Book Review: Fourth Wing

Title: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Genre: Fiction, Romantasy, Fantasy, Magic

What It’s About: Violet Sorrengail makes her way through the halls of Basgiath War College to her mom’s, Lilith Sorrengail, office, where she overhears her sister, Mira, arguing with her mom about Violet’s attendance to the Rider’s Quadrant–the most dangerous of the four Quadrants at the college. Violet enters the room, and tries to stop her sister from continuing the argument–Mira thinks that Violet is fragile–during her pregnancy with Violet, Lilith had gotten ill, and it has made Violet different. So Violet often was taken to the library with her dad, where she grew up amongst books. Initially, Violet wanted to go into the Scribe Quadrant, following in the footsteps of her father, but her mom announced that she will go into the Riders Quadrant, like all of the other Sorrengails–Lilith herself is a formidable and well known rider. Mira mentions something about Brennan, their dead brother, and Lilith orders her out, as her commander. She then tells Violet that if she goes towards the Scribe Quadrant, Lilith will drag her back.

Violet meets Mira outside of Lilith’s office, and they head back to Violet’s room, where Mira produces a uniform for Violet, as well as repacks her knapsack for her with only the necessary items which includes a book that Violet claims is to kill others. Mira explains to her that she needs a lighter load if she is to make it across the Parapet–a stone bridge connecting to the Rider’s Quadrant that is treacherous on a good day, but deadly with the incoming rain. The uniform that Mira had produced for Violet has spaces for daggers–something that Violet is very good with just after six months of training that she received after her mother’s announcement–as well as boots with rubber soles that will help her grip the stone of the parapet. Mira walks her to the entrance of the Rider’s Quadrant, telling her to find Dain–a childhood friend of theirs as his father is an aide to their mother, and Violet’s crush–as he will protect her, but to not get sexually involved with him. Mira then remembers and warns Violet about Xaden Riorson–the son of Fenn Riorson, the Great Betrayer–and tells her to stay as far away from him as possible as he has it out for the Sorrengails because Lilith had killed his father in front of him. Mira also tells Violet that the dragons had marked the children of the betrayers and they are required to come to the college, while everyone else volunteers. Mira asks her to please survive, because she does not want to be an only child, and they say their goodbyes. Violet makes her way up the stairs and talks to a girl named Rhiannon, who she befriends despite Mira’s warning to make allegiances rather than friends. She quickly realizes that Rhiannon does not have appropriate shoes and asks to swap their left ones so that they both can make it through the Parapet. The boy in front of them, Dylan, talks about proposing to a girl back home once he graduates in three years time. When they reach the top, Violet takes note of a man–extremely gorgeous one and is immediately attracted to him. The scribe taking down the names calls the man–Riorson–and Violet realizes that she is in trouble. When he hears her name, he gives her a murderous look. Dylan heads out and then slips off the Parapet, plummeting to his death. Rhiannon heads out, and then it’s Violet’s turn–Xaden tells her why kill her when the bridge will do it for him.

Violet manages to make her way to the middle of the parapet and recites historical facts to calm her mind. She is halfway done, when she looks back and sees that the arrogant asshole behind her, Jack Barlowe, is on the Parapet. Nothing seems to bother him and she watches as the guy turns around, grabs the boy behind him and throws him off the Parapet to his death. He then yells out that he’s coming for her, so she starts heading towards the other side, barely managing to get to safety before he is on top of her, but she see a dagger to hold him back by holding it against his balls. After an exchange between the two of them, and the Scribe and Rider on this side of the Parapet. The Scribe and Rider point out that Jack is not off the Parapet and thus is not a Cadet, which gives Violet the rights to kick him off, but Violet decides to let him go.

Dain finds her almost immediately and is in shock. He hides her to help her get over the nausea, while Rhiannon approaches again and the girls switch shoes. Rain sends Rhiannon over to the Scribe to tell them that Violet and Rhiannon will be a part of his team, and then takes Violet to his room, where they bandage the knee she hurt on her way through the Parapet. Rain wants to get her out, but she says that her mom will drag her back, so he agrees to help her. They head back to the courtyard as Xaden runs back over and then the walk across the Parapet is done. Roll call comes out–67 died, about 20% of them, and they are all split up into Squads. Rhiannon and Violet end up in Dain’s, and far way from Xaden, but then he has one of his squads switched with Dain’s larger team, and that puts Violet as his direct report, where he can do what they want with her without any repercussions per the codex. Dain confirms as much the next day when they meet before classes. Violet has to run when they encounter Xaden in the courtyard.

