Fourth Wing Empyrean Rebecca Yarros Reviews Summary

Character Development

Pros:

• "Violet, I love her. Her weakness externally combined with her intelligence and courage won me."
• "The interactions between Violet and Xaden are so interesting to watch as things go on."
• "I really loved how Violet’s character is portrayed as a physically weak woman with the strongest will to survive-and the desire to prove them wrong."
• "Violet and the other characters are great, with strong development where necessary."
• "The characters are just so real. And they go through character arcs too."
• "Dain is a well-written character."
• "I adored Violet's character growth and watching her turn from this fragile little thing to a full blown warrior was amazing."

Cons:

• "Characters are one-dimensional."
• "Violet is short on personality."
• "The characters are stereotypical."
• "There is no depth of characters- no historic background of where they are and why they are fighting."
• "Violet gives me slight Mary Sue vibes."
• "FMC is your typical 'I'm smarter' and 'weak but tough' character."
• "Violet, acts like a spoiled teenager and can somehow solve any problems in the world just because she... wants to solve them."

World Building

Pros:

• "One thing I can commend is the use of epigraphs at the chapter headers; they added a fantastic level of intrigue to the depth of the world."
• "The world building is really well done."
• "The world building is easy to follow and picture."
• "Ms. Yarros builds the world of Empyrean and its war college so well that it requires no effort to picture them."
• "The land is explained clearly and isn't so far out that it is unrelatable."
• "Loved the world building like in Harry Potter."
• "The plot and world building were great, and it was easy to follow."

Cons:

• "World-building is weak."
• "The world and world building were fine, as in meh."
• "The story is extremely predictable, the concept is bad and the world is completely undeveloped."
• "Thin narrative, boring and lazy world building."
• "Places and imagery were not described well."
• "So many things were just not described at all."
• "I kept running into aspects that seemed mashed together from other (far better) stories of dragons, schools, and fantasy."

Plot and Storytelling

Pros:

• "The chemistry between the two main characters is great."
• "This is a superb story that keeps you spellbound through the entire story."
• "The story itself is unique and fascinating."
• "Great fantasy storytelling with strong characters."
• "Plot twists are always interesting."
• "The storyline with all its surprises and plot twist will keep you on the edge of your seat."
• "The story moved so smoothly. Never a dull moment at all."

Cons:

• "I am legitimately confused by all the hype this book has received."
• "It kind of came across as 'of course I'm not particularly worried about her because she's the FMC - of course she's going to win and everything will work out for her'."
• "The big picture is SUPER hazy."
• "There are plot arcs that are somewhat predictable."
• "But what I encountered was a long drawn out story that I struggled to find interesting."
• "The story is extremely predictable."
• "It was just boring."

Romance and Relationships

Pros:

• "The romance was a slow burn but definitely worth the wait."
• "The slow-burn romance in FOURTH WING is one of the slowest of slow burns, and the tension is nigh unbearable."
• "The romance is absolutely perfect - slow burn, enemies to lovers."
• "Violet and Xaden are so perfect together."
• "The relationship follows a typical enemies to lovers trope."
• "Especially once the romance started to kick in."
• "I loved everything about this book from Violet herself to the magic and fairytales to the dragons to Xaden, Dain and even Liam."

Cons:

• "The romance did drive me crazy. It was a one trick pony...or, one trick dragon if I may."
• "It was a bit Twilight vibes for me - more romance novel than what I was looking for."
• "I wouldn't exactly call this a romance even though there is spice."
• "The romance between characters is the only troubling part."
• "I couldn’t get into the 'love' of this story, it was insta-lust."
• "It is very clear that Violet's attraction to him is purely physical."
• "A little too much romance for my taste."

Writing Style and Language

Pros:

• "All the details that were put into this book are perfect and the writing style is exquisite."
• "Rebecca Yarros is well rounded author who does her homework, has a great mind and imagination to put onto paper something that we can all love."
• "I just loved the first person writing in here from Violet's viewpoint."
• "The writing and dialogue sounds like it was written for 13 year olds by a 13 year old."
• "Yarros did an excellent job of weaving themes throughout the story & tying them up by the end (ie. Xaden’s comments about a poison master)."
• "I really liked Yarros's world-building and character development."
• "Characters are introduced in the right way, and we learn about them as if we’re there as well."

Cons:

• "The printed text is SO inconsistent."
• "It’s poorly and lazily written with every trope you can imagine."
• "The writing is atrocious."
• "I really dislike first person point of view (POV)."
• "I also didn’t care for the language used and some of the word choices; odd quips for a fantasy novel based on magic and lore."
• "Modern-day profanity is profuse and distracting at best, cheapening at worst."
• "Took off a star for language."