“Roughly half of you will be dead by this time next summer, a third of you the year after that and the same your last year.”

This is one of the first quotes we hear from Xaden Riorson in the book Fourth Wing, a very good fantasy romance book that was written by Rebecca Yarros. The book follows the story of twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail, as she prepares to enter Basgiath War College. Who, after living her life preparing to enter the Scribe Quadrant, got ordered by her tough general of a mother that she was going to enter the Rider Quadrant and become a dragon rider instead.

This book takes place in Navarre, a place where you either get conscripted into the military or attend Basgiath and enter one of the four quadrants. Enter the Healer Quadrant and you’ll learn to enter the medical field. Go into the Infantry Quadrant and you’ll learn to fight on the ground while working alongside the riders. Next, the Scribe Quadrant teaches how to become a scribe, the people who document everything about each battle, and how each outpost in Navarre is doing daily. Most decide on the Rider Quadrant, and either die or bond to a dragon and learn how to fight from the skies and wield the powers they receive from their dragon. Because Violet isn’t prepared for the Rider Quadrant, it causes a lot of drama that really hooks you into the book.

When starting in the Rider Quadrant we meet our main character and her friends along the way. Violet meets Rhiannon Matthias, a fellow first year, early on and they quickly become best friends. Rhiannon, or Rhi for short, is one of my favorite characters that we meet early on. We also meet Dain Aetos, a second year, who was her friend for 15 years prior to entering the quadrant and we quickly find out that there is an underlying chemistry between these two. The last person we meet before Violet gets her squad is Xaden Riorson, a third year. Xaden is the son of Fen Riorson, who was the leader of a rebellion that happened a couple of years ago, and Xaden wants to kill Violet to get revenge on her mother for killing his father.

The book was very well written and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who likes fantasy, dragons, and romance. The development of both the characters and the emotions in this book is very well done. There is also lots of betrayal, love, and heartbreak. You need to be prepared, because any character could die at any moment in this book. That is why there is so much suspense and uncertainty when it comes to what could happen next. There are also very interesting easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book, to who will betray who next, if you can catch them. While sometimes it’s easy to guess what will happen next, other times the book throws you in the opposite direction, making you as the reader also question who is telling the truth along Violet’s side. Also, looking at the quote at the beginning of each chapter can give you better hints at what is going to happen in the future. You should read it to find out if Violet survives her first year at Basgiath, and who stabs her in the back.

Looking back now after finishing the book, it makes me so happy to see all the clues to try and solve the mystery of what will happen in the future. The Empyrean series, the series that this book is a part of, is planned to be five books, with the third book coming out sometime later this year. With more to come, “Welcome to Fourth Wing.”