A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without its dragon is dead.
We all know the impact that TikTok has on promoting products. It’s the one platform where almost anything can go viral. Just look at the impact of BookTok — book sales have increased wildly because of the platform, and more people are being drawn to reading because of it.
So many authors and books have gone viral on BookTok — Colleen Hoover, Sarah J. Maas, Madeline Miller, R.F. Kuang, Tahereh Mafi… the list goes on. Every month, BookTok seems to organically determine an unofficial Book of the Month across the entire platform and this month, it appears to be Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros that has taken the spotlight.
At the time of this article, Fourth Wing has nearly 100,000 ratings and 25,000 reviews, with a seriously impressive overall rating of 4.7 stars on goodreads. Its first run has sold out everywhere, and books across all major and most local shops are on backorder. All of this in just six weeks since its publication date. Fourth Wing has earned countless rave reviews, to the point where I had to filter for negative ones just to find them.
This week, I quickly finished up Tower of Dawn (I wish I could say I really enjoyed it, but I had been dreading reading it from the start — more on that another time) so that I could get to Fourth Wing before my expectations rose beyond the book’s ability to live up to them.
I want to preface this review by saying that the way I determine a rating for a book depends largely on my enjoyment of it, and less so on whether the book was technically good. That is, stellar writing and ironclad plots aren’t all that important to me if I enjoy a book despite its flaws.
Here’s the thing about Fourth Wing: it is good. It’s popular for a reason. It’s exciting and fast-paced. It contains so many tropes that romantasy readers die for. It’s an easy read… and for those exact reasons, I think it’s also the kind of book that will inevitably fail to live up to the hype for some readers.
Fourth Wing isn’t the most complex fantasy novel out there. The worldbuilding admittedly leaves much to be desired. The character development does, too. The plot is unfortunately very predictable, the dialogue can be a bit cringey and unrealistic (not to mention dramatic enough that you can’t help but roll your eyes at the characters every now and again). Yarros tends to leave little room for readers to think and process on their own. So, if you’re the reader that absolutely needs intense worldbuilding, characters with profound emotional and psychological depth, thrilling politics and complex magic systems… then Fourth Wing is likely not for you. That being said, Fourth Wing is allegedly plotted out for 5 books so there is hope yet that we get greater depth from the next books in the series.
This is not to say that what the book does well is overshadowed by its flaws. If you’re the kind of reader that likes a fast-paced, exciting plot and if you don’t like to trudge through countless page after page of worldbuilding, then Fourth Wing will capture you from its first paragraph. The main character is likeable (surprisingly rare), the romance is exciting, the plot is thrilling to read. It’s the kind of book you can binge in a couple of sittings (also rare for fantasy).
I enjoyed Fourth Wing because it captured me from the start. Is it a masterpiece? Is it profound and thought-provoking? Is it likely to someday be considered a classic? No. But I have never believed that a book has to be any of those things to be good. There is merit in being entertaining, accessible, exciting, and fun to read. Not every book has to put you through the ringer to be worth your time. I think that Fourth Wing is a book that is certainly worth the time it takes to read, regardless of its depth or complexity. I devoured Fourth Wing from cover to cover in 3 sittings (and it would have been two if I wasn’t so reluctant to get to the end — I wanted to sit with it just a little while longer), which is why it has earned a 4.5/5 for me. I was enraptured the whole time.
So, is it worth the hype? The answer depends largely on the kind of reader you are. If you read for the vibes, you like enemies-to-lovers, you enjoy a healthy mix of both romance and fantasy in your romantasy… then yes, a million times. It absolutely is.
If, on the other hand, you like books that are challenging and thought-provoking, you can’t stand stunted dialogue, or you prefer fade-to-blacks over explicit scenes… then no, it probably isn’t worth its hype for you.
What it has:
- dragons, of course
- fast pacing
- exciting plot
- interesting characters
- gorgeous setting (magic, college, libraries)
- some smut (two scenes, both relatively explicit but not excessive)
What it’s missing:
- in-depth worldbuilding
- true character development
- multidimensional villains
- unpredictable plot points
Spice level: 1.5/5
Overall rating: 4.5/5 — not perfect, but still very enjoyable
