Book Title: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Empyrean #1
Date Started: June 18th 2025
Date Completed: June 29th 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four Stars
Review:
This book takes a leisurely, indulgent journey to get to the heart of its story - but when it gets there, it undeniably kicks ass. It is addictive, exciting and glorious escapism, but it wasn't until the last 100 pages that I totally jumped on board.
I have notes from the middle of the book complaining about the sacrifice of story for a couple of hundred pages of smut and angst, and there was a point where it felt like we weren't going to move beyond sexy dragon training for this first instalment. I can't lie and say it wasn't fun - the whole thing was hard to put down - but I really wanted more. The book did eventually deliver, and it's cleverly set up that I'm itching for more.
As a side note, I appreciate that the characters are set up so deliberately in the world order, but Violet really is the perfect example of nepotism in action. Yarros doesn't seem to want to draw critical attention to the fact that she'd be dead 20 times if it weren't for tiny actions of favouritism that really let her skip some ladder rungs (I don't mean the saddle or her medical support, I'll get to that). None of this means Violet doesn't work hard - she absolutely does, and has to carry the expectations of her name - but in the current climate, I think it's a useful example of the status quo's normalisation of nepotism.
With that said, it made my heart happy to see the story adapt to Violet's personal abilities and challenges, particularly in its clear point that there's no shame in using mobility aids or your body having different needs. It is nebulous, so I don't know if identifying it as a disability is right or not, but it struck me nevertheless. I would really love it to be more explicitly represented in future books, especially in this of story and genre.
I'm excited to pick up the next one now that the world building, the politics, the relationships and the real threat are set up in prime position. It would've been nice to get a bit more of it in this first book, but I recognise the care that's gone into establishing how we feel about the actions and emotions of Violet and her peers - I'm sure Yarros will make it hurt sooner rather than later.