Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
- Read an installment of a series.
- Share your review/recommendation below.
- Include the title, author and series name.
My Series Sunday pick is Fourth Wing, the first book in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros. Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail prepared her whole life to enter the Scribe Quandrant—a quiet safe life of books and history. But her tough-as-talons mother has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become dragon riders.
Never mind that Violet's bones are brittle and her stature petite. No worries that there are fewer dragons willing to bond so cadets will kill to better their own chances. And the rest would kill her just because of her last name, like Xaden Riorson—the ruthless wingleader of the Riders Quadrant. Yet the war outside the kingdom's failing protective wards grows more deadly and Violet suspects leadership is hiding a secret. It seems the only way out of Basgiath War College is to graduate or die.
"Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it towards the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs—on the probabilities." ~ pg. 130
I am not into fantasy. I am not a big romance reader. But I do love me some dragons. And I most certainly listen to my Bookhearts when they make a recommendation. I cannot deny I am a sucker for an awesome cover that looks good on display. So this is how the holiday hardcover edition of Fourth Wing with a stunning revamped cover, black sprayed edges, new endpages, detailed map and bonus chapters ended up in my hands. If nothing else, I thought, this book will look pretty on my bookshelf.
BAYBEEEE, once I started reading though...unputdownable! I was lost in the halls of Basgiath War College. No amount of BookTok videos prepared me for the enemies-to-lovers-to-chosen-family trope. I did not expect to fall in love with the dragons. I did not believe my heart would connect to fictional characters to the point I would shed a tear, cringe, hoot and holler. I read over 500 pages of this world that Rebecca Yarros masterfully built, stayed up many a night and still wanted more.
When it comes to Fourth Wing, it deserves every sharp point of these five stars, every curve of these five hearts! This novel is brutally good! Believe the hype. Instead of me saying more, I am going to share my live updates and favorite quotes then let you decide whether it is worth adding to your TBR. I will be waiting here to welcome you aboard The Empyrean fly or die skies.
Title: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Published: May 2023
Pages: 518
Edition: Holiday Hardcover
Genre: Romantasy
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