The Fourth Wing
“The Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros is a fantasy/romance novel series that I’ve heard a lot about from my students, similar to “The Court of Thorns and Roses.” However, unlike that series, I actually liked “The Fourth Wing.” Pop culture today seems bent on remaking movies, TV series, music, etc… from the past, and now that trend is reaching books. Where “The Court of Thorns and Roses” seems to be a remake of “The Hunger Games” and “Twilight,” “The Fourth Wing” draws from “Divergent.” Still, I found the plot interesting, the characters well-rounded, and the writing solid. In all honesty, before I even finished this first book of the series, I had already put myself on the wait list for the second, and I have every intention of reading them all once they come out (Yarros has said she intends to write five books in this series). I’m excited to see where she takes this story!
The plot of the book revolves around the kingdom of Navarre and 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail. In this land, once you become an adult, you are divided into Quadrants, similar to the Divergent factions. There are the Riders (Dauntless), Scribes (Erudite), Healers (Amity and Abnegation), and Infantry. But in The Fourth Wing, there are also DRAGONS! And that makes everything better! Once a rider bonds to their dragon, they then share each other’s thoughts, and Violet’s dragon is a grumpy old man who is hilarious! However, it’s not all fun and games. There is a war brewing in Navarre and these new riders need trained at the Battle School, and in steps Xaden Riorson, the love interest. Xaden is older, wiser, more seasoned, and Violet’s mentor, the one everyone wants but no one can get close to. Violet is naive, petite, and untrained, yet holds a mysterious allure for Xaden. It’s a tried-and-true plot, but I’m a sucker for dragons so I’m in!
I do have two sidenotes before you read The Fourth Wing. First, it’s MUCH steamier than Divergent. Second, Violet is described as “breakable” several times in this book. Her connective tissue is weak, meaning her bones are easily broken, her shoulders and kneecaps keep going out of socket, and even her hair is two-toned white and brown. I kept looking for meaning in this condition, but turns out, the author has Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) and to raise awareness, she wrote it into Violet’s character. So don’t spend the book looking for a deeper meaning to her condition like I did; it’s just something to accept as part of her character.