This was the book I never knew I needed. I was hesitant to read it because I'm resistant to major hype.....but I'm glad I gave the audio a chance. I listen at 2.2x speed so the narration was not an issue for me. While not normally a fantasy reader this author is a favorite of mine and it did not disappoint. In addition to the fantasy elements there's romance and thriller war type action as well. I loved the fast pace, the characters and most of all The Dragons! Bring on book #2.

After procrastinating a bit, I finally decided to pick it up. My expectations were high but the fact that it was so hipped scared me a little since I often don’t like them.
This one was an exception, I truly enjoyed it. The start had me hooked and kept me interested for the whole time. The romance made me root for the pair. When the ending came I wanted to know how it continue. Will absolutely pick up the second book.
I doubt there is anything more to say that you haven’t already heard, since it’s so popular.
The Audiobook was great to listen to and the narrator was easy to follow. Her voice was really pleasant.
Would recommend.
I received a E-Audio Arc via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am not normally a fantasy fan but this audio was fantastic!!! All of the characters came to life to perfection. You will hear about this book everywhere you turn and you know why?? It's that darn good!!! It's every wonderful dragon story you've read weaved together better than ever. I highly recommend the audio version because it truly brings the story to life!

First, THANK YOU to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing, and to Rebecca Yarros for the ARC copy of Fourth Wing! I am reviewing the audiobook version.

Typically, I don't read books about war and dragons and the like but I had to see if this book lived up to the hype. It does. I have not read any other books by Rebecca Yarros so I cannot compare the writing or storylines. Fourth Wing exceeded my expectations on every level. I love the dragons and their personalities. The story was beautifully written. The character growth was wonderful. I enjoyed the narrator, the audiobook was exciting and easy to follow...even in the particularly action packed scenes.

This is probably my very favorite of the books I have read so far this year. I highly recommend it and cannot say enough good things about the story.

Before diving into this review, I want to point out that I am reviewing the audiobook version of Fourth Wing and not just the ebook. For starters, this book is addictive. I have not read any of Yarros' previous work, but I believe that she has a bright future ahead because Fourth Wing was pretty much everything I ever want in a fantasy. It has politics, lore, history, romance, action, and plot twists galore! I truly could not stop listening to this book, although I will go ahead and say that the audiobook needed a lot of editing and possibly re-recording because the narrator was very obviously sick for like half of the book. It took me out of the experience, so I really would like to push the producers to explore re-recording because I really believe that this audiobook could hinder enjoyment for some people. As I said before, this book is still very addictive and fun, but the narration was just hard to get through at times.

Violet is a great protagonist--full of quick wit and is as smart as she says she is. She is courageous and seeks truth and at times can be brutal as needed. I really liked her POV. Of course, I also loved Tairn and Andarna too much. Their whole dynamic was just incredible and I'm looking forward to their progression in the rest of the series. Xaden is also a great MMC and he actually surprised me by how much I enjoyed his interactions with pretty much everyone.

I can't wait to get my hands on Iron Flame. I think this series is the next big thing.

I received an audio arc of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had low expectations considering the hype, but I loved this. It reminded me of Divergent and a little of The Hunger Games - classics I read when I was first getting into reading. I also got vibes of Zodiac Academy from the writing, and Fate: The Winx Saga.
I'm excited about the sequel and interested to see where the story goes, apparently, this is going to be a 5 book series.
XadenViolet has me in a chokehold, 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Now, I’m still miffed at how the publisher archived this the day I got it and I didn’t get to download it. Then unarchived it and archived it again shortly after, but at least I got to download it. But geez, stick to the date you said you’d archive it.

Now, I’ll keep this review short because as I said, I’m miffed.

Was this a masterwork of literature?
No

Did I have fun?
Yes

Are me and my friends all obsessed?
Also yes

Unfortunately the first third of the book.. the narrator sounded like she had a cold and it was not edited well. Luckily I had already read the book and the book itself was 5 stars, however this narrator should have either re recorded the part where she was sick or edited the extra noises. Honestly, it kind of nauseated me with all the swallowing and nose noises.

Overall likely to be one of the great books of 2023. I don’t know about her intricate plot, deep and complex characters and talking dragons. There’s a lot to love about this novel. Yarros keeps the audience guessing as to the past, and who is on what side. I listen to the audiobook version which was great, except for the occasional technique of the narrator, reaching the point of yelling, rather than using better vocal technique to help the reader get into what was happening to the characters.

Looking forward to more in this series.

🐉Fourth Wing🐉

"A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without its dragon is dead."

@rebeccayarros has created an absolute fantasy masterpiece with Fourth Wing. I initially read and listened to Fourth Wing and it was pure PERFECTION! I can safely say I’m still obsessed after my annotated re read! Having the audio book was such an experience as I was annotating.

