Violet Sorrengail is supposed to be this weak but brainy underdog, but don’t let the book fool you—she conveniently wins every life-or-death trial, making her struggle feel about as real as a reality TV show fight. Her fragile body? Not an issue, because plot armor beats bone density every time. Xaden is your standard brooding bad boy with a tragic past who somehow manages to be both infuriating and predictable. Jack, the main antagonist, is so cartoonishly evil that he might as well have a mustache to twirl. And then there’s Dain—walking proof that not all men should be childhood best friends. Secondary characters? They exist, mostly to die or make Violet look better.

Basgiath War College is basically Murder Hogwarts, but with dragons. Sounds cool, right? Well, it could have been if the world-building wasn’t so half-baked. The school’s entire philosophy is “survival of the fittest” but also, like… maybe don’t kill too many recruits because, hey, we need soldiers for this ongoing war? Consistency is optional here. The dragons? Underutilized. The war? An afterthought. The actual world outside of the school? Barely developed. If you like settings that look cool but fall apart under scrutiny, you’re in for a treat.

The prose is functional, which is the nicest way I can put it. But let’s talk about the real problem: modern-sounding dialogue in a fantasy world. I get that snark is the lifeblood of this book, but having Violet drop lines that sound straight out of a 2020s Twitter thread? Yeah, that kills immersion real quick. Also, if I had a coin for every time Violet internally monologues about how weak she is despite, you know, constantly outmaneuvering and outlasting everyone, I’d be richer than this book’s publisher.

This book is like an amusement park ride—thrilling in the moment, but the second you stop and think about it, you realize it makes no damn sense. The trials Violet faces? Arbitrary. The life-or-death stakes? Undermined by her constant success. The romantic tension? Predictable as hell. The War College structure? A logistical nightmare. I mean, why would a military academy just let their cadets kill each other willy-nilly when they need actual soldiers? Oh, and the big plot twists? If you’ve read any YA fantasy in the last decade, you saw them coming from a mile away.

Yes, it’s fast-paced. Yes, it’s action-packed. But is it actually engaging when you stop being blinded by the constant movement? That’s debatable. I kept turning pages, but not necessarily because I was invested—I just wanted to see if this mess would eventually balance itself out (spoiler: it doesn’t). The story never lets you breathe or feel the weight of what’s happening because it’s too busy shoving the next dramatic moment in your face.

If you’re expecting well-developed relationships based on mutual respect and emotional growth, you’re in the wrong book. Xaden and Violet’s romance follows the "we hate each other but also want to rip each other's clothes off" formula without an ounce of originality. Dain spends half the book being the overprotective, condescending childhood friend no one asked for, and the rest of the cast exists to either be obstacles or cheerleaders. As for logic? There is none. The rules of the world are more flexible than Xaden’s moral compass, and the entire “dragons choose their riders” system feels like it was written on the fly.

Look, I didn’t hate it. If you turn off your brain, it’s fun in the same way that a bad action movie is—you know it’s dumb, but you’re still entertained. If you like hot, broody love interests, badass dragon battles (that we don’t get nearly enough of), and training montages where the protagonist somehow doesn’t die despite every odd stacked against her, then yeah, you’ll enjoy this. But if you’re looking for depth, logic, or actual stakes? This ain’t it. 

I came to this book expecting to hate it or lazily skim through it but it drew me in from the first Page and I cant wait to read the sequels. I absolutely loved this book and the universe created
Tairn and Andarna are my absolutely favorite characters :D

Enthralling and exciting every step of the way. With so much action, I had no chance of getting bored. It took some time for Violet to grow on me, but once she did I was all in.

Why did it take me this long to pick up this book?! It totally lived up to the hype. My friends begged me to "please read it, you'll love it" for months. 

Legit was hooked on the book when I was a few chapters in, and legit couldn't put down the book. Safe to say I did lose sleep over reading this + I planned my days in a way I could create extra time to read, oops. I haven't been into a book like this in about a year, what?!

The author included representation for disabilities by giving the main character, Violet a condition called: "hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS)". It was so interesting to see how she dealt with this, under the most bizarre circumstances and how her fellow squad mates helped her out to work with it! 

I love the way Xaden/ Violet and their dragons communicate with each other without actually speaking. They are all so sassy and funny.

I called from the very first moment Violet and Xaden met, that they would end up together!!

Dian is an ASS. At first when he tried to get Violet to join the scribes after she crossed the parapet, I thought he was looking out for her. But he kept trying to "force" her to go and didn't believe she could become a rider. He said he would look out for her, but never did anything to actually help her when she needed it, because of the ""rules"". Nor did he believe her when she was almost killed in her bedroom + he betrayed her by reading her memories without her consent?! WHAT THE HECK!!

I legit was about to throw my kindle across the room when Liam died. He really did not deserve this after being such a good "protector" and friend to Violet. Still very mad and devastated about this.

Sooooo not expecting the ending, I legit gasped. Violet's brother is alive?!?!

Legit had to stare at the wall for a good 30 minutes after finishing reading this book. Which means it's totally worth to read it! Cannot wait to see what's going to happen in the next one! 

While I don't turn my nose up at every romance novel I come across, I've historically disliked romances that are disguised as other genres — stories where it's clear that the science fiction or fantasy designation is little more than a setting for the love story, which quickly takes center stage. All world building, mythology, and plot developments cater to the advancement of the romance, rather than the other way around. Many people like romantasy novels — and indeed, I'm glad for the emergence of that genre, as it provides a clarity that "fantasy" and "romance" on their own do not — but I'm not one of them.

At least, I didn't think I was.

I was curious about the "A Court of the Thrones" phenomenon a few years ago, but was unimpressed with the first book and had no desire to continue the series. I expected to have the same experience when I picked up "Fourth Wing," but ... I did not have the same experience. 

The premise intrigued me, the story was well-paced, and the author did a pretty good job building a believable fantasy world that felt like more than just a romance backdrop. Yes, I was reminded of other fantasy stories that likely served as inspirations at some level, but in Rebecca Yarros's hands, they often worked, enhanced by a well-developed and likeable main character. I'm a sucker for characters who are thrust into situations they did not choose or even want, and for which they do not seem particularly well-suited, but who find themselves rising to the occasion and defying the odds. I enjoyed Violet's journey from struggling with almost every aspect of war college, to finding her own ways to overcome many of those struggles. I also appreciated the disability representation, which I imagine is a rarity in this genre. 

Admittedly, I liked the first half of this book better than the second half, before the romance fully bloomed and got a little too all-consuming, in my opinion — and the stakes for Violet no longer felt quite as high.  The romantic threads were there from the beginning, sure, but a large part of the book felt like just as much of a coming-of-age story and a survival story, with some hints of political intrigue, as it did an enemies-to-lovers story.

I'll probably read the next installments in the series, as long as they don't get too angsty or sappy. I've accepted that romance is an important part of this series, but I hope the political and military intrigue, mythology, and character development remain equally important.