fourth wing // rebecca yarros
first published: 2023
read: 14 august 2025 - 19 august 2025
pages: 498
format: hardback
genres: fiction; young adult; fantasy (high); romance (enemies to lovers)
favourite character(s): idk, rhiannon?
least favourite character(s): jack barlowe
first line(s): "'Conscription Day is always the deadliest.'"
rating: ๐๐๐๐๐
thoughts: okay so it's gonna take me a second to figure out my true thoughts on fourth wing. this is a book/series i had no intention of ever reading, despite the hype it's gotten. if i've said it once, i've said it 1,000 times, but i've fallen off the ya fantasy/romantasy train in a big way in recent years, and this book seemed like the opposite of what i would end up enjoying. but i read this for book club and, while i didn't love it, i also didn't hate it?
iโll try and break this down as best i can, starting with the plot. the plot is, frankly, very formulaic and pretty predictable. if youโve read any romantasy with an underdog female mc who somehow defeats the odds and a beautiful yet dangerous love interest with a secret heart of gold, youโve probably read this book. and yetโฆ i was still gripped. i was daunted by the sheer heft of this book when i got my copy from the library, yet i finished almost 500 pages in five days. i kept wanting to return to it every day. i donโt know what it was about this story, but it made for an exciting, absorbing read.
the romance part of the romantasy did far less for me than the fantasy, but thatโs fully in line with my personal tastes. i was really glad that the romantic storyline, while an important core element, didnโt supersede the plotline - unlike other similar books iโve read (side-eyeing you, ACOTAR). the smut, while it didnโt do anything for me, wasnโt excessive for my tastes. the fantasy was actually quite interesting - in particular i loved the lore behind the dragons. while i was cool on the dragon characters themselves, i did like how they contributed to the worldbuilding.
the characters were pretty hit or miss for me. i'll be honest, i wasn't super moved by violet as a main character. although i was endeared by her sense of strength and her continuous perseverance. i kind of wish her "disability" had been more overt - given the author's allusion in the author's note that violet has the same condition that yarros has, that causes a weakness of joints and muscles, i would've liked this to be clearer in violet's character. for the most part i had just assumed she was a physically weak person (some of us are!), not due to any condition or for any reason in particular.
xaden was also pretty meh. he is pretty much the stock character of the beautifully dangerous love interest and, while i wasn't repelled by him like i might have been, his character just didn't excite me. neither did dain, the other option in this love triangle. that said, i did like violet's growth in relation to dain! the remaining secondary characters were nothing much to speak of, other than jack who i really must articulate that i hate. i can't stand his type of character - an antagonist who exists to antagonise for the sake of it, and to act as another character for the MC to overcome. he was so underwritten and under motivated that i was mad for all the wrong reasons every time he showed up on page.
so yeah, you can see why my thoughts on fourth wing are pretty mixed. i've already started reading iron flame, so i'm hoping that will be as good, if not an improvement. i have to say i don't think it bodes well that this series is going to be stretched out to five books (at least) - i can't see it being necessary and lowkey think it's a sure sign that this series will just end up devolving. but for now we'll see how i get on with the first three.