The Paper Forest

Book: Fourth Wing

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis: While twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail spent her entire life training to enter the Scribes Quadrant at Basgaith War College, her mother, the commanding general of the college, had other plans. Commander Sorrengail orders Violet to join the most dangerous quadrant of all, the dragon riders. In addition to battling her chronic health condition, Violet must survive the dragons who would kill her for her fragility, her fellow riders who would kill for a chance at success, and Xaden Riorson, who would kill her just for being a Sorrengail. Her only options are to graduate… or die.

Dragon riders are pivotal in Navarre’s four-hundred-year war with Poromiel, a nation of griffon riders. As the endless war rages on, it soon becomes more deadly than ever before. The wards around Navarre are beginning to wane, leaving the country more exposed than ever. As Violet progresses through her first year, she soon begins to suspect that Navarre’s leadership harbors terrible secrets.  

Review: I highly recommend Fourth Wing to anyone who loves fantasy or romantasy. Although I came into the book with some skepticism, as I have been burned by bad BookTok recommendations before, I absolutely loved Fourth Wing. I really enjoyed the world building of Fourth Wing, especially the setting of a military college in a country embroiled in a never-ending war. Through the eyes of the main character, Violet, we get to see the propaganda used to get the young adults of Navarre to voluntarily enlist.

One of the things I loved the most about Fourth Wing is the character of Violet. Rather than having Violet be a competent badass dragon rider and fighter right off the bat, we get to see her grow and change as a person and rider. Incredibly smart and clever, Violet adapts to her surroundings with a little help from loyal squad mates. Additionally, she refuses to let her health condition define her or other people limit her potential. While Violet does have a love interest, romance comes secondary to the overall plot.

When Fourth Wing first came out, I saw several BookTok creators deriding the disability representation in the novel. One of the common complaints centered around numerous secondary characters constantly talking about Violet’s fragility and how dragons would never bond a “weakling” like her. Because of this, the creators claimed that the book was ableist and should be boycotted. However, the author herself has stated that she suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which gives her invaluable insight into how people like Violet are treated in society. As a woman with seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis, it was a refreshing change to have a main character with a disability that wasn’t her sole defining characteristic.

If you do pick up Fourth Wing please keep in mind the novel contains darker elements. As Violet attends a war college, death happens frequently and without warning.

***** Warning!!! Spoilers Ahead: Proceed with Caution*****

Fuck you, Dain. You know what you did.