Everyone meets again in Battle Brief, where the two professors–a rider and a scribe, who had hoped that Violet would be his biggest achievement as a Scribe, present facts around an attack that happened in a village near the border with an enemy Kingdom, where the wards have failed. Violet tells Rhiannon to ask a question of how high the village is, and the professor answers that it’s 10,000 feet above ground. Rhiannon explains that it’s pretty high for the Gryphons to get to, and the professor then tells Violet out loud to ask her own questions, which Violet does going forward, along with an explanation as to why that height matters.

Later, they have their first sparring session to assess their fighting skills and they watch as Jack snaps the neck of another boy, killing him, and when he is reprimanded, he tells them that he didn’t know how fragile the guy’s neck was. Rhiannon is pitted against another first year and they quickly yield to Rhiannon. Rhiannon and another one of the first years–a guy who is repeating the year because he hadn’t bonded with a dragon, agree to help Violet in hand to hand combat, in exchange for history lessons. Violet is pitted against Imogen, one of the marked kids signifying that she is a child of one of the betrayers, and Imogen dislocates and snaps Violet’s shoulder and arms when Violet does not yield. Dain rushes Violet to the Healing Quadrant, where he pleads with the healers to not mend Violet fully, so that they can use that as an excuse to smuggle her to the Scribe Quadrant. Violet does not want that and asks to be fully mended just this once by the man who is bonded with his dragon and is able to heal. She returns to her bunk that night, talks to Rhiannon, and then finds a book under her pillow–Mira had received this journal from Brennan when she entered the Rider’s Quadrant, and it has helped her, which is why she had it smuggled to Violet in hopes that it will help her survive the Rider’s Quadrant. Normally, they do not keep anything belonging to the deceased, believing that it should be burned after their death to release their soul to the god of death, but Mira has kept this of Brennan’s, who passed 4 years prior. Violet reads the first pages and gets an idea–the fights are predetermined, and you can find out about your opponent.

Violet walks to her tree after curfew hours, in search of a plant containing berries. She finds it on the tree and is about to leave, when Xaden and many other marked children show up, including the first years. She gets close enough on the tree to overhear them, in case it is something forbidden as congregating in groups of more than three marked children is forbidden. She quickly realizes, however, that it is just coaching from the older to the younger. When someone asks when they will kill Violet, Xaden tells them that this is reserved only for him. Once they leave, and Xaden walks off, Violet gets down only to be grabbed…by none other than Xaden. They talk, and she finds out that he wields shadow, so he knew that she was there even though his back was to her the whole time. She throws some daggers at him, and at first, he thinks that she missed until he actually checks and realizes that she didn’t miss–she specifically avoided hitting him. Xaden returns her daggers to her and tells her that she should do this to Jack–it might make him think twice about killing her. He tells her that he won’t kill her as it’s not fun that she anticipates it, and she tells him that she will not say anything about his club because it is mentorship. He then walks off, leaving her confused.

Dain walks her the next day to breakfast duty, not understanding why she would even choose this, but Violet has her reasons–she sprinkles some of the dried powder from the berries she found that night, on the food of her sparring match opponent–Seifert. Later that day, he is ill and she easily wins her match, taking his blade and earning another dagger. That same match, she takes Xaden’s advice and throws two of her draggers at Jack–nearly getting him in the balls (again), and next to his ear. He stalks off.

For the next several matches, her opponents all come in ill, and she easily takes them down, taking their blade from them. Then, one of her opponents gets too sick too early and goes to the healing quadrant. The instructor apologizes to her, but Xaden steps in to be her opponent. He is easily able to handle her, taking out her blades one by one and sending them towards Dain. He tells her that he knows that she’s been poisoning her opponents and she’s good, but he has seen even more masterful poisons. He takes her down on the mat, pinning her down with his weight and tells her that she is so small- she should use her blades to go for the weak spots. And she is a very quick learner, because in one instance, he offers to help her up and she takes him up on it, only to have her arm twisted behind her, as he whispers advices to her, and the next time he offers to help her up, she gets up alone. He then walks away from her without disarming her of her last dagger, saying that defenseless women aren’t his type.

