is fourth wing actually good? no

[@honestlysophie]

hope you enjoy this one!! i'll be posting a podcast epsiode later this week, let me know if you want me to talk about something specific :) i will also be reading out my favorite comments

[@anopinionatedlaymanappears9052]

I would like to hear you talk about(and trash) other popular books series like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. Even if you haven't read them hahaha

[@anopinionatedlaymanappears9052]

Omg wait have you talked about Twilight yet?

[@sanderella1642]

I think you should read Crave.

[@florance17]

DNFed this book at 10% and returned my copy faster than Violet could info dump her way across the parapet 🤦‍♀

[@honestlysophie]

LMAO 😭

[@JordanS-ww4eu]

@@honestlysophieI like your hair

[@Grace-mc1dh]

After reading over 500 pages why do I still not get if Xaden ever hated Violet. They ruined his only reason for ever hating her when it was revealed he was friends with her brother. So if he wasn't being rude because of her family then what was the point...

[@florance17]

It ✨makes no sense✨

[@dustrose8101]

It'd made more sense if he was standoffish towards her because he can't blow his cover but he doesn't want to treat her harshly because of his friendship with her brother

[@itsjustmylife_x]

I think you didn't understand the book or pay much attention. He only said he hated her so the others wouldn't kill her because she is weak. Basically keep her for him to "kill". He mentioned he was mad about her the moment he saw her.

[@runa_7022]

@@itsjustmylife_x bestie... it WASNT WELL WRITTEN. we arent blinded by loving it. if miss rebecca was a good writer, we wouldnt be confused on his entire goal in being an asshole while also making it extremely obvious that he wanted to bang her. she was just lazy and didnt properly plan out her phony attempt at an enemies to lovers arc

[@yana33612]

like someone mentioned it’s because he wants people to leave her alone bc she’s his target or smth. that being said it all goes to shit pretty fast considering he stop being hostile towards

[@bdoug]

When i saw the author say FIVE BOOKS I was like girl…

[@Anartsblabla]

like she actually wrote a real complicated plot HAHAHA

[@jackrichardson9863]

I think the real question is "What did someone even LIKE about this book?" The way the prose was written just pissed me off to no end. Lightlark was amateurishly written, but the sheer prose in Fourth Wing makes it look like Hemmingway.

[@Budgetdisco]

This book was on my radar before it was published, I was really excited for it. I read the description and was like “Oh so it’s Air Force Academy but with dragons? Sign me up.” I read a lot of fantasy but I also love fighter pilot memoirs, so I was eager to read this one. Then the first reviews came in and I saw that the military aspects of this book were…..uhhhhhhhh. Now I don’t think I could read this book. I know too much about the IRL Air Force Academy, I would just be cringing the entire time. It makes absolutely no sense for a military to kill off cadets like they do in this book. It literally costs millions of USD to train a single fighter pilot, the schools are very invested in seeing you succeed. Also screening out potential cadets by having them go through deadly obstacle courses is also stupid. Especially in a nation that’s supposedly hurting for manpower. Why not have a simple written exam plus a physical exam? I get this book is fantasy so it’s not going to be like the real world, but if you’re going to make up systems whole cloth like this, at least make it make sense. The rules that we have IRL are there for a reason. In terms of military + dragons, Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is much more thought out.

[@hemmydall]

Yeah the war college in this book seems insane to me. Violet even tries to justify it in book 2! She's got PTSD for sure after book 1. They could easily have some of these same approaches of training and still make sure it doesn't kill the person. Like a net in parapet; you fall, you fail, not die. Net works in the obstacle course as well, except you get to try again instead of die. Its just doesn't make sense that a country could survive for hundreds of years with this kind of approach.

[@ettaetta439]

Hey, you can say one thing about the book: there's no plot hole at all in terms of WHY they're hurting for manpower. It's very much cause and effect, all displayed in the book! I'm just not sure the author realizes it

[@LightningEnvy]

My book club is reading it....I am the only one who hates it lol.

[@QueenSiv]

You’re not alone because my book club is doing the same thing right now, starting this week💀

[@LightningEnvy]

@@QueenSiv good luck!

[@HazelSageHP]

My tiny book club is reading it next and I know one of them is halfway through and was liking it so far... I'm sure I've been influenced by a lot of rant reviews (watched long before we decided to read it), but also with the critiques folks have brought up, I know I wouldn't have liked it much either way. I am dreading having to discuss it and try not to sound like an asshole for disliking so much...

