Fourth Wing: Empyrean, Book 1

"You turned oranges into a weapon, Violence?" - Xaden RiorsonHigh fantasy, dragons, and an enemies-to-lovers romance in a world wrought with war? YES PLEASE! Okay, let's start at the beginning, the part before I even start reading the book. Fourth Wing is everywhere: Bookstagram, BookTok, everyone and their mother AND brother have read Fourth Wing. I was interested. I had been putting it off for fear that it would disappoint. Well...when I started reading, I was thinking "Yeah, a nice new young adult fantasy with dragons. I hope it's as good as Eragon!" Yes, I know I know...I found out very quickly that this is an adult fantasy and definitely NOT young adult. I could tell by the type font and layout, as if the sexuaI innuendos weren't enough right from the get-go! And man...were some of then so cringy. What force on this planet made me even think it was young adult?! Some of the innuendos and just the bickering, bantering type of dialogue was so cringy and awful that I had to read parts aloud to my husband for a serious laugh. It was like twelve-year-olds who have heard about $ex but haven't experienced it trying to talk about it. It was awful. Cringy. So terrible that I was affronted that I was still enjoying the book! One of the lines I remember most was something like "I want to climb him like a tree." Okay. I get what she means...but if you picture that particular simile...what DOES that even mean? There were better choices out there than...a tree...🤦‍♀️Cringe aspect incoming: While I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope, in fact one of my favorites, the way this was set up made the characters feel flatter than paper. We have our main character, Violet, whose small size is constantly emphasized for a good portion of the novel. Yes, thank you for telling us for the FORTIETH TIME that she is small and petite. Point taken. Cool. She is also warned early on about the traitor son, Xaden Riorson, who from the moment he sees her, emphasizes his need to kill her. Except...every time he has the chance, there's some dumb excuse as to why he didn't. And then all of a sudden, he's saving her from death MUTIPLE times, and then they are kissing. ⚔️ This is all well and good, or would be, IF there was more to the enemy aspect. There should have been more time taken to explore Xaden's own hatred of Violet, and vice-versa.At least it gets better. After about halfway through the book (roughly page 250), the cringe isn't there anymore. It's like the author became a better writer AS she was writing. The (human) characters finally started getting some dimension to them, and the cringe-worthy dialogue (with one exception about measuring size, though it's placement wasn't too bad) was no longer present. We finally get a little bit of Xaden's hatred-turned-passion toward Violet, but still not enough to see why he would want to kill Violet, as opposed to attempting to kill her mother, the main responsible party for his misery, instead. I know there will be more books to explore this later, but to make the true enemies-to-lovers feel, and for it to feel genuine, there should have been a bit more from the start. What truly makes this book shine is the dragons. Absolutely everything about the dragons. The series is named after their mysterious governing council (or what it is perceived as, though may be something else entirely), the Empyrean. The dragons are intriguing characters who all deserve more page time, especially Andarna and Sgaeyl, as well as the secondary characters dragons, which we don't get to see a whole lot of. With the dragons having their own governing system and being respected as the highest of beings, they certainly deserved more. The dragons also channel magic into their riders, and each rider manifests their own unique power based on their inner self. The magic system is enjoyable and works well for this world.There are two parts about the book that absolutely make it phenomenal: Threshing, and the last 50 pages of the novel.Threshing is the day when riders get to go out into the field and try to bond with a dragon. The dragon must pick the rider, of course, and not the other way around. No spoilers, but this scene comes somewhere between pages 120-180ish and is the part of the novel that truly had me hooked. I couldn't put it down! The last 50 pages of the novel are the exciting battle one waits for in this kind of book. Once again, no spoilers, but with references throughout and the multiple reveals during this stretch of reading make for an action-packed cliffhanger ending making the reader itch for more. I don't even know where this story will go from here. I know whatever happens, I'll be along for the ride and I know I'll have my wildest imaginings blown out of the water.Final consensus: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐💎Why? Overall, the entertainment value of this novel has great sway in my final rating. Despite complaining about cringey aspects, they offered great laugh-out-loud moments. Despite the flat characters at first, they definitely fill out a bit more later, and the thing is, one can't hate on that. It's only the beginning of the story (my understanding at the time of this blog post is that it is planned as a five book series). That dragons truly make this book phenomenal, and everything about the last 50 pages really brought this novel to become something more, to put forward the promise to an exciting war story with its fair share of romance...and loss. Yes...I even teared up a bit at one part. No matter what anyone tells you about the book, its entertainment value makes for a FIVE STAR DIAMOND of a novel... i.e. a MUST READ for all fantasy lovers and seekers of a top-tier book with dragons.