Fourth Wing is filled with Dragons, war and brutal high stakes trials. The absolute unflinching brutality the characters are put through during Threshing is addictively shocking. Yet Fourth Wing has some of the best heart flutter moments.

“Are you going to die a scribe? Or live as a rider?”

Our FMC Violet is a legit badass! While she’s physically smaller and frailer than the other cadets, she’s not weak. Her mind is her biggest strength. I can’t thank Yarros enough for this beautifully honest chronic illness representation. Violet is up there with Aelin and Brexley as one of my favourite FMC🙌🏻

"Not all strength is physical."

In the Riders Quadrant you're encouraged not to form attachments. So what does Violet do, she finds her ride or dies! And Rhiannon and Liam are my absolute favourites. Violet also discovers some friends aren’t what they appear (Dain radiates some serious Tamlin in ACOMAF energy).

And I can’t forget the seriously delicious enemies to lovers sexual tension. Xaden Riorson! Top tier book boyfriend right there!🔥

“Don’t do what? Tell you I can’t get you out of my head, or speak directly into yours.”

“Fuck that stubborn feisty look always makes me wanna kiss you.”

The world building is STUNNING! With Dragons like Tairn and Andara how could it not be. And the ending was epic. The audio narration was as brilliant! Definitely helps to draw you in to the world of Basgiath War College

"... There's nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn't find you, Violence."

I’m already counting down the day till Iron Flame releases in November.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I am the sky and the power of every storm that has ever been. I am infinite.”

Aaaah. This book kept me up on many late nights. A disabled protagonist goes to murder school to learn how to ride and fight on the back of dragons! I loved the representation, I loved the tense scenes and the cliffhangers at the end of some of the chapters. And more than anything, I loved the moments that just make you go "What?!". It was gripping, entertaining and very emotional.

I have to talk more about the representation in this book. Violet has some kind of chronic condition that she has from childhood. I'm not sure exactly what it's based on, but it effects her strength and muscles and means she's not as strong as the other riders. So she has to work about 4 times as hard as her classmates. It was the perfect balance of the realities of disabilities while still doing a plot that intense. I loved it.

The audio was good. I really liked the voice actress who played Violet, but she didn't stand out much in my head. She did the job well and read the book, but I probably won't seek out other stuff read by her specifically.

My only problem with this book is for a school where everyone's meant to be trying to kill one another, Violet wasn't actually attacked that much. It didn't feel as dangerous as we were being told. Other than that though, it was pretty perfect!!

Definitely one to add to your to read lists!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

While I'm not sure there is much I can say that hasn't already been said, I will say that I this was such a good time. Fourth Wing gave exactly what I needed it to give. It was fast paced and exciting and sexy and just a great time overall.

Read Fourth Wing for:

- DRAGONS
- (Another ) Shadow Daddy (Can't have too many imo)
- Enemies to Lovers
- Found family
- Brutal war academy
- FMC with chronic pain
- Spice

Overall, I absolutely recommend this to fans of romantasy - particularly those with dragons!

-----4.5/5

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book follows Violet as she fights to survive her training. Her new environment is violent and her life is constantly in danger.
The book is an interesting beginning to a series.

*This is where I would throw the book if I had it*

Asdfghjkl

This won’t be some deep thought providing piece of literature, but it’s fast-paced and the characters are likable. I literally didn’t see any of the twists until almost the very end.

This is the New Adult fantasy novel every other should be compared to.

Dragons. Sexy outcast dragon riders. Civil war. Amazing.

I really appreciated the main character being coded as having Ehlers-Danlos but also very capable. Strong of heart and mind > strong of body

The beginning got me engaged, but very quickly I recognized that there is no sense in the facts presented to me. We have a dragon academy that specializes in training young adepts for the war. They are not very picky about who goes there because they need more trained people, but also have no problem unliving them every chance it gets. No wonder they are at war. Soon the kingdom will have no people to live in it at all.

The main character is a girl who finds herself in a branch that has nothing to do with her passion for history. She carries the burden of a warrior like everyone in her family. Great. Now you won't believe me but there is a boy that should be her sworn enemy. She hates him so badly that she falls in love with him. I was truly annoyed by all this internal monologue in which she just debates how much he's about to kill her when EVIDENTLY he is not, but ok, thanks for clarifying this for us.

There are many instances of telling not showing, and then not following through. Especially with dragons. They are cool. And they get to have dragon sex. Maybe some magic, but whatever. Importantly: they make our protagonist even more horny than she is. And when we finally get to the point of resolution the scenes are not spicy at all. They are simply vulgar. But ok, I've never been hyped for romance, so let's come back to the plot.

I noticed repetitions in scenes, time skipping that move pacing with a clear intention to force slow burn. I'm not sure that this is how it works. We just jump like those bunny rabbits. The facts and world-building are just enough to be used by characters as resolutions to problems of their own making mostly. Don't make me start on cringy, obvious dialogues.
Overall, I feel like it could have been done better. More seriously and less cheesy. But here we are and obviously something was done right but went right over my head.