[@QueenSiv]

@@HazelSageHP it was difficult to tell these room temp iQ (in F) that the book they liked was actually really bad, so it’s best to discuss stuff that doesn’t have to do with the parts they liked. Such as the exposition dumping and the parts of dialogue and the first chapter being a weird starting point etc, keep it basic and make sure to make jokes, it’s how I survived. Comparing the secondary love interest to Jacob from twilight saved my life. If you can get them to laugh at light jokes that aren’t at the real expense of the book then they won’t hate when you talk. Every time I opened my mouth I was being goofy so it kept the room light and rowdy, even if the librarian was clearly mentally squaring up with me

[@HazelSageHP]

@@QueenSiv Haha, fair enough, I appreciate the advice! I'm good friends with the other folks and we've had differing opinions before, so I hope it won't be TOO bad of a talk, but it's definitely going to be awkward :P

[@yourmom9474]

i’m in hold for MONTHS at my library bc i refuse to spend money. i know i’ll hate it but i want to UNDERSTAND

[@nour2550]

dnf’d this book and came STRAIGHT here it’s a much-deserved reward

[@DoctorJellicle]

This book was so ass. HOW is it at 4.7 stars 😭😭😭😭😭

[@marianamauricio]

32:10 YOURE SO RIGHT am*ricans loooove to take normal names and mispelling them to make them seem like a different name aghjdhsk that's SO usa-core!!!! 🥴

[@QueenSiv]

I felt the same thing like is it because a lot of these YA authors are American or like what’s the deal here

[@katgreer6113]

why do you censor out americans??

[@QueenSiv]

I just joined a book club at my local library for adults aged 20s-30s and this is the first book they’re reading. They’re going to hate me for hating it lmao

[@katgreer6113]

31:53 american here. many of us talk like that but i don't believe that people in BOOKS should be talking like that at all. weird.

[@joaquimafonso108]

I 100% support the skinny jeans hate!!

[@mg_blue]

Do i watch any over an hour content about this book? Absolutely. Do i plan to read it any time soon? Hell no. Peace and Love❤

[@basically_nothing.]

omg, I don’t know how you can keep on reading these books, because I was out after the “what. the. hell” part lol. but listening to you talk about it was super fun, so thank you for your sacrifice ❤

[@hemmydall]

Listening to it makes it easier. I don't think I would have read the book, but the audible of it was easy enough to go through. Its okay; I've heard worse fantasy.

[@allbutperfect]

Healthcare is as daring as having non-token Black people in fantasy...unthinkable!

[@GemAndMoth]

“You are not attracted to toxic men” “isn’t that what happens to the heroines in books” ?!?! So this is just a self insert for the tiktok-iest of booktok…

[@strawberry_void]

I swear I can’t watch this rn but I’m so excited for this, I absolutely DESPISED Fourth Wing on like a million levels. Tbh the worst for me were the non-existent worldbuilding and insta-lust (I’m ace so I hate stuff like that cuz I can’t relate like at all)

[@starflash8346]

Omg I'm ace too and instalust is the perfect word for it. It infuriates me

[@tiramisunsun]

I'm ace too and I thought the same!

[@blah914]

then why did you even read it? it was advertised as spicy romantacy. and it was exactly that.

[@strawberry_void]

@@blah914 Fyi, I read it because the premise seemed actually interesting. And to reiterate: I don’t actually have anything against spice in my books. Just because I can’t relate to that form of attraction doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it in literature. What I do not enjoy is spice that’s just forced into a relationship where romance is otherwise fully absent. There was NO emotional connection. None. Zero. Null. It was literally just lust, and THAT was my problem with it. So no, it was not as advertised a ‚spicy Romantasy‘. Spicy? Yeah, sure. Fantasy? Barely, but I’ll give it a pass. Romance? No. Absolutely not.

[@juljul184]

if you want more modern lingo in a fantasy setting why not just make it urban fantasy? why is everyone trying to be grrm now like you are not her you will never be her. leave the historical fantasy alone, YA girlies, please!

