Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

★★★½

Genres: New Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal / Supernatural

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Possessive Hero, Competent Heroine, Magic, School/College

I was mostly pretty neutral about this book. I liked the worldbuilding, and the use of dragon bonds to power magic was interesting. I liked our heroine, Violet, moreso in the first half. Seeing her overcome physical disadvantages and using her intelligence to defeat others was a nice change of pace.

That being said, it started to feel like Violet was already in danger of becoming overpowered by the end of the book, and this is only book one, so that definitely makes me wonder about future books. 

I also felt like the romance between Xaden and Violet was sort of underdeveloped. At the rate things were moving between them, I kind of expected their romance to be a slower burn over multiple books, but in the last hundred pages or so, suddenly it switched gears and apparently they’re in love. 

This probably would have been a solid 3-star read for me, but I added half a star for the plot revelations at the end, which I liked. 

Safety Stats:

Ages:

Violet is 20, Xaden is 23.

Cheating:

None.

Other Man/Other Woman:

At the start of the book, Violet thinks she has feelings for her childhood best friend, Dain. There’s a kiss between them, but Violet realizes she isn’t into him after all.

Separation:

Violet and Xaden aren’t exactly a couple in this book until closer to the end, so they do get separated for a few days at a time for various reasons.

Triggers:

Some mentions of war and death. Violet is injured several times, including broken bones.

HEA/HFN?:

Cliffhanger, book 1 in a series.