Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros

This just became my new favorite book of 2023 so far. The best way I can describe this book is as if Hunger Games and Divergent had a love child and that child decided to go to a war college and play with dragons. Fourth Wing was so much fun.

Check out my previous read  From Duke Till Dawn by Eva Leigh 

Genres: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
Source: Owned, Library
Format: Audiobook/e-book

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

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“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without its dragon is dead.”-Article One, Section One. The Dragon Rider’s Codex

Rebecca Yarros creates this fun and interesting world where the land of Navarre is at war with the world, and everyone must help with the war effort in their own way. Once a person becomes of age, they are eligible to enroll in the Basgiath War College, where they are allowed to join one of four different quadrants: Riders, Healers, Scribes, and Infantry. Our heroine, Violet Sorrengail, has trained her whole life to be in the Scribe quadrant, her mind a cataclysm of information and the histories of Navarre. However, as the daughter of one the most decorated generals, she finds herself literally thrusted into the Riders quadrant, where one wrong move means death. The quadraint and its many levels and sections are never as they appear, and even more so with the appearance of Xaden–a third year Rider and wingleader for Violet’s section whose father was killed by Violet’s Mother’s hand–and his friends who have a secret of their own. 

This story was one that had me hook line and sinker from the very first chapter. Yarros has such a beautiful way of entangling and interweaving modern speech and fantasy together to create this world that is so easy to follow and understand. I loved getting to know the characters on a deeper level and found myself being so invested in their journey and their lives that once I finished the book I sat completely at a loss for a good ten minutes before immediately going back in and reading the last two chapters over and over again (iykyk). 

Violet’s story is one of adventure, action, and romance; and though she knows so much and is more perceptive than people give her credit for, she still has a lot to learn in the Rider’s quadrant. The way I can’t begin to explain to you how absolutely invested I was in Violet’s journey. She’s one of those FMCs that just stick with you after the fact and you just can’t let go. Her character development and overarching growth is one that I really want to give Yarros a standing ovation for because I absolutely loved it. 

With absolutely great disability rep, and the sassiest dragons to ever speak. Fourth Wing is an absolute banger, and totally worth the hype it’s getting. A great book if you are taking your first steps into the fantasy genre, and an even greater book if you are feeling nostalgic for the YA of old but with a more adult undertone and feel. 

I seriously cannot wait for November to get here!

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