[@sendhelp420]

it pains my soul, because a lot of modern authors wanna write fantasy masterpieces like tolkien and grrm… but they don’t wanna put in the work that tolkien and grrm did

[@KatieColson]

I cackled throughout this entire video. You’re hilarious. And I agree with every single thing you felt about this book

[@honestlysophie]

hehe thank you so much

[@faiththayer7652]

I was hoping you’ve seen this one😂😂😂😂

[@dragonbread1790]

They did mention there was a quadrant for training infantry soldiers, but I do agree with your point about it being kinda dumb to kill off cadets in the college.

[@candace1023joym]

What would a book with a male protagonist describing his female love interest’s body and looks for 3 pages be thought of??

[@suc125]

we would hear left and right how this book objectify women, how it is sexist and how it spoil men, who are supposed to value women´s soul and personality and not her body, because of course, nature didn´t make men to appraciate female body unless they know her. (the description itself is not a problem, but the fact that she has to drool over his body literally every time she sees him is really annoying)

[@grandmazambie]

I have never heard of this book, can't wait to hear you rip it apart!

[@monster-enthusiast]

"Official nerd" lmao

[@BanjoSnazzy]

This book is like a magical version of Divergent.

[@monster-enthusiast]

25:19 is she saying that hes over 6'4 and she doesn't reach is collar bone? How short is she? Cuz if he was 6'4 and she was 5'4 the top of her head should be at about the same level as his shoulders.

[@DarwinRoger893]

She’s one feet tall 💀

[@melleroy7341]

Ok but Navarre lmao what in the lazy fantasy writing is this, that was a very real medieval kingdom and it's now the name of a region in Spain, like couldn't she have changed it a tiny bit?? Also yeah, this whole book reads like American Gen Z-written fanfic and I'm not here for it, thanks for putting yourself through this for us!

[@willowingwhispers2612]

I was hysterical when you were describing the sex scene, laughing so hard I was crying.

[@gabriellelue]

I’m absolutely cracking up at you saying how American the book is 💀🤣 it’s so true though. I enjoyed the book and have it 3 stars! SPOILERS - I will say though, lots of people are comparing Dain to Tamlin because at the end when Violet and Xaden go to the outpost where they’re attacked, Dain knew that was going to happen. So he essentially sends her to her death and therefore is pretty terrible imo

[@sanderella1642]

But at the same time he didn’t send her there. He planned to send her somewhere else and then he begged her not to go. If he had told her why, he would have been sharing classified info which is not in his character because his first loyalty is to the Naverre . 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@Flareontoast]

the mysterious chronic illness could be a connective tissue disorder like Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. some of the most well-known symtpms of the common type(s) are easy bruising, fragile joints, fatigue and pain. It's classified as a rare disease because it is estimated to only occur in a certain amount of people, but research is showing that it's actually more common than previously thought. It is a genetic disorder and is often comorbid with other conditions like Autism and ADHD. Personally I am still looking for someone to help me either diagnose it or rule it out but even in 2023 doctors are still really clueless about it, so I can totally understand that it's a mystery illness in an unspecified magic realm. lol

[@blah914]

no thats it. the author has EDS. thats why she wrote it.

[@belladonnnaxox]

Xaden being described as SO SO TALL!! And omg! He hates me for SOME REASON immediately turned me off. 😭

[@buffalowings4247]

This book is everywhere! I still want to read it but love to here you trash it😂

[@Flareontoast]

Just rewatching this out of spite because one of my long-term online friends recently read this book and reblogs/posts about it on Tumblr and I'm being very good and very brave and not commenting on it even though I judge them for it lol they've always been very picky with storytelling and characters which is why I am baffled he likes it lol

[@sanderella1642]

1:25:11 is an American English expression. Like if someone stubs their toe you say “you poor thing” to convey sympathy. Lol I guess it is wierd

[@randomspider725]

This book makes me embarrassed to be American…

[@faiththayer7652]

Gonna go to target and get a baja blast😂😂😂 Oh and sing the pledge of allegiance. That made me laugh so hard I can’t😭

[@ninninin656]

I love seeing people hate this book as much as I do! It's honestly shocking how many people think it's the best book ever, even getting tattoos of the dragons on the cover?! And they don't even know yet how the next 4 books will go! Mark my words, the whole series will crash and burn with the third book. Second book, people will still make excuses, but by book 3 people will realise how garbage the world building is. It's Divergent all over again! 😂 I've also heard that the other books from the author are basically war/military propaganda and racist towards Middle Eastern people, so I wouldn't say she's unproblematic.