Okay so many thoughts.

The beginning of the book didn’t immediately catch my attention and that was because of Dains annoying personality ruining everything. But once Xaden came into the picture I was hooked. He was exactly who Violet needed in order to build her up to become as powerful as she did. I also loved the way the author incorporated the side characters in order to give us a better understanding of who Violet and Xaden are as people. But I will never forgive the author for making us fall in love with Liam only for her to kill him not once but TWICE. Uncalled for.

Another thing that was great about this book was the plot twist that happened during threshing. I was fully expecting it to go the cliché route of her bonding to the smallest dragon. BUT when she bonded to the biggest baddest dragon in the squad I knew this book was going to get better. Now the second Tairn entered the story I was stunned by how much of a sassy baddie he was. His retorts to everything was my favorite part of the book and I think he surpassed Xaden in that department. We love a big protective dragon ready to burn anyone who touches his precious rider. And don’t get me started on how cute Andarna is, she’s like the golden retriever of dragons.

Throughout the story Violets morals are respectable and I understand why she didn’t have the heart to kill any of her opponents but the way she annihilated Jack was so satisfying. That man had it coming for him since chapter 1 and the fact that it was the first time her powers unleashed fully, just beautiful. However, I liked how she wasn’t overpowered after this incident and instead she still continued to make a lot of mistakes showing that she has so much room for growth as a rider.

Lastly, the slow burn was burning. I was on edge every chapter WAITING for something to happen between Violet and Xaden and when it finally did it was amazing. Xaden being so undone by Violet since the first time he met her is perfect. I just hate the whole redemption/second chance trope that’s going to take place in the sequel. Like we get it he lied/betrayed Violet BUT it was for the greater good of the people. Also the second plot twist just sprinkled in at the ending leaving us with more questions has me excited for what’s to come.

10/5 stars. Amazing. Perfect. Absolutely loved every second of this. I really enjoyed the narration and it made it so easy to fly through this book. The story is incredible and I still can’t stop thinking about it… is it too soon for a reread?? I also picked this for my Instagram Book Club for our May read, and it was a hit. I’m absolutely a Rebecca Yarros fan now!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was AMAZING and lived up to all the hype! I adored Violet and Xaden. This book has everything, adventure, action, slow burn romance and bad ass dragons. That ending was shocking and I am dying for the next book! I think I will be in a reading slump after this spectacular book!

Absolutely hooked. I could not put this book down. I can not wait for the next book. So much happened in this book and yet it feels like we’re just getting started. Between the dragons, war college, enemies at every turn and building angst action and spice this book was everything. The audiobook was fantastic and I loved every second. The narrators did such an amazing job bringing this story to life.

I'm hopeful that my copy was not the finished audiobook because the narrator slipped up on the names of the dragons and even Liam once. It only seemed to happen one slip per name, but it was very jarring when it occurred. Unfortunately for me, she also struggled to differentiate male voices from each other if they were talking to each other. The female voices were a bit more distinct. The big problem though was knowing the difference between when a character was talking out loud, talking to a dragon/with their mind or just thinking to themselves. It was hard to tell what the next character speaking would be responding to.

As for the actual content, this is definitely not YA. There was so much modern sounding cursing that it was difficult to remember that it was fantasy at times. I'm not sure if the author felt that the cursing flowed better than made up curses would have or if she thought that the audience would respond to it better, but I would have preferred something more suited to the setting (either archaic cursing or made up). The sex scenes were very detailed. I'm not complaining; just giving a warning for anyone who might not be interested.

I have two big gripes about the book. The first is about Violet's no kill policy. I was getting progressively more angry that the main female character seemed to be stuck on the idea that she shouldn't be so violent as to kill anyone. It was extremely frustrating that everyone else around her was just fine with the level of violence necessary to protect themselves or even her, and yet she wasn't. My biggest problem with it was that it read as Violet viewing killing or being willing to kill as unfeminine or immoral. I couldn't tell if the author agreed with Violet because she had her best friend Rhiannon being a competent female fighter willing to take people out. Dain and Xaden are clearly willing to hurt people in her defense. When Violet finally does kill someone, Xaden has to talk her down from being upset about it. Is she going to continue to worry about hurting non-venin?

The second is that the is another book that reads like half of a book rather than a complete book. I understand that publishers are unlikely to want a longer book than this one, even from an established author. However, splitting a book in two, in order to sell two books, or because you couldn't edit well enough to get the content into one book isn't good for readers. I hate being left hanging. The author didn't resolve any of the major plot points. This isn't a proper first book in a series. It just cuts of because there is a second book. The only redeeming feature of this particular case is that the second book is out in about 6 months, but that may not mean anything if there are more than two books.