Book Report: Is it hot in here?

When I put Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros on hold at my local library it was because my smart, forty-something daughter had RAVED about it. It’s a Fantasy and well outside my usual Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction lanes. However, as I began reading, familiar themes began to emerge.

Because Navarre is a mythical place, the world-building could be a steep climb for the reader, but Yarros accomplishes it by artfully beginning each chapter with a snippet of arcane law or journal. Then she ends each chapter with a deliciously skillful and compelling cliffhanger. Yes, there are supernatural powers and dragons, but also a very sexy forbidden romance that sets off actual lightning! Think Harry Potter, but not for children.

Navarre is at war with rebels and every twenty-year-old is conscripted into the effort to put down the uprising. They will join the Infantry, Healers, Scribes, or Riders. The heroine, Violet has trained for years to become a Scribe—a historian and recorder–a keeper of all knowledge, as her father had been. She’s intelligent but tiny and prone to injuries. Scribe is a perfect fit. Nonetheless and without any warning or preparation, the General—who happens to be Violet’s mother–orders her to the Riders Quadrant. She must become a Rider or literally die trying.

Needless to say, she’s a fish out of water. No one expects her to survive the brutal and deadly physical challenges of the War College and yet…

“Fascinating. You look all frail and breakable, but you’re really a violent little thing, aren’t you?”

And then there are the unwanted and inappropriate lustful feelings toward Xaden, the leader of the “bad boys.”

“Beautiful. Fucking. Asshole. My breath catches and my body warms, the traitorous bitch. You are not attracted to toxic men, I remind myself, and yet, here I am, getting all attracted.”

Not only does Violet have strong and decidedly unhelpful feelings about Xaden, but she also notices that something is wrong with the huge library. A book of ancient stories she and her father had read together is nowhere to be found. She worries about why and what will happen if knowledge is erased. Is it linked to the rebellion? If so, which side is responsible?

“It only takes one desperate generation to change history—even erase it…. One generation to change the text. One generation chooses to teach that text. The next grows, and the lie becomes history.”

This theme echoes current real-world efforts by conservative factions in the US to rewrite history and ban books. Both history and literature tell us who we are and who we have been, and therefore shape who we become.

I won’t spoil the novel for readers by revealing anything other than my recommendation. Just know that there are plenty of twists and surprises in The Fourth Wing. It is just the first in a series, so there is more adventure, magic, and sexy romance in my reading future. Iron Flame releases in November.