shivani_n's reviews
384 reviews

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight? If not, I'm a fool because you are magnificently beautiful."

Fourth wing is like if The Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, Harry Potter, and How to Train Your Dragon all had a fivesome and somehow produced a weird, smutty baby. As you can imagine, the result was not pretty. What with all the hype around this book, I was expecting a cool fantasy universe with a good enemies to lovers romance. What I got, however, was a sloppy, unoriginal insta-love book with a boring plot.

Let's get into my main problems with Fourth Wing:

1. THE LACK OF WORLDBUILDING?? OH MY GOD it pissed me off so much... why was NOTHING EXPLAINED??? I was lost. I feel like the author was trying desperately to pack the novel with a bunch of lore about the dragons and its kingdoms within the dialogue and the overall backdrop of the novel plus the quotation marks at the beginning of each chapter, but it ultimately was not useful or interesting at ALL. In fact, I just did not have a good understanding of the kingdoms and its customs. So many of the rules were confusing, didn't add up or make sense, and there were a few plot holes. For example, Navarre is supposed to be at war, yet they are willing to let multiple young, physically fit citizens die during training at the war college rather than during real battle. Yes, I know that the riders make up a small percentage of the overall college but it also made no sense how the professors just let the kids murder each other and basically do whatever they wanted? It just seemed unrealistic to me (yes I'm aware it's fantasy so obviously it is not going to be rooted in the real world, but to me this is just a flaw in the writing and structuring of the book as a whole).

2. Literally nothing in this book is original. Main character whose dad died, has a sister and a not-so-present mother, and has to fight in a battle she never wanted to in the first place? Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. The silver hair? Paedyn Gray from Powerless. The training and obstacle courses in order to prove yourself worthy of being accepted/strong? The Hunger Games and Divergent. Childhood friend who the main character lowkey has a thing for but not really because she meets a better, cooler love interest later on? Idk sounds a lot like Katniss and Gale from The Hunger Games to me! The divisions/sections of the college such as riders, healers, scribes, and infantry which all have distinct jobs and personality traits? It's LITERALLY DIVERGENT. The "chosen one" type character who is "brilliant" and super smart and cunning but no one expected them to be so powerful? Harry Potter. Characters accidentally breaking the bed during sex due to their special powers that make their orgasms just oh so earth shattering? Twilight! 

Everything was so damn cliché and it felt like reading a bundle of different tropes and plot lines copied from other popular novels of this genre. The dragon concept was cool but the execution just fell so flat because there was, as I mentioned, no real worldbuilding. As a result of this, every "plot twist" was ridiculously predictable.

3. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers book, but this is simply not the case. Violet and Xaden were never really enemies. They pretty much wanted to get in each other's pants from the moment they saw each other. There wasn't even any development of them "hating" each other to them loving each other because it was so clear they were always obsessed with each other and all their encounters were flirty. Sure, they bickered in the beginning, but there was always an attraction which was VERY explicitly voiced in Violet's internal monologue lmao. Even though I do think the romance was probably the best thing about Fourth Wing (the bar is low), it was WAY too insta-lovey for me. 

4. Rebecca Yarros's writing is SOOOO CRINGEY, to the point where there were multiple times I physically recoiled in disgust. Like what do you mean Xaden's nickname for Violet is Violence? I'm throwing up as we speak. Every time he called her that it was so cringey and stupid. Also, the use of the F word was just unnecessarily frequent. The amount of times the author would punctuate for emphasis was very annoying. For example: "Fuck. Him." or "Brilliant. Fucking. Woman." I was ICKED OUTTTTT. Also this is just a small nit-picky thing but why were the names in this book so weird and inconsistent? First you have weird shit like Tairneanach and Xaden and Ridoc and Jesinia and Andarna, and then there's just... Jack and Dylan lmao. It was just kind of strange to me; if the author was going for a specific vibe she should have just stuck with it in my opinion. 

Here are the only two things I somewhat liked about the book:
1. SOME of the scenes between Violet and Xaden were pretty cute. Xaden fell first AND he fell harder for real. The smut was not bad. Nothing toe-curling or anything, but not bad.

2. The dragons and the side characters were kind of funny sometimes.

If you just want to read a mildly smutty book involving dragons, go for it, but I would not recommend this to anyone. There is such a large variety of better fantasy out there!

i liked this book!! very poignant reflection on making a life in the arts as well as the different kinds of relationships that we go through in life. very elegant prose that was smooth and easy to read, but some really punchy lines that stick with you. glad to start off my 2025 reading on a positive note with this one :) 

“out of all the people i’ve met, all the things i’ve wanted, the places i’ve been, none has ever felt as necessary as you do. because i love you. i love you in a way i didn’t think i was capable of. i love you because you showed me how to fall in love. and i don’t regret it, rue. i wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

I’M GAGGED THIS WAS SO GOOD, 4.5 stars tbh. i read this in one sitting on a plane lol. this was very different from hazelwood’s usual romance books, but i actually really liked it!! i didn’t mine that rue and eli’s relationship was kind of a fast burn because i feel like it made sense for their characters and felt so natural. and also the SMUT?? HELLO??? this is some of the most filthy yet most romantic and intimate stuff i’ve ever read like damn my jaw was on the floor and that’s all i’ll say about that..

the way eli is literally obsessed and on his knees for rue is SOOOOOOOO CUTE i was actually giggling so much i had to snap the book shut and take a deep breath!!! 

