From the back of the book:
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.
Alliances will be forged. Lives will be lost. Traitors will become allies . . . or even lovers. But sleep with one eye open because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
My thoughts:
Yarros has captured something special in Fourth Wing that cannot quite be put into words. For me this is more than five stars, 10/5 is more accurate.
Why?
In my humble opinion everything about this story is executed to perfection. The language is down to earth and accessible without being juvenile. The pacing is flawless, you are straight into the action so you are hooked from the off. Yet there is a good variation of peril interspersed with everyday life so that you have some respite from the onslaught that Violet is continually subjected too.
Violet in herself is a compelling main character, I loved how she was written. I feel like there can be a tendency to want our female main characters ‘badass’, but that is interpreted as them being purposefully disagreeable. Which ends up being plain annoying. Violent didn’t do the textbook, ‘of course she is going to go ahead and do the wrong thing’ she used her brain. Yay! I thought it was a master stroke that she wasn’t your normal, she’s so strong and badass. Yes, she was totally badass but in her own way.
This was also one of the best enemies to lovers I have read. These were inherited enemies; they should have hated each other, but those feelings were never fully their own and the environment of the school means that guards must always be held up. So pretty much everyone can be construed as an enemy. Which just let the chemistry sizzle.
Again, there is something about magical schools that just pulls people in. Maybe it is the sense of routine and normalcy juxtaposed with magic and the other worldly that is so appealing to readers. We have all been to school, but dragon school? How cool would that be (putting all the death aside!)
To be honest, this book totally had me at grumpy dragons and it still has me know, bring on November and book 2!