Fourth Wing - Fiction Review

Goodreads: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Rating: Really Liked It! (4.5 Stars)
Source:   Library (Audio)

Description:  Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

Genre:  Fiction - Fantasy

Why I Picked This Book:  I've seen so many glowing reviews for this book even from people who don't usually read this genre that I couldn't resist.

My Impression:  Fantasy isn't my usual genre but there were so many great reviews from some of my favorite bloggers that I couldn't resist picking this one up and I'm so glad I did!  Violet isn't the typical hero. She's petite and is easily injured and up until 6 months before the opening of the book she had trained to be a scribe and not a dragon rider.  Violet has to figure out how to survive in a world where students are dying every day and some students are gunning for her just based off who her mother is.

I really enjoyed this read.  I liked Violet and that she was able to stay true to herself while surviving a ruthless world.  I really liked that she kind of created her own family with her group of friends and was loyal to them regardless of where they came from.  The world building really made the book come alive without ever being overly descriptive and the action kept me hooked.  There were a few times that I kind of expected to lose interest because a major plot point was ending but the pace stayed even throughout the book.  There are a few spicy scenes between Violet and another character as well as a romantic element that I could have done without but it did make the conclusion of the book hit even harder.  

I had heard mixed reviews about the audio but I thought that Rebecca Soler did a good job and didn't overdo her voice acting.  I did listen to this at 1.75 speed so that may have helped with that.  

Despite this being completely out of my comfort zone I really enjoyed this read.  I loved Violet and her friends and I adored the dragons.  This broke my heart a few times and kept me completely engaged from beginning to end.  I'm looking forward to reading the next book to see what happens next.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  After the ending of this book how could I not!

Would I Recommend this Book?  Definitely!  Even if you're not a fantasy reader I think this is just a great story.