Book Club October 2023- Fourth Wing
By: Rebecca Yarros
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 528
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros
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
What I thought
Denise picked this book for October and honestly, I couldn’t have been more excited. Not only was it only one month before the second book came out, but I have seen this book everywhere but been so hesitant to read it. If you haven’t heard of this book and you’re a reader, I feel like you’ve been living under a rock.
Violet comes from a family of esteemed Dragon Riders, with the exception of herself and her father. Her father was a Scribe and was training her to be one until he died. At that point, her mother the General decided it was Violet’s fate to be a Rider and sends her to the Rider’s Quadrant. If she survives and is chosen, she gets the honor of bonding with a Dragon, along with all of the magic and danger that comes with it.
I’ve heard this described as an adult book for readers who loved Hunger Games and Divergent growing up. I also heard it described as Harry Potter but for Dragons. I would say those are two accurate descriptions. Violet is 20 years old which is different from all of the YA dystopian books that I read and enjoyed growing up and I appreciated that. It’s nice to not be dealing with the fact that children are being sent to war or children are the only ones who can save he world. This does also open up the romance side a little bit.
In this book, Violet and her other friends/riders to be are very open about sex and relationships. I’m hopeful that this means there won’t be some of the naïve relationship tropes that happen in the YA novels.
I got sucked into this book so fast. 20 pages in I didn’t want to put it down. It felt like falling back into comfort and I wanted to learn more about Basgaith, the history of Dragon Riding, and where Violet was going to end up.
One thing I liked was how quickly the story moves. The dragons were introduced pretty earlier, much earlier than I expected. Similar to Harry Potter, the book takes place over the course of one year of school/training, and I appreciated that pacing. One thing I hated (but appreciated) is that Yarros pulls no punches. People die. Even in the first chapter, I felt myself getting attached to someone and then poof. I hate it because it terrifies me a little bit who she is going to kill off in the future but I appreciate it because at least I know what I’m getting into. Knowing she is going to be ruthless is better than it coming out of nowhere.
Which kills me because I adore all of the relationships in this book! The friendships! The romances! The enemies! It’s going to be a series full of hurt. I’m trying to think if there’s anything else I need to tell you about this book but I also went into it mostly blind and don’t want to spoil anything.
I can’t wait until the next book comes out! This is exactly the type of fantasy that I love. If you enjoy fantasy and if you enjoyed dystopian novels, I highly recommend checking this one out. It’s definitely got a more grown up feel, but not in a negative way. It’s a longer book but it moves so quickly. I had high expectations for this book since everyone was raving about it and it more than lived up to them. I loved this book and am now totally invested.
What Book Club Thought
Everyone loved it. Not only did we talk about it for at least an hour, but Denise who was hosting made themed snacks! It’s such a fun book for book club because there is a lot that you can do to make it special. Denise even had temporary dragon tattoos!
This is the type of book that you’re going to want to talk to someone about, so I highly recommend reading it with at least one friend. It was hard to not share thoughts as I rad, but it was so much fun to talk about it afterwards. I’m really looking forward to reading the next one and talking with everyone about it. It feels like I’m back in the Harry Potter craze where we would all get together and read it right as it came out and then talk about it. Can’t wait!