading and worth the hype! 😍

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Nov 02, 2023 Jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

2.5 stars. Maybe it's as case of lowered expectations, but this was better than I thought it was going to be.

The author's writing was fine - not lyrical and poetic, but serviceable. The plot was pretty standard for a fantasy romance, but nothing bad. I would say that overall, my reaction is that I just didn't care enough. I wasn't attached to any of the characters other than the dragons. The characters come across as quite a bit younger than they are supposed to be - apparently Violet is in her ...more

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Aug 28, 2023 Jenn rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2023-finished

I wasn't going to give in to the hype of this book but alas I caved. This book is being talked about everywhere so there is just no avoiding it.

I would classify this as light fantasy because of the dragons and the signets. (i'd almost say this could be classified as a ya fantasy with the exception of the con part of this review. ) There really isn't any world building like I see in other fantasy novels. I find this to be good and bad. Good because sometimes some fantasy novels are so focused on I wasn't going to give in to the hype of this book but alas I caved. This book is being talked about everywhere so there is just no avoiding it.

I would classify this as light fantasy because of the dragons and the signets. (i'd almost say this could be classified as a ya fantasy with the exception of the con part of this review. ) There really isn't any world building like I see in other fantasy novels. I find this to be good and bad. Good because sometimes some fantasy novels are so focused on the world building that it takes awhile for the storyline to get going. Bad because the reader goes in basically with no back story or history. The book does a good job on giving us some decent back round on the main character, Violet Sorrengail.

Violet is the youngest of the Sorrengail family. She was set up to be a scribe but her mother had another plan for her. She was to follow in the footsteps of the family. Violet must learn quickly to be tougher than others since she's portrayed in the book as being quite small and fragile.

All dragon riders must attend Basgiath War College. This is not your everyday college as it's basically a life and death school. Within the school students there are people whose parents have been killed and are marked as traitors. Xaden Riorson is one of those and he's also the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

The overall story I did enjoy. While it wasn't a deep fantasy the storyline was easy enough to follow. There also wasn't too much complicated political issues that sometimes makes it hard to follow storylines. I loved the aspect of the dragons and how they work with their riders. The entire process that the students must go through to earn their dragons was enjoyable to read.

The one huge con I will give this book is the romance/sex scenes. While the story is written simply enough the sex scenes felt like I was reading some really trashy erotica. For myself I felt that it ruined the flow of the book. Also some of the romance leading up to the characters was really cringy and had me rolling my eyes. While sex sells, sex in this book was just awkward and I felt broke up some areas in the book and just ruined the entire flow of the storyline. This book did not need this. It would have been better if it wasn't so detailed and erotic. The romance between two of the characters just didn't mesh right for some reason. I was not a fan of this aspect of the book. But I was able to overlook it (while I was going just why in my head) to continue and enjoy the story. This why this book didn't get 5 stars from me.

Overall this book kept my attention. Once the storyline got going I got hooked. For the first book in this series the author did a good job in keeping the reader engaged and wanting more. I definitely had a few favorite characters. The last bit of the book I just couldn't stop until I finished. What a way to bring this book to a close. I understand the hype for sure now,but can we talk about the cliffhanger ending??? This series is going to knock it out of the park if the remaining books are as good as this one.

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