Review: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1)

Title: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1)
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: RB Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: May 2, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

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.

Review:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail, the daughter of the commanding general, was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant and live a quiet and safe life. Her mother orders her to join the Riders Quadrant, which has a high death rate, especially for someone like Violet who hasn’t had any training for it. Not only does Violet’s small, brittle body make her unlikely to bond with a dragon, with her famous last name, she’s the target of other students in her quadrant. Xaden Riorson is the wingleader of her quadrant, and he has a reason to not like Violet. However, Violet defies all the odds when it comes to training and bonding with a dragon. She must do anything she can to survive. 

This book definitely lived up to the hype! There was a great slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance which I loved! I listened to the audiobook and read a physical copy. I found it a little difficult to follow the audiobook, mostly because it was such a complex world to enter. I enjoyed the physical book much more. There were shocking twists at the end, including a huge cliffhanger ending. I’m so glad that I only have to wait a few months for the next book in the series!

Fourth Wing is an amazing new dragon-filled fantasy!

Thank you RB Media for providing an audio arc of this book!

Content warnings: death of parent, broken bones, murder

Have you read Fourth Wing? What did you think of it?