*I stretch my arms overhead and give a long yawn. Tea is most certainly needed for today. I pad my slippered feet to the kitchen and put on a kettle, waiting for the whistle. I prepare my tea and shuffle to my shelves, taking a glance at my pride and joy. My eyes snag on a copy of my first read of the year. I put my tea on the shelf and pick it up, giving it a quick flip through. I take the book and my tea back to my chambers. My room is painted a pale pink, like a budding flower, and it holds my bed, wardrobe, chest, and desk, all of which are a dark wood. I take a seat at my desk and pull the baby blue typewriter, a gift from a close friend, closer to me and stare at the book. Then, I start to type.**

For my first review, I decided to discuss the first book I read this year. The first book that I finished this year was Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I didn’t really have high expectations for this book going into it. When I decide to read a book, it is for one of a few reasons: I think I am going to enjoy it, the premise is interesting enough to make me read it, it was a gift so I want to give it a try because I already have it, or it’s by an author I usually enjoy, so even if the book doesn’t fully interest me, I want to try it because I like the author. I never pick up a book because it is popular unless it’s something that I actually want to read. That being said, there have been probably less than five books where I have done this, and Fourth Wing is one of them.

I bought the book around November and finally picked it up at the end of December. Again, this was a book I picked up solely for the hype so I didn’t have any amazing expectations, but I was definitely proven wrong. I am someone that prefers and primarily reads books in the young adult genre, so adult is always a bit intimidating to get into, especially adult fantasy, which I have barely read. If you somehow missed what this book is about, it follows twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail. She is smaller and frailer than everyone else, but is forced into the riders’ quadrant of Basgiath War College. As this is a war college, the stakes are high, as well as the chance of death. There are many obstacles to complete, people to fight, and if you make it, you have the chance to bond with a dragon. 

I surprisingly really enjoyed my time reading this book. I thought that the story was very engaging and I kept wanting to read more. I have never read a book like this, so there were many new elements to me, such as the war college and dragon aspects. I also really enjoyed the characters. Violet was a great, strong character because she was trying to complete the challenges thrown her way, without yielding, even though her body wouldn’t be thought to fare well in the quadrant. I loved Xaden and seeing his interactions with Violet. His cold demeanor made him a character that I really loved reading about, and I was always looking forward to when he would appear. The dragons also really made this book. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the personalities of our main dragons were phenomenal and they were such amazing characters. We also had a lot of great side characters, such as Rhi, Liam, Sawyer, and Ridoc, who were all present throughout the entirety of the book, not being overshadowed by the plot, or more importantly, the subplots of romance we get in the story.

This is one of those books where you feel like you lived a lifetime with these characters in about five hundred pages. It may be because the story takes place over the course of a year, but it feels like we spent so much time with them. It was also really nice to see Violet’s growth throughout the book. We can see her get stronger and braver the more time she spends at Basgiath. There was also a lot of action in this book, which may account for the feeling of spending a lot of time with the characters. It always felt like there was something happening. Even if we were in a scene with lower stakes, the book never felt slow.

Overall, I felt like this was a very solid story and I plan on continuing the series. As for my rating, I gave this 4/5 stars. I would definitely recommend this if you haven’t read it yet.

**One last bell sounds as I reach the end of the line, and I push the carriage back to the beginning. I pull my typed review from the typewriter and give it a quick read, making sure that everything is spelled correctly and I adequately expressed my thoughts.**

xoxo,

Just another reader