This is a spoiler-free review!
I was very weary going into this book -- with so much online hype surrounding it, I was worried that it would not live up to expectations. Let me tell you, I was so wrong, and while talking dragons are a little out of my comfort zone, this book really had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Getting into a new fantasy series can be daunting, and when the first installment is pretty lengthy, you can only imagine what kind of world-building the author decided to include.
The war college reminded me of a lot of certain aspects from Divergent by Veronica Roth, especially regarding the quadrants, and I was worried it would stick with that theme - thankfully, it was just a similarity. Violet's character description was a little tough to nail down, and there is this sense of vulnerability surrounding her as she is forced to join a quadrant that could very much have her killed before dinner. Her mother is an absolute nightmare, and I can already tell that woman is probably not going to make it out of this series alive. She is overbearing, rude, and distances herself so far from her children, you would think they were strangers to her.
When Violet joins the Riders Quadrant, I literally thought this girl was going to get snapped in half every other page. She goes on and on about her fragile body, and I was surprised she was surviving each day with just some minor injuries. Violet obviously would have rather gone to the Scribe Quadrant, but she has to face these challenges or suffer the consequences. The fact that she literally requires people to turn into her own security because she is either falling off dragons or being the target of several murder attempts had me dying - the girl cannot catch a break.
She is attached by the hip to her childhood friend Dain, who is the human embodiment of the scorned boy who has been friend-zoned. He gives Adam Kent from the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi a run for his money, and that says a lot coming from me, who has disliked Adam since that series was first published. His pick-me energy is off the charts, and it definitely clouds his judgement when Violet is involved, which is basically every scenario since he is literally her squad leader. I was literally begging for him to fall off of his dragon or be anywhere else that was not where Violet was - his presence was agitating beyond belief.
Xaden... I am a sucker for the perceived villain to become the love interest, and was glad to see actual tension and hatred in the beginning of his and Violet's interactions. You could quite literally feel the emotions seeping out of this man, and Violet egged him on at every chance she got, making their pairing so in tune with one another. The man that he is, oh boy I was so glad to see a male lead in fantasy have sarcasm and an actual plot line of his own that did not directly depend on the female lead. His past is tormented and there is so much to his character that we still need to uncover. I loved the way he was able to remain stoic and sarcastic while having moments of weakness that were perceived as outside amusement rather than obvious feelings.
Every side character served a purpose, and even when certain characters were there to either try to kill Violet or be there as a plot device to move her arc forward, they all were more than just a name on a page. You watch Violet be weary of accepting friendship in a war college where your fellow cadets want you dead, and yet she continues to offer support to others without latching onto the idea that they need a strong bond. The friends she does make on the way are such interesting characters, and they elevate the story as a whole without being dependent on Violet's specific actions.
The mind-talking dragons took me a minute to get used to - some of their dialogue felt a touch out of place, but the more they interacted with their riders, the easier it flowed into the story. I enjoyed watching the riders form these personal bonds with their dragons, and the additional relationships that dragons had with other dragons added another layer to the story. All of the challenges and tests that the riders had to pass and survive throughout the book definitely would have had me on the floor, and I just kept imagining more intense Wipe Out obstacles courses in their place.
Now, the ending of this book low-key had me gagged and the perspective change had me doing laps around my room. I underestimated how much I was going to like this book, and I send my apologies to every single one of my friends who tried to get me to read this for over a year and I kept saying no. I may try to space out diving into the next installment since at this moment this series is actively being published, and I need to prepare myself for having to wait years in between books again. But a girl needs answers and I fear I may not be able to hold back for much longer.
You can add Fourth Wing on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment