I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I’ve always been a big fan of dragons, so I’m always automatically interested in any book involving them. Despite this, there aren’t actually all that many dragon books I actually really love, because I feel like dragon books often expect to be carried by the fact they have dragons, and the rest of the story can easily fall flat. Luckily, that’s not the case at all for Fourth Wing.

I went into this book with the same sort of expectations I go into for every dragon book, and had honestly forgotten about the magic school aspect of all of it. Needless to say, I was very quickly reminded that there was going to be so much more to this story and world than just dragons, and my excitement shot up. While it did take me about 10-20% to be super into the book, once I’d gotten into it, there was no escaping. I read 52% of this book in a single sitting, and probably would’ve finished it had it not been 2 am, with at least 4 hours in my audiobook still. I often make bad decisions when it comes to reading, but no part of me could justify skipping the entire night (even though I desperately wanted to!)

If I had to compare Fourth Wing based on how it felt to read it, I’d say the following: the dragons and bonds of Fireborne, the deadly atmosphere and survival elements of A Deadly Education, the training and tension of the beginning of The Poppy War (the classes and learning aspect of it, done under the shadow of impending war), and a romance that’s as addictive as From Blood and Ash (with better communication and more depth). It’s an odd mix for sure, but it’s honestly the best way I can describe this book. It’s entirely unique, and yet hits those same feelings that these other books gave me.

I also absolutely adore the audiobook, and I’m still forever grateful I was approved for an advanced copy of it. Something about the narrator truly brought the book to life, and it made the already strong narration even stronger. Violet in general is quite a strong narrator, so she needed someone that could truly carry the weight of her character. I felt like the narrator did a fantastic job of truly bringing to life all of Violet’s emotions, and it made some tough scenes hit even harder. I will definitely be continuing this series as audiobooks!

Overall, though, this book’s main strength is how genuine it felt. Often, I can be invested in a book but not feel the emotions of the main character quite as strongly as they seem to be feeling them. I’ll feel sad or scared, but I won’t feel miserable or terrified. Fourth Wing is an exception here, and I loved how strong a connection I was able to create with the characters, especially Violet. I felt such utter joy during some scenes, and utter despair in others, and I’ve rarely been as terrified while reading a book as I was during moments in this one. Violet just had so much depth, and it has me so excited (and scared if I’m honest) for the next books in this series and world.