In another class, they learn about dragons, including Sgaeyl, Xaden’s dragon, who does what she wants and when she wants, being one of the most ruthless ones out there. Violet remembers the dragon because it had landed in front of her after the Parapet, and looked at her. Jack gets fascinated by a black one that is even more powerful than Sgaeyl, and the professor explains that it hasn’t bonded since it lost its last rider. He later confirms to Violet that the black dragon’s rider had indeed tried to save Brennan and that the Sorrengail name means a lot more out of the college. The professor also tells her that while Brennan and Mira were strong and really good, Violet is by far the smartest and most compassionate of them all.

Practices on the Gauntlet–a mountain cliff with built-in obstacle courses meant to challenge the first years in all aspects of being a dragon rider–starts, and Violet goes up, reciting history facts to herself to calm down. Aurelie comes from a family where her father had created obstacle courses because he was a Rider, so she was really excited about it. Violet makes it across some rotating beams, and Aurelie makes a misstep, plummeting to her death. Violet is tasked with turning Aurelie’s things to the fire. She then goes outside to think about whether she should continue or whether she should take Dain up on the offer to be smuggled to the Scribe Quadrant. She sees three dragons fly in, and a short bit later, Xaden, his cousin and another friend walk by. Xaden stops and sends them ahead, and she realizes that he can sense her. She comes out and they talk–he holds her hand briefly–and she tells him that when Lilith Sorrengail tells you to do something, you do it and that this place gives her hope. He tells her that hope is a fickle thing and it is all about what you make of it. When Violet tells him that she’s stuck on the chimney in the Gauntlet, he responds to her that the right way to do it is not the only way to do it. Lastly, Xaden tells her that she has been surprising him–he thought she wouldn’t make it, and yet she has made it against all odds. Xaden adds that he hasn’t killed her because it’s a reminder to him that he, too, can be good. Then he walks off, telling her that it is past curfew and she needs to get back to her dorms before he lets her wingleader know–but he is her wingleader, which confuses her.

Violet goes through the practice for the gauntlet, but each time, she gets stuck on the chimney because she’s too short for it. The day of the actual run comes, and Dain walks them to the Gauntlet. Once again, he begs with her to let him save her, but Violet doesn’t want it. She decides to take Xaden’s advice and do something different, so when it’s her turn and she makes it to the chimney, she uses the rope to help her get up it. Then, when she gets up to the top, to the ramp–something she has never done, she grabs one of her blades, ramps up her speed as she runs up the ramp, jumps, throws the blade, and catches onto it, before making it over to the other side. Amber tries to get her disqualified–Violet accepts the 30 second penalty for using the rope, but then quotes the Codex, which states that anything that she brings with her across the Parapet becomes an extension of her. Xaden tells Amber that Violet has her there, and that it stands, and amber complains that Violet thinks like a Scribe, to which she says that she knows. Xaden tells her that she is dripping and to clean up, so Violet goes to celebrate with her friends, who help her bandage her hands.

They wait for everyone that could to make it, and then they go meet the dragons. As they walk, 7 feet apart, they talk amongst each other. They watch as the dragons take out two of their squamates, and see a small golden dragon–a feather tail. Jack starts to comment that it is an abomination, and makes fun of it. On their way back, two green dragons come up to Violet and she gets worried, but then realizes that they are putting their snouts on her chest, and asks them if they smell Teine, Mira’s dragon. She explains that Mira made her armor out of dragon scales and the dragons let her go.

A few days later, on October 1, the threshing happens and the only advice they all get is to follow their feelings–their dragon will be calling out to them. Violet doesn’t find her dragon, so she climbs on a tree and sees the golden dragon. Then, she overhears Jack, Oren and Tynan making their way towards the clearing where the golden dragon is, in search of it, in order to kill it. Despite her rolled ankle, she makes her way to the dragon, and attempts to shoo it away, but it does not budge. Jack and his pals arrive, and taunt Violet, but she tells them that she will fight. Xaden also shows up with Sgaeyl, and watches the whole scene. Violet flicks a dagger at Jack, getting him squarely in the should, and he runs away. She knocks out Oren and a much large dragon arrives to her rescue–the black dragon that hasn’t bonded since his last rider, Naolin, fell trying to save Brennan. He incinerates Tynan when he tries to run at violet, who is now injured with Tynan’s dagger sticking out of her arm. Xaden had stepped towards her as the new dragon arrived, which puzzles Violet, but she doesn’t think much of it after the fight. The black dragon tells her to get on, and helps her up into the saddle, introducing himself once they are in the air as Tairneanach, or Tairn for short. They do some maneuvers in the air and Violet does fall off, but then Tairn uses his magic and holds her down until they’ve made their point. Violet and Tairn talk and he tells her that he chose her because she saved the golden dragon.