this book is so so so profoundly stupid. why did i read this??? i’m struggling to comprehend how this is the same author that wrote archer’s voice (one of my favourite romance books). i fear i’m never reading another one of mia sheridan’s books again because this was garbage and has officially given me the ick 😭

some scattered thoughts: 

why did he call her his little witch. it was so weird.

she kept obsessing over his “maleness” like girl i get it masculinity is hot but CALM DOWN.

the only good parts were the smut (and that’s being generous) !! there were a few cute moments here and there too but they were overshadowed by how cringey the writing was…

the side characters were so useless and added nothing to the book. 

there was literally no character depth. grayson is a troubled guy who lashes out a lot bc neither of his parents loved him and also he went to prison blah blah. and kira is just.. there i guess and she has daddy issues. i also didn’t gaf about grayson’s vineyard which was supposed to be a very important part of the book. 

the plot was confusing sometimes as well?? there was just WAYY too much going on, especially because it was all crammed within the last 50 pages. vanessa and shane’s relationship, the drama with cooper and kira’s father, shane’s whole prison backstory, the vineyard, i don’t even know at this point. i was confused and annoyed half the time 💀

grayson and kira fell in love way too fast. where was the slow burn? the pining? the having to prove the legitimacy of your marriage to others?? i did not get what i signed up for smh. 

overall i would not recommend this to anyone.. there are soooo many better romance books to read!!

this book is EXCELLENT. truly one of the easiest 5 stars i've ever given.

i remember reading the blurb hoping that it would make me feel something similar to how if we were villains by ML rio made me feel, since the dark academia vibes and plot are similar. it totally lived up to my expectations!! while nothing will ever compare to the masterpiece that is if we were villains, in my dreams i hold a knife is still fantastic.

i loved that it was so character focused, but that it still had a really interesting plot that made you want to never put the book down, it was that addicting. i also loved the writing style and how the author chose to let all the events unfold; i'm a big fan of dual timelines. the author would hit you with the most gut punching shocks in such a subtle fashion, which made the plot twists all the more insane. all the character dynamics were exposed more and more every chapter and were so deeply layered. even though most of the characters were not particularly "likeable" by any standard (they are very, VERY flawed), almost every one of them had something unique that made me really see them, feel for them, and connect with them. though, there was a heavier focus on jessica, coop and caro, and i would've loved to see more of jack, frankie, and heather. btw coop is my favourite. 

the subjects in this book are also important and relevant-it's about so much more than just the murder mystery. there are several times where readers can observe how family dynamics, parental expectations, drugs, pride, and competition all irrevocably impact the characters and change their lives in different ways. goes to show how even the most seemingly perfect people on the outside still have shit they are dealing with. it's important to not put people on a pedestal because that's how you end up devaluing yourself and wasting your life away trying to be someone you're not. i also think the author was trying to convey that chasing false ideals of "perfection" and "prestige" won't actually get you anywhere in life and you'll just end up wishing you'd made choices that made you happier. all in all, it definitely leaves you with something to think about!

i loved this book and would definitely recommend it!!

this book is pretty much a bunch of mentally unstable gays whose lives are all kind of falling apart at the seams. i thought it was alright; i liked it to some extent, but it was nothing special to me. i don't have any strong opinions regarding the novel, and i didn't particularly care for any of the characters or their journeys either.

i feel like the book was kind of neither here nor there. to me it lacked emotional poignancy and it became a little dull as the story went on. i can understand why some might enjoy it, but i think it just wasn't my type of story and the writing style wasn't really for me. 

"But if there is anything I should say in this moment– when my heart is beating wildly in my chest and I would beg you to come and tame it–is this: your letters have been a light for me to follow. Your words? A sublime feast that fed me on days when I was starving. I love you, Iris. And I want you to see me. I want you to know me. Through the smoke and the firelight and the kilometers that once dwelled between us. Do you see me?"


OMG i finished this whole book in one sitting on my flight, and it was the best six hours ever. i LOVEEEEE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! no i'm IN LOVE actually - with the plot, the characters (HI ROWAN KITT), the fantastical world, and the letters through the magical typewriter. love in the time of war is such an important concept and it was explored beautifully in this book. it was also just so wonderful, whimsical, and romantic. iris and rowan are literally GOALS like the way they would do anything for each other?!?!?! manifesting this type of love fr.

overall i would 100% recommend this book it was so much fun to read and i can't wait to read the sequel!!!

"You are worth every penny. Every fortune. Every investment. Every risk. You are priceless to me."

this was super cute!! it lowkey had no plot and it was super cheesy but i still really enjoyed it :)

read this for my econ class, but i’m very interested in psychology so i actually enjoyed it! such fascinating insights on the economy, the finance sector, history, and humans in general. i think more people should read this!

"When I was fourteen, I would stare up at my bedroom walls and wonder what it was like to fall in love. Most of my inspiration came from songs and the movies. But still, I imagined it. What would it be like to be someone who had somebody else. I would imagine tenderness. The concept of infinity. Of endless patience. Imagine them chasing after me when I run. Cradling my sorrows in the palm of their hands. Imagine them caring, trying to understand. And now there's you. This whole time, it's been you, and I didn't even realize."

i LOVE this book omg!! like seriously THIS is how you write teen angst THIS is how you write YA romance!! i had such a fun time reading this i was literally giggling and kicking my feet!!! julius and sadie are so perfect for each other, and i just had to add the quote above because it resonated with me so much (the part where she's imaging falling in love, not the part where she actually did fall in love LOL). that was for the romantic girlies fr. 

anyway i don't have much else to say! this was super good and i would def recommend if you're in the mood for a cute, short romance.