Reader Rayna

Title: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Empyrean Series #1
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publish Date: May 2, 2023
Genre: Adult Romantasy
Pages: 517
Format: Hardcover

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…

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

I was having quite the bit of FOMO when it came to this book, I’m not gonna lie. It was allllll over social media: the good, the bad, the ugly. I had to know for myself what all of the hype was about, and honestly? It’s not the best book in the world by any means, but I was pretty entertained. I read this in 2025, so this review is one of the catch up ones!

Let me start with the writing style of the book. From my limited research, I can tell Yarros is traditionally a romance only writer, and that this was her first true dip into the fantasy realm. Which, everyone has to start somewhere! For her first time dipping into fantasy it was… well, I can tell it was definitely a debut fantasy novel. There were a lot of kinks to work out, some world building that needs work, some other magic and other fantasy elements that need further developing, BUT she did do a good job of introducing the romance element to it (as is her purview), and there was enough plot points threaded throughout the story that made me want to know more about what was happening within this world that she had built.

The writing style was very accessible and easily digestible (not a bad thing!), and I can definitely see how it grew so popular so fast, for sure. Not just because of the writing style, but because of the way the characters were written.

Let’s take Violet for example, our main female protagonist. We see the story through her point of view, and let me tell you… I have never read a more horny character in my life, and I’ve read full on romance books and smut fanfiction! It was kind of a turn off (no pun intended) when I was reading this within the first fifteen pages of the book, I’m not gonna lie. Let me get to know you first, girl, dang!

Ahem, I digress. But other than that, I found her to be a very standard FMC in a fantasy/romantasy book: strong willed, a bit stubborn, wanting to do things on her own, etc. She was often described as petite, which against a dragon would make sense, especially the way some scenes were described. I can imagine how much pain she would have been in afterward.

And then we have the “Shadow Daddy” Xaden. Of course he’s drop dead gorgeous, looks out for his own, is inexplicably drawn to Violet – and oh, wants to kill her for something her family did. You know, the usual. I felt him to be a standard “brooding male” in a romantasy, one who of course has a secret and a soft side, but I liked him, I’ll admit.

The romance between the two was definitely palpable. Especially when the dragons get involved. The link between dragon and rider really is no joke, that’s for sure, but I can just let you read that one yourself! I felt that the romance wasn’t really rushed or anything, as the book takes place over the course of, I believe, a semester or a year’s worth of schooling, so there’s plenty of time to develop romantic tensions after the whole “wanting to kill you” thing is done and over with. I can definitely see this is where Yarros shines when it comes to her writing as the romance and spicy scenes were really well done.

Now the dragons. I actually liked the dragons in here and how they were described to form a bond with their riders, and that it is extremely dangerous and deadly to do so. Many young cadets lose their lives long before they even get to this point, and still many more will – and did – lose their lives as a result of wanting to form a bond with a dragon. The stakes actually felt apparent, which many times in romantasy books that I’ve read some of the stakes aren’t really there or are only there in the moment but there’s no true danger.

Here, however, there is.

And of course our FMC has two dragons, because why not? Tairn and Andarna. But really, I loved the dynamic of the three of them together. It made it more complicated and interesting because there was an added element of nerves due to the mystery surrounding the younger, golden dragon, Andarna. Many of those in higher seats of power want to know more about her and where she comes from, and they aren’t privy to the secrets of dragons.

As far as the magic goes, there are various types of magics that flow through the world. Some people don’t have magic while others do. Some are used for spying or scrying, others for tactical advantages, others still for other reasons. As Basgiath is essentially a military university, any and all powers are able to be used in combat somehow. I think this is one that both used well and could be explored more. I want to see more of the powers being used and developed, almost like a training montage. I want to see the stakes being raised and to see how people use their powers for both gain and abuse.

Overall, I enjoyed the first installment. It was entertaining as hell, though I did have some problems with it. I think if you’re looking for a romantasy and want to join a hype train, give Fourth Wing a shot and see how you like it!