When they land, people give them a wide berth, and when Violet goes to the roll-keeper, she gives Tairneanach’s name, and then the golden dragon, which turns out to be a baby, chimes in and gives her own name–Andarnaurram, or Andarna for short. Tairn tells Violet to give her name to the roll-keeper as well. This brings the generals and higher ups into a tizzy because there has never been a person who bonded with two dragons before. Lilith had also told the roll-keeper to not name Tairn until Violet did herself, because she did not believe it. The dragons have to have a meeting bout this when the generals complain, and when the largest of the dragons bonded with General Melgren shows up, Tairn and all of the dragons go to meet in what is known as the Empyrean–humans are not privy to it. Before Tairn leaves, he tells her to stay with Xaden, but she doesn’t make her way to him, as Xaden looks bored and then Dain Aetos intercepts her. He starts accusing Xaden of tampering with the threshing and stepping in. Xaden interrupts them and asks if Dain is making an official accusation. He tells them that Sgaeyl is fond of the baby dragon and that Tairn made that decision on his owners Sgaeyl had witnessed all of the interactions. Dain walks off and Xaden tells Violet that there are 41 unbonded riders and that she just became target number 1 for them now that they know that Tairn is willing to bond. It is the best time for them to take her out now, while the relationship between rider and dragon is at its weakest. Xaden’s conversation with Dain showed Violet that Dain would not bend the rules to save her.

The decision of Tairn and Andarna to bond with Violet stands, and afterwards, Dain kisses her, which she realizes is not what she expected–it felt anticlimactic; despite her own crush on him since childhood, the kiss was not as toe curling as she had expected and felt like kissing a sibling. The next day, Dain tells her that the kiss shouldn’t have happened as it is against the codex. At breakfast, people move out of the way for her, and vacate tables. Imogen tells her that she will start training her with weights to strengthen her body. And so, Violet’s training begins. Violet keeps falling off of Tairn as she asks him to stop holding her down with his powers, which could prove fatal for them in the air. When Dain brings her inability to stay in the saddle up, she tells him that she is done with his negativity and that is why there would not be anything between them–because he does not believe in her.

She dreams that night of her dad and the archives, where he teaches her things, when another voice booms, telling her to wake up. When she does, she finds herself surrounded by unbonded–including one girl who is bonded, and who runs off. Oren tries to kill her and while Violet manages to fend herself off, Oren catches her and starts squeezing her windpipe. Tairn, throughout this time, tells her that he is on his way and when it becomes evident that he might not make it in time, he tells her that someone is on the way. Violet hears her own door splinter at the same time Andarna screams “mine”, and everyone freezes. Violet gets out of Oren’s grasp, and when time resumes, Xaden kills everyone, then asks Garrick and Bodhi to clean it up. He checks Violet over and she reveals that her sister had made her a dragon scale vest to protect her which clearly did its job. He drags her out to meet Sgaeyl, Tairn and Adarna. Sgaeyl and Tairn reveal that Andarna is a feathertail–a youngling who lost her parents and they’ve been raising her. Feathertails can grant–if bonded–powers to the rider at the expense of their life, if those powers are used too much. Once they grow up, they lose that ability to share the power. Andarna was able to help Violet freeze time, which is how she got out of the hold. Violet promises to use that ability sparingly and both Xaden and Violet promise to never share this information with anyone. Violet also tells Xaden how the unbounded had gotten into her room.

The next day, Liam is transferred into their group so that he can be her bodyguard. Violet protests, then gives up as Xaden makes it obvious that the decision is final. He then goes up to the Dias where Professor Markham is fiddling with the Codex, and accuses Amber Mavis–Dain’s friend, an the girl who accused Violet of cheating at the Gauntlet–of breaking the Codex where Riders are supposed to be safe at night. Dain doesn’t believe it, and demands that Violet let him see those memories–she steps back and says no. Rain and the other dragons come and she asks Tairn to show the memory without revealing the secret, and he does. Dain is shocked and asks why she wouldn’t tell him, and it becomes glaringly obvious to Violet that there’s a difference between Dain, who does not believe her without proof, and Xaden, who took her at her word. Amber gets incinerated for her offense.

