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A review by sophiesometimesreads
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
A lot of people have said that this is the best book they've ever read... I'm not really sure about that comment. Was it enjoyable? For the most part, yeah. Was it a literary masterpiece? No.
The storyline was predictable, I predicted all but one or two of the plot points, as they've been heavily used in (YA) fantasy for at least as long as I've been reading it. This was partly due to the really clunky foreshadowing. The number of times the text says something along the lines of "that's impossible because that doesn't happen!" and then a few pages later, lo and behold, said impossible thing happens. And really, that was the extent of the foreshadowing.
The pacing through the middle lagged. It got to the point where I KNEW something was up, that people were hiding things and something wasn't right but we just didn't get much information scattered through to keep me super interested in why all this was happening. We spent a lot on the school, which was overly cruel and no one seemed to point this out, and didn't really get into the why of the story until the end, despite it being obvious something was coming.
The world building was okay. I liked the little snippets from texts from the world at the start of the chapters but I did feel like the book relied too heavily on these as world building and didn't give enough in text, and these were sometimes spoilery. Most of the early world building and lore was done through the MC reciting facts to herself, though, which was an... interesting choice. Also, a pro-military tone was present through the whole thing, which I could mostly push aside but some may not like that about it.
The dragons were cool and one thing I did really like was the disability representation. I really enjoyed everyone around Violet telling her that doing things differently to account for her disability didn't mean she was weak, and how those close to her supported her making the consessions she needed to do the job properly. Overall, Violet was also really strong and I liked that she wasnt portrayed as weak or in need of fixing. (This is coming from a non-disabled person though, and I have since seen discussion on how this "push through the pain" narrative can be harmful to disabled people. It is really important to listen to the people who are being represented on the quality of this representation. In hindsight, I can see how this can be harmful to people who suffer from the same thing as Violet, or disabled people in general.)
Though I did have a number of criticisms of the text, I did enjoy the book overall for what it was and I may pick up the second book (spoiler: now Iron Wing is out, I have zero desire to pick it up so this is where it ends for me and Fourth Wing). It is far from a literary masterpiece but is generally enjoyable if you can look past the flaws.
Update: Upon reflection over many months, it wasn't that great, despite having some enjoyable moments throughout, so I have dropped my rating from 3 stars to 2.5 stars.
The storyline was predictable, I predicted all but one or two of the plot points, as they've been heavily used in (YA) fantasy for at least as long as I've been reading it. This was partly due to the really clunky foreshadowing. The number of times the text says something along the lines of "that's impossible because that doesn't happen!" and then a few pages later, lo and behold, said impossible thing happens. And really, that was the extent of the foreshadowing.
The pacing through the middle lagged. It got to the point where I KNEW something was up, that people were hiding things and something wasn't right but we just didn't get much information scattered through to keep me super interested in why all this was happening. We spent a lot on the school, which was overly cruel and no one seemed to point this out, and didn't really get into the why of the story until the end, despite it being obvious something was coming.
The world building was okay. I liked the little snippets from texts from the world at the start of the chapters but I did feel like the book relied too heavily on these as world building and didn't give enough in text, and these were sometimes spoilery. Most of the early world building and lore was done through the MC reciting facts to herself, though, which was an... interesting choice. Also, a pro-military tone was present through the whole thing, which I could mostly push aside but some may not like that about it.
The dragons were cool and one thing I did really like was the disability representation. I really enjoyed everyone around Violet telling her that doing things differently to account for her disability didn't mean she was weak, and how those close to her supported her making the consessions she needed to do the job properly. Overall, Violet was also really strong and I liked that she wasnt portrayed as weak or in need of fixing. (This is coming from a non-disabled person though, and I have since seen discussion on how this "push through the pain" narrative can be harmful to disabled people. It is really important to listen to the people who are being represented on the quality of this representation. In hindsight, I can see how this can be harmful to people who suffer from the same thing as Violet, or disabled people in general.)
Though I did have a number of criticisms of the text, I did enjoy the book overall for what it was and I may pick up the second book (spoiler: now Iron Wing is out, I have zero desire to pick it up so this is where it ends for me and Fourth Wing). It is far from a literary masterpiece but is generally enjoyable if you can look past the flaws.
Update: Upon reflection over many months, it wasn't that great, despite having some enjoyable moments throughout, so I have dropped my rating from 3 stars to 2.5 stars.