An extraordinary ride full of dragons, danger, shadow daddy enemies to lovers, friendship, lies and deception, and so much more!I absolutely loved this one so much!! I was interested and entertained the entire time! The danger, fear, friendship, love, tension, all of it! The characters were also so amazingly written! The plot was incredible and had its own uniqueness and the ending had me on my toes ready to dive until the next book!The plot:I thought it was so interesting that the main characters were studying at a war college that they could literally die during. Like what?! They had all these challenges they had to complete or lose their lives and not only did they have that danger they also had to watch out for fellow schoolmates who might off them. But it kept me on my toes nervous for Violet and all her friends and classmates. And we can't forget about the dragons and the huge role that they play in the story and plot. I love a plot where dragons are an integral part of the story!Violet:I loved her character! I loved seeing her growth throughout the book. I loved how she proved that she wasn't some fragile girl and she could and would find a way to hold her own. And I loved that her friends stood by her and helped her as well. I think she was a very well-rounded character. She loves her family and friends dearly, she's kind but can be ruthless at times when need be, and she's incredibly smart and witty. I loved her banter with Xaden and the fact that she didn't step down. Overall, great character!Xaden: Oh, the shadow daddy of all shadow daddies! I totally get all the hype for him now! Oh my did I love and enjoy his character. His wit, his banter, his sexiness, his teasing, his fierceness, and everything in between. He's everything you want to see in a MMC. I loved his nickname "Violence" for Violet. I also can't wait to see more of his growth to come and everything else he has up his sleeve!Violet's friends:I loved and adored Violet's friends they each had their quirks and were so loyal and loving to her. I'm still heartbroken over a certain someone IYKYK. I think they all played a great part in the storyline and her development. I'm excited to see what comes next for them, hopefully, it's some good.Dragons: I loved the various dragons and how there were different species per day with different colors, tails, traits, etc. I loved that we got to know what they were thinking and saying. I thought that was really cool and unique. I hope we get more of them in the next one!Romance and spice:Man should this book write notes on how to do an enemies to lovers with witty banter and tension amazingly. There was tension, build-up, banter, and so much more. And man did it get steamy and spicy in this one! The detail was to die for. Loved the MMC and FMC's romance with a passion!Tropes:• Dragons• War college• Shadow daddy• Enemies to Lovers• You can talk in my head• Tension and witty banter• You 💀, I 💀• Spicy• Grief... And more!Check trigger warnings!

Amazing book. I am completely obsessed. It starts off a bit slow, but only because the author is providing context, world-building, and is giving a backstory on the main characters, which I appreciated. I love the idea of a magical war college and dragon riders. I love that gryphons and wyverns are also part of the list of magical creatures. While some of the magical concepts in this book may sound familiar if you read a lot of fantasy novels like I do, this plot and these characters are completely different from anything I've ever read before. I really like that the author wrote a female main character who is intelligent, isn't a damsel in distress, and has a good sense of sarcasm! And the romance in this book... whew. Don't even get me started. All I can say is... wow! Very well-written. I don't want to give any spoilers, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. 🥵 I also really enjoyed the plot twists toward the end of the book. I definitely did not see some of it coming, and now I'm really looking forward to reading Iron Flame and Onyx Storm even more!If you like Harry Potter and Hunger Games, and also like a spicy read, you will thoroughly enjoy Fourth Wing. Rebecca Yarros' writing is really great. She will be one of my "automatic-buy" authors from now on. 🤩Overall rating : 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Spice rating: 5/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