Training continues and a day comes where Violet finds out that Jack will challenge her. She has Liam promise not to say anything until the actual fights starts. Then, she fights Jack, while Liam runs off to get Xaden. She manages to keep him off, but Jack gets her and she uses a vial with oranges on Jack. When she wakes up in the healing wing, Xaden is with her and she tells him that Jack is allergic to oranges when Xaden asks what was the deal with the vial of oranges. He then tells her that he will start training her himself and Xaden does–with a brand new set of daggers specifically made just for Violet that he lets her steal form him during practice.

Xaden and Violet share their first kiss one night when Violet seeks the cool night air, while trying to deal with the heat–Tairn and Sgaeyl are mating and she can’t separate her emotions from Tairn. Xaden teaches her how to shield against Tairn’s emotions and thoughts, and she manages to do it in 10 minutes based on his instructions. The next day after the kiss, he is back to being cold even though what they shared seemed real. He also begins to teach Violet how to fly on Tairn as she keeps sliding off. During one such training, she meets her mom and a few other generals who ask her to train and share Andarna for research purposes, which Violet declines.

The Squad battles happen and they are placed 3rd after Liam wins a match. The squad that wins will go to the front lines. Their last Squad Battle assignment is to work together without their leaders to bring something that the enemy would value–in order to teach them to operate without their leaders. Violet comes up with an idea, and under Imogen’s leadership, they break into General Sorrengail’s office. Violet comes across two letters, and then looks at the map. They decide to steal the map, which they present at the meeting, and when Violet reveals that the map is accurate because they stole it from General Sorrengail’s office, pandemonium ensues.

Violet and her squad–Rhiannon and Dain included–fly on their dragons for a five day shadowing plan of an outpost. There, Violet and Mira are reunited and catch up. Mira helps Violet and Rhiannon go visit Rhiannon’s family, which is not too far from the outpost. On day three, Xaden shows up because Sgaeyl and Tairn cannot be separated any longer. This brings tension to the group, and during a scenario that Mira gives to the group in their downtime–what would they do if…–Dain and Xaden get into a bit of a pissing match. Xaden starts talking to Violet telepathically, which drives her crazy. But Violet brings them all together and they come up with a plan. Mira takes Violet, Xaden and Dain aside and tells them that if she can see the tension after a few hours, their team must be feeling it. She tells Dain and Violet to sort out their shit as they’ve been best friends since they were five. When Dain leaves, Mira tells Xaden that she doesn’t trust him and that the bonding with Tairn means that Violet will be giving up a ton to fly to be with Xaden as he is the more powerful of the two. Xaden points out that he’s the one who made sacrifices here, to come see Violet so that Sgaeyl and Tairn can be together. Suddenly, the warnings come that they are under attack, and Mira tells Xaden that if he wants to earn her trust, he needs to get Violet out. Violet goes and grabs Rhiannon’s and hers knapsacks, and then Xaden puts her into the path of Tairn, who pick her up with his talons and they head off, even though she wants to help Mira.

The next day, Violet is waiting outside of Markham’s office, and Xaden joins her with mugs. They start talking telepathically, when Xaden tells her to try and she uses the same techniques as she did to shield in order to find him and talk to him telepathically. Dain arrives, and it seems like they all had the same idea. When Markham arrives, he takes a little convincing, but tells them that Mira and her squad suffered no losses.

Training keeps on going, and more and more of her friends start wielding their signets, but Violet is unable to channel her signet yet. During a war game, she reaches out telepathically to Xaden, who tells her that they will be doing both offense and defense. Dain confirms this and they plan it out. When she arrives to the flight fields, she sees Tairn wearing a new saddle–one that Xaden had made specially for her. It has belts and straps for her to use as needed to keep her in. And, she finds joy in flying for the first time as a result, because she doesn’t have to be afraid of falling. During the battle, Jack and Liam fight, and Liam starts to fall after being injured. Violet uses Andarna’s time-stopping ability to help them reach Liam in time. Then, in anger, she explodes, unleashing lightning on Jack and killing him by bringing the tower down, causing him to fall to his death. She is freaked out by this, and Dain tries to coddle her, while Xaden tells her to get real–she did the right thing with Jack and that people die in War. They win the War games.

