Mix together Divergent, ACOTAR,  Shadow & Bone, Red Queen, add some dragons and an 18+ rating and you've got Fourth Wing. 

I'll admit the over hype of this book did put me off, I bought it when it came out but didn't get around to actually reading it until it was picked for my work book club. 

Is this a mash up of many successful YA fantasy / sci-fi plots lines aged up so that they can throw in the word fuck and some smut? Yes

Is the plot original? Not at all

Could I put it down? Absolutely not

Violet is someone who suffers with a chronic illness (that's conveniently not named but I assumed it was maybe hypermobility) she wants to be a scribe, like her Dad, and has been training for it all her life, however 6 months before she's meant to start her mother tells her she had to be a dragon rider, and seemingly doesn't care about the very high mortality rate of all the trials. 

Unsurprisingly she flourishes and meets a tall, dark, handsome 'enemy'. I'm sorry but those two were never enemies. It was lust at first sight with misunderstandings & miscommunications thrown in. 

Now, i absolutely love Xaden but not in a 'sexy love interest' way, i genuinely think he's just a sweetheart who's in a terrible situation. I just wanted to give him a cuddle. 

It did feel a bit like Violet was Colin Craven from the Secret Garden as in she just needed some fresh air, sunlight and some exercise and she was suddenly much better 😅 

I also wish Violet had more female friends. Her friendship Rhiannon is very much told to us rather than shown. She very much felt like the token black and queer character. 

I did see one of the reveals coming, and the other one i initially suspected but was then thrown off the scent. And i do think that Violet's reaction is a bit over the top but i guess we've gotta have some drama for the next book! 

Apart from some plot points which felt literally plucked straight from other books at certain points, I genuinely did really enjoy this book and I think Rebecca Yarros writes action scenes Very well.