Fourth Wing

The novel is very well written. I think targeted at young adults. Everyone is really horny, but they are at the right age for it, so it makes sense. Even when the characters act "dumb", it's the mistakes everyone makes out of emotion and youth. The story developments are a bit predictable. Not in an unpleasant way, necessarily, but everything is abundantly foreshadowed. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but this is well produced. I wouldn't be surprised if this were optioned to become a series or a movie down the line, because the material would work for that.

Ugh. Where do I even start. Yes, the premise of the book is very promising. But the prose is so poorly written. It's as if the author just kept filling up her word count for the day. Also, there are many plot holes. I can accept flawed characters, but the MC couldn't get any more generic and cliché. I tried to give it time to see if it improves but no it just the same over and over. I really wanted this to work for me but unfortunately it didn't.

Fourth Wing was a wild ride. I enjoyed the dragon-centered fantasy adventure and the romance. The narrative style is a bit more crass and profane* than I prefer, but I was easily pulled in by the world, story, and characters. And, of course, the dragons! I think I hit the point of “can’t put it down” at about the 60% mark. I flew through it and preordered the sequel.

It feels like the entire internet is reading Fourth Wing this summer, which is definitely part of the fun.

*The narrative style was a big contrast to the book that I read before this, The Secret Book of Flora Lee, which is more of a lyrical, atmospheric prose style of book.