Violet returns to her room, and throws daggers at target practice when Xaden comes in–they talk and then they end up kissing and then fucking. Xaden tells her that he thought her signet was lighting because he thought he saw it when they first kissed. The next day, the wielding professor collects her in the morning and they go to practice her magic–she cannot go near the archives, as her magic is unstable. Xaden helps her channel it because it happens in heightened emotional states for her, and he shows her memories of their night together. When Xaden comes to visit her afterwards, they talk, and he tells her that he was in athebyne that night she saw him and Bodhi return. Violet picks up the fables book that her dad gave her, which Mira returned to her during their last time together. The binding is damaged from their love making, and she finds a letter from her dad that basically tells her that even fables have some truth to them, and that it takes one generation to re-write history. It is a cryptic message that doesn’t make sense to her except for the fact that this book of fables does not exist in the Scribe Quadrant, meaning that it is most likely a forbidden book. Xaden and Violet talk, and she does not agree with Xaden’s condition from the night before–to not fall for him–and that either they try or they pretend nothing has happened. The next day, she almost chokes him with her innuendos at breakfast. She talks to Dain and he touches her face in a reassuring manner, before they head off to class.

Reunification Day comes and Violet heads to the event with Liam, and notices the negative reactions to him by everyone else. She links his arm in hers, as they have become friends from his months of shadowing her. He tells her that he doesn’t mind, but she notices that he is the only one of the marked ones at the ball. Her mom, The King, and General Melgren approach them, and talk to them. Her mom tells the King that Violet has bonded with the mate of Xaden’s dragon, so she’s become familiar with him out of necessity. The King tells her that it is good that a Sorrengail is keeping an eye out on him, and asks to see him. Violet makes up a lie about him being on the edge and not much of a party person. The group talks to Dain and then Dain comes to Violet and Liam, giving them a chance to slip away from the party. Violet sends Liam back to the dorms, and she goes to find Xaden–it is the day that his dad died, after all. Garrick and Bodhi tell her that he wants to be left alone, but she goes out to Xaden on the Parapet. They talk. He’s ready to stop fighting it, and give them a chance. He apologizes to her about Brennan as they head back across the Parapet and go to his dorm, where they talk some more–Imogen is interested in Garrick, and Xaden has 107 scars on his back because he saw a deal and took it–one in which all 107 children of the Betrayers live as long as they go to the Rider’s Quadrant, and he is solely responsible for them. If one of them does something, his life is forfeit. They end up having sex, multiple times.

Garrick interrupts them and tells them that they are being attacked, so they need to get in formation. They do, and it turns out that it is another war game. Something is off about Colonel Aetos, when he hands Xaden his assignment–Athebyne–which is outside the wards. Violet rushes to her dorms and gets all she needs to go with Dain; however, at the Flight Field, Xaden orders Liam and Violet to come with him. Dain argues that no, she goes with him because it is not safe for her, and Xaden points out that Dain is not making the same argument about Liam, who is also a first year. Violet agrees to go with Xaden, and Dain asks her, indignantly, if it is him. Violet says yes. He whispers to her that he will miss her.

They ride off, and take a break by a lake, where Xaden takes her aside to talk about the two of them together. They are interrupted by a group of Gryphon fliers, and Violet calls Tairn. The rest of the quad comes in, and it becomes apparent that they know each other. It also becomes clear that the group of Dragon rides is all made up of the children of the betrayers, except for her. It turns out that they have been supplying weapons to these Gryphon riders. They talk about Venin, which Violet always thought were fables, but she quickly comes to terms with the fact that they are real. She is mad at Xaden, Liam, Tairn and Andarna, and feels betrayed by them. They make it to the fort, and it is empty, eerily so. The group spreads out, searching, and Liam, Violet and Xaden go to the watch tower. Garrick finds a letter addressed to Xaden that basically tells them to survive if they can, or abandon his command. Xaden asks Violet if Dain ever touched her after he told her about Athebyne, and when he caresses Violet’s face, she remembers that Dain had done that same exact thing, though it’s not all that unusual for him. At first, she tries to deny that Dain would break her trust, but it quickly becomes clear to her that he did, otherwise he wouldn’t have acted the way he did at the flight field. They do not have time to dwell on this revelation as Liam spots venin.

