Bumping review down to 1 star. The more I hear about this author and book, the more I dislike it.

oh, where to begin with Fourth Wing. i should preface this review by saying that i mostly enjoyed the experience of reading this book, but there were some glaringly obvious issues that i could not look past.

i am by no means a seasoned fantasy reader, but this is marketed as a high fantasy romance and i just don't see how that's an objectively accurate description. to me, high fantasy requires world building to immerse the reader within the world. there is next to none in this book. light world building is not objectively bad in a fantasy tale, but the author sprinkles in bits of politics and lore that feel confusing and ill conceived in a world that has no substantial construction. yarros essentially tells the reader to "just trust me, bro" on the conception yet the actual substance within the plot itself does not manage to override the level of doubt i'm expected to suspend as a reader. the plot is filled with holes.

for example, a majority of dragon riders die in training despite the government's desperation for riders to fight in the war. why there even is a war in the first place is never fully explained. it's inconceivable to me how a book centered around training for a war could fail to explain why we should care about the war in the first place. this leads me to believe that the romance was the intended focus of the story, but that was poorly executed as well.

there was little to no pining between Violet and Xaden apart from the occasional seductive stare across the room. when they do finally become romantically involved, it's insta-lovey and becomes “i’d-rather-die-than-be-without-you” very quickly. this is so common in other romances i’ve read and is just so. fucking. boring. Violet also reads as very young, which is jarring when paired with her extremely horny dialogue and the smutty scenes toward the end. there's one scene in the beginning where she is reuniting with her childhood best friend after a year apart and randomly turns the conversation sexual, which feels like a weird attempt at trying to create tension between them.

i am also not a fan of yarros’ writing. some of the word choices, especially within the dialogue, are downright cringey. "Violence" is overused and is not even an accurate description for Violet. furthermore, the pacing of this book is inconsistent. there are big time jumps where Violet is suddenly stronger, yet there are pages upon pages of Violet and Xaden miscommunicating and overanalyzing each other. i would expect a 500 page book to deliver more interesting plot details to enrich the characters and the world.

it becomes increasingly clear as the story progresses that yarros intended to ride on the notion that readers will be familiar enough with this type of fantasy world wherein little explanation is required for reader enjoyment -- the smut and dragons will be plenty enough to satisfy the average reader. considering the sheer volume of 5 star reviews, she would be correct in that analysis. but despite all the juicy fixings, the execution is downright lazy.

however, the dragons did make up for some of the areas that were lacking. i'm giving this 2 stars for the dragons.