By: Rebecca Yarros

This is the third time I have read Fourth Wing. I absolutely love the characters and the development of our FMC Violet. I felt like the rereads offered me a more in-depth understanding of each of Violets squad mates. I reread the book to prepare for Onyx Storm coming out. I am very excited to revisit Iron Flame as well.

This book made kept me up all night creating parallels to real life. The idea of blindly following rules like Dain vs taking care of those we love. It is so clear to me that Dain doesn’t really feel for Violet at all like Xaden. When Dain admitted he wouldn’t break the rules for Violet’s safety, I realized he was bad news. That being said I do understand more why Violet doesn’t cut him off quickly. If I think about my childhood best friend, I realize it would be so hard to sever ties. No matter what they say. I would want to believe that they truly were looking out for me. Violet outgrows her relationship with Dain. I am more than happy to see her move past him.

I also thought a lot about cutting people out of our lives. These are people who don’t understand new versions of us. We have the ability to change and evolve and that is one of my favorite things about being human. We can decide to take risks and through those find new versions of ourselves that we like better. I really love how Violet evolved throughout this book. She creates a new version of herself that she loves. It makes her feel confident. The people we surround ourselves with have a huge impact on how we see ourselves. I was thrilled when Violet realized that Dain was not someone who supported her. He couldn’t see the new version of her.

Now the biggest problem I have with this book. This idea of keeping secrets to protect the ones we love. I understand why Xaden is keeping secrets from Violet. He has taken on a huge responsibility with the other marked ones. He must keep them safe to ensure his own safety. However, Violet has chosen him repeatedly. Yet, he still doesn’t share even the smallest bit of information with her. Tairn getting mad at Xaden about this really was the icing on the cake for me. Tairn bonded Violet and therefore feels a soul deep connection and trust with her. Tairn is also mate bonded to Xaden’s dragon and obviously that connection takes precedent. I believe Xaden betrayed Violet by using the mate bond to make Tairn withhold this information. This was the biggest betrayal of the whole book.

Makena

January 21, 2025