Rowan
LightNews LightNews
jereton.bsky.social
Rowan
@jereton.bsky.social
41 followers 340 following 45 posts
23, He/him pronouns, not really sure what I'm doing here just yet but I'm having fun :3
Posts Replies Media Videos
jereton.bsky.social
I finished Fourth Wing yesterday, I thought I'd go ahead and write a little something regarding my thoughts about it! Please remember that this is all subjective and purely my own opinion, but I'd be more than happy to hear how others felt about the book! Spoilers ahoy most likely :p

💙📚 #BookSky
The Good - I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and how Yarros made a pretty solid effort to show the readers things and subtly weave them in instead of monologuing for paragraphs at a time. I'm having a lot of fun with this depiction of dragons (one of my biggest interests, and the reason why I picked up the book to begin with!). It starts off pretty simple, roping you in in a way that's compelling and interesting, and then before you know it, you're embroiled in the plot and super invested in certain plotlines. Though the book is mostly focused on a straight couple (two if you’re counting the dragons), there is also some queer representation sprinkled throughout, which is nice to see. I recall a canon they/them pronoun user, and some m/m and f/f relationships mentioned, but not really focused on due to everything being more about our main character. I liked the perspective the book was written from, it gives us an insight into Violet’s mind and I guess could explain away a lot of my qualms with the book as her being an example of something adjacent to an unreliable narrator. I feel like she’s very close to stepping out of the Y/A protagonist mould, but that remains to be seen as I delve into the next book(s). It was also really interesting to see a main character with an explicitly written disability, and her coping with that without just going through some magical transformation that ‘fixes’ her just to write it off. I don’t have a lot of experience with these particular kinds of disabilities, so I don’t really feel as if I have a place to really pass judgement or speak about it much - I’d love to hear if anyone else has any opinions or knowledge though! The Bad - The book is about thirty percent full of this compelling plot and interesting worldbuilding, and the other seventy is pretty much just Violet and Xaden making goo-goo eyes at one another, Violet thirsting over Xaden, Violet and Xaden being in this on-again off-again relationship that is Forbidden because of ~reasons~, Violet and Xaden having sexual tension, Violet and Xaden arguing, etc etc etc. While I enjoyed some of their scenes (“We’ve already reached mutually assured destruction status.” is perhaps one of my favourite ship lines for them), some of it very much felt shoehorned in and written over the top of what could’ve been saved for more plot relevant or compelling stuff. As someone who is good at picking up on patterns, this particular writing quirk had me picking up on twists very easily. The moment we start hearing more about a certain character, their past and family and quirks, I knew they’d die within the next few pages (or chapters at the very most). Then, lo and behold, they did. This happened several times throughout the book - it felt like a bit of a weird writing choice to me, as opposed to building up our attachment gradually all the way through the book. I think there was definitely more that could’ve been done for all the characters if the perspective had allowed a little focus on things outside of Violet and Xaden going through their ‘steamy forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance’ arc. The compelling friendships are mostly built during time-skips (which range from weeks to months), and sometimes it feels like there have been scenes cut out to rearrange for paragraphs of Violet and Xaden making eye contact across the room or having sassy conversations. I’m sure it’s an enjoyable aspect for some, but I personally found it a little repetitive and predictable. The Overall - Overall, I think the book was a really enjoyable experience! I'm pretty bad at rating these kinds of things but I'd give it a 7/10, maybe a 6 if I were to be really critical and perhaps a little nitpicky, but this is more because of my own personal preferences and quirks as opposed to the writing of the book itself. I can be someone who enjoys romance, but it seems I underestimated just how much there would be in this book. (Kind of on me I guess, because I didn’t find out about the whole ‘TikTok Popular Steamy Romance’ aspect until well after I’d bought it). I think there was just a little too much focus on it for my taste in particular! I’m here for the dragons damnit!
October 19, 2024 at 11:28 AM