The PolyBlog

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023) – BR00234 (R2023) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

October 22 2023

Plot or Premise

A young recruit enters a war college for dragon riders, compelled to enrol by her mother, a high-ranking military officer.

What I Liked

I had seen this book in a bookstore in Maine when I was travelling over the summer, and it seemed like a fairly normal YA fantasy novel. It had some “legs”, and sounded good for the description, so I snapped a pic of the cover and downloaded it to my TBR pile when I got home. I assumed Jacob would likely read it first; we have similar tastes in those types of books, and I knew nothing about the author Rebecca Yarros or her other books. About a week ago, a woman I follow in video clips described the book as a cross between Divergent, Game of Thrones, and Lord of the Rings. But she also talked about spicy scenes, her lingo for sexual interactions ranging from kissing to full-on sex scenes. I thought maybe I should read it before giving it to Jacob.

Holy crap. Yeah, he’s not reading it. While I hate to spoil anything, the sex scenes read more like Penthouse Forum than YA. Graphic references to insertion of fingers, slippery genitalia, etc. It apparently reflects more of Yarros’ erotica in previous romance novels.

But going back to the story itself, I found the plot solid and see why someone would see it as a cross of fantasy with Divergent. Violet may be there against her will, preferring to have become a scribe instead, and despite her own fragile physical condition, she is definitely Dauntless-class. The training is good, and you even get to see an American Ninja Warrior course built into the training, although it isn’t labelled as such, obviously, even if it is clearly a Warped Wall obstacle. I don’t know if it’s a trilogy or not, maybe ongoing, but I’ll read the next ones.

What I Didn’t Like

I found the book a bit long and slow in parts, and the constant “I love John, but I also love the bad boy Zach” angst that is common to YA romances was a bit tedious in places. I am way too old to care about that crap. The reader has no delusions about who will be the “winner” of her heart.

I also would have liked a LOT more info about the other wings, other factions (like scribes and healers), and even more so for information about the dragons themselves. They’re super cool, yet the book drops info about them like reciting a Wikipedia page.

Finally, the ending has a two-part twist for what’s really going on (easily seen) and who’s involved, and I had pretty much figured out what was coming, just not sure which “choose your own adventure” ending it would be amongst three.

FYI, the sex scenes were way over the top and more yawn-inspiring or silly than erotic.

The Bottom Line

More dragons, less sex

Betrayed by P.C. Cast (2007) – BR00233 (R2023) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

October 20 2023

Plot or Premise

Within the school, Zoey has ascended to lead the Dark Daughters in place of Aphrodite, but outside the school, humans are going missing and then turning up dead.

What I Liked

In the first book, the newness of the premise was enough to overcome fairly cliché writing. None of the characters had much depth to them, they were either good or bad, and the teen angst was overwhelming at times with little nuance. In this one, Zoey’s struggling with balancing her new responsibilities, some weird stuff she keeps seeing, romantic entanglements with multiple males (three at last count) and a changing power dynamic between her, Aphrodite and Neferet. As Nyx has told her, not all darkness is bad and not all lightness is good, and the changes for Aphrodite and Neferet are great.

What I Didn’t Like

The stuff with Loren, a poet and professor, seems completely out of left field, and while future books explain it, it really seems odd here. The giant plot twist isn’t hard to see coming, but what it means and the level of complication keeps it fresh. However, the ending relationship with Neferet changes too dramatically.

The Bottom Line

Not all lightness is good

Marked by P.C. Cast (2007) – BR00232 (R2023) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

October 20 2023

Plot or Premise

A young girl’s body starts the change to become a vampire, so she has to go to a vampire finishing school, leaving behind her friends and family.

What I Liked

This school is not Hogwart’s for vampires. First of all, the characters are mid-teens, dealing with romantic angst, sexual desires, and confusion about relationships and their future. In the first big scene with vampires, the main character, Zoey Redbird, accidentally sees two young vamps having oral sex in the darkened corridors at the school. I suppose there’s a joke in there about magic wands, but mostly, the scene sets the age and content of the series squarely in the more mature part of the YA world. Zoey quickly demonstrates that she has special powers for a young vampire, and ends up antagonizing the cool clique while befriending the nerd herd. The newness of all of it overcomes some of the teenage angsty parts.

What I Didn’t Like

The teenage angst. The first book isn’t completely horrible; it’s the age the books are meant for, but at some point, even her friends were ready to move on to more important topics than her budding interest in boys.