So I’m reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros as part of my “research” as to why people keep saying my books feel young-adultish even though the characters are all aged from the late 20s to middle 40s (except for the Jewel Chronicles). Also to figure out why I can’t break through even after twenty-one published books, lol.
You might (or not) know that Yarros’s book went so viral that even Amazon sold out of her physical books. I don’t think that’s happened since Harry Potter and that was before e-books.
Anyway, this book is listed as New Adult since the main character is 26 years old even though officially NA is college age and at 26 you’re officially a full-fledged adult.
I’m about 40% into the book and here’s what I think so far, with the following caveat: I couldn’t grab a physical copy so I got the audio book. I’m willing to accept that maybe the voice actress has something to do with how I feel. She’s great and very expressive but she sounds pretty young, like middle grade or low-YA young to me.
I’m loving the story so far. It has action, a lot of humor (which I love), it hints at romance but nothing too solid as yet, it has an outcast/underdog as the main character, dragons, no fear of being dark-ish. It’s definitely a page-turner and well-written. The characters are well-developed and the worldbuilding is great.
But there are a few things I don’t understand. I don’t understand the hype. It’s very good but I have read books that were as good or better without half the hype (like Laura Sebastian’s books). Did the publisher (Entangled) have something to do with it? Or did she just get lucky when some big Booktokers went bananas over the book (and OMG did they ever)?
I also don’t understand (I know I shouldn’t compare, but I am researching, remember?) why my books have been dubbed “young-adultish”, but when hers sound very young nobody seems to notice? I haven’t got to the alleged sexy-parts so maybe that’s why? If you have read any of the popular academy books, this one fits well within the sub-genre but with dragons (and I agree that’s a huge plus, lol).
It’s being hailed as “a fantasy like you’ve never read before” but really—and again, nothing against it because I’m loving it—it HAS been done before. It has a lot of the Hunger Games vibe but with dragons (have you noticed a pattern? LOL). After all everything has been done before, right? Authors just put their twist in old ideas, old stories. That’s where the originality comes to play. And yes, Yarros has game for sure.
And as fantasies go this one is very romance trope-heavy (nothing wrong with that. I personally love it). So far we can smell enemies to lovers, underdog to the win, forced proximity, love/comfort, found family and a few others.
I will definitely return here with a full review once I’m finished reading the book. I’m excited to see what happens and I do hope I get surprised (I do love a good plot surprise). So far Yarros has indeed surprised me once, but as for the rest of the story it has been rather predictable so far: young, small, plain bookish girl with a boatload of sass and guts who defies all odds by becoming the strongest warrior of all. Let’s see how the rest goes, shall we?
*If you read it, feel free to comment below but please no spoilers.*
Author Natalina Reis 