Xaden decides to stay and fish; to protect the people of this town and everyone agrees to follow him, including Violet, though he gives them a choice to leave. Sgaeyl tells her that she has come a long way from her conscription day, and that she approves of Violet. The fight begins, and Wyvern show up. They try to get as many townspeople to the safety of the mines as possible, and the fight is draining–while Violet is able to use her lightning, she is not precise. One of the dragons, and its rider perishes by getting too close to a Venin. Then, Daigh gets locked in a battle with a Wyvern, and Lion slips out. Violet and Tairn catch him, but they need to help the dragon. The dragon dies, and Liam lives for mere minutes–long enough for Xaden to come and talk to him before he passes. Xaden holds them off with his shadows and Violet uses her lightning ability along with stopping time to get the bolt into one of the Venin, thereby taking out the Wyvern. During the fight with the last Venin, she gets injured and after she manages to kill it, she slips and falls only to be caught by Andarna, who was supposed to be hidden away in safety and she’s too small to bear Violet’s weight.

violet passes out and only hears snippets of the conversation–the group is talking about where to get her to heal, with Xaden making a decision. Then, she remembers flying over the mountains, where Xaden kisses her tenderly. Then, she hears Xaden taking her up the steps of the stairs, where she hears a familiar voice that she cannot place.

Xaden sits by her side for three days before Violet finally opens her eyes. He tells her that they weren’t sure if she was going to make it, but his hear fills when she kisses him. He does feel like shit though, when she tells him that she doesn’t trust him. Xaden confirms that they are in Aretia, when she asks him, and says that they are not exactly advertising their presence. He watches as Violet quickly puts it together that Melgren cannot see the future if there are more than three marked children in one room, hence the rule that there cannot be more than three together, and why Xaden told her that Melgren won’t know anything about the fight. Xaden confirms that Liam is dead, and Violet kicks him out. He heads out and talks to Garrick and Bodhi; then cleans and comes back to the room. When Violet let shim back in, Garrick tells him that he is going to go get plan B. Violet agrees to not say anything about the whole fight, and Xaden feels relief, but she tells him that she cannot trust him or be with anyone that she cannot trust. Xaden knows that he loves her–it is the first time that he has felt love since the loss of both of his parents, but knows that saying that he loves her will not help. Instead, he tells her that he will do whatever it takes to regain that trust, without making excuses for why he didn’t tell her, and accepting responsibility. He tells her that she knows that she loves him and that means that there is a chance to work through it. There’s a knock at the door, and then a second one. Violet realizes that Xaden is serious. He gives her a chance to ask one question, and she asks if it is possible that this was all an accident that the attack happened. A different voice tells her that it was not an accident, calling her a little sister. Xaden tells her that he told her that he knew a better potion master, and tells her that she was mended, not healed. Xaden then steps aside and Violet sees Brennan.

My Thoughts: I absolutely love this book, because the female character is a know-it-all and has been raised in the library basically all of her life. She was slated to become a Scribe, because she has some sort of physical disability–it’s implied, but never pointed out–that makes it hard for her to stay balanced, to carry weight, and to stay on her dragon without additional support in the saddle. It makes me think of someone who may have cerebral palsy or other physical disability and it’s one of the first books that I have read thus far that combines disability with fantasy elements. That said, just as I predicted, Violet would choose Xaden because he empowers her, not belittles her. I also figured that Jack’s fixation in class with Tairn was a hint at Tairn getting bonded with someone in this book, though he would never choose and asshole like Jack, and that most likely it will be with Violet.

What I did not expect was that Violet would also get bonded with a baby dragon. I wonder how this will play out in the next book(s)–whether that means that Violet will get another signet power or not. I am very surprised that Brennan is alive, but I did expect it to come out way earlier in the series that his death was faked and maybe his mom had him sent someplace. Turns out that I was partially right–his death was faked, but not by his mom; she may not even have a clue.

I love how Violet for how bold she is, how smart and quick she is to put 2 +2 together on the fly. I love how she comes to realize that Xaden does care for her–his love language is getting gifts and time spent, and that she wants for them to try. I love how Xaden is stoic, but in reality, he shoulders so much to protect his people and takes time to trust, to love, but when it is time to work hard to fix things, he will do the work and make it right, and admits responsibility without excuses. I love how loyal the squad had become to Violet, even when she’s the weakest of them all, because of who she is and the strengths that she brings (her knowledge) to the table.

I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.