[@suc125]

I think in 10 years, people will look back and be shocked how they could like this book so much and sober up to the fact that the book is terrible

[@b.a.hazard6787]

Endlich 😭 Dein Schmerz ist mein Freude 🙏

[@bdoug]

I thought the first half was really fun but the last like third where it starts focusing on the romance is where it starts to kinda turn… eehhhhh

[@rat8296]

40:23 Isn't rotunda the circle building in romanesque architecture? that one with the little windows

[@BunnyStarTelevision]

Noooo you didn't like it 😭 I got the book and the author came to my city as apart of a book festival to talk about it and stuff. I got it signed and a picture with her and even stickers and a pin! I still haven't read it but hearing bad reviews makes me a lil sad since I got to actually interact with Rebecca. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I won't be watching this one, can't wait for the next video! Also if you're curious- she has written other books however this was her first dip into fantasy!

[@honestlysophie]

Omg thats what I said also!! The author seems like a super sweet person, I saw one of her TikToks 🥺 Definitely happy for her even tho I didn’t like it!!

[@sanderella1642]

All the black charters are gay! It’s like the author gets a two for one without have to write an extra character that is diverse. It’s even more troubling considering this author has a black daughter.

[@Saphia_]

Buy one get one free but for representation.

[@andreeabitirez7677]

As an Andrea in real life i feel attacked lol

[@QueenSiv]

I’m gonna dunk on the word exquisite just for you, cuz you’re right

[@QueenSiv]

Update: all my siblings have been independently dunking on the word exquisite on their own for days now and I have no idea why, it’s just strange that it happened just now and never before

[@RPGDruid]

It just seems like just another awful "teenage girl hit" that makes me think Eragon was probably actually a decent book now.

[@anopinionatedlaymanappears9052]

It's such obvious perfunctory when an author lumps both queer and poc communities into one character. It's bad enough when they make token characters but this takes it to another level

[@comradeRat8545]

Playgrounds and swings, but no healthcare? This really is America core.

[@suc125]

So I bought the book last week believing it would be great after all the hype and I feel cheated. I am a guy and it´s clrearly written for women, but that´s not so much a problem. I also didn´t expect it is a romance book so I had different expectation but I don´t have a problem with romance genre. But even (or especially) as a romance book, it was sooo trashy. This is not a book I want in my library Violet is supposed to be 20, but she is like a 14 year or even younger girl who has her room walls taped with boy band groups. The constant drooling over Xaden in literally (and this time literally literally means literally), even in the most inappropriate moments, made me almost throw the book to the wall at one moment. The two lovers barely talk with each other, than they fuck and they are madly in love. Was this really written by an adult women - and other adult women read it and then rated it 5 stars? Is this really what women consider romantic? It seems it is written for girls hitting their puberty, but then you have some porn scenes in it. Also - if the gendres were changed and we had a male character who would drool over woman´s body and constantly commented how she has great boobs and hot ass, we would hear complains about objectification left and right, and I expect from the same people who hype the book Ton of things didn´t make any sense, but I don´t care so much in some cases, this was just a romance with fantasy scenery. I had to see some criticism on the book after so much hype....

[@marianamauricio]

omg cant wait to see you drag this one 🤭

[@captainshamsham]

My dragons Terry and Sergay 😂😂😂😂

[@OlivaHalimah]

Hey Sophie awesome review! 🙂Recently, my friend and fellow author handpicked FOURTH WING for me to read and review. While I suspect his choice was partly in jest, there was also a genuine curiosity about whether this book and series lived up to all the hype, and sadly, it did not. In any sense, here are my top picks of the year so far: 1. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer Armentrout 2. Sex God: Uriel by F. Simmons

[@lilpotato1039]

Agree, comparing Chaol and Dain is too much. Chaol would die to protect Celaena, he never thought she was weak, and he never violated her boundaries by reading her memories

[@nobbynobbs5319]

I love you ranting about books. When reading forth wing I also thought it' screams american writing. At least it was readable not like lightlark.

[@user-fl3zq1fd9b]

your mispronunciation of xaden is deserved tbh what a silly name 😭

[@hadrtjo]

You said something as: and this character controls words... -the youtube suddenly played the video from start again and it continued with you saying- ...hello welcome to my video -and I was like, yay, thats a great joke about it and then I realized 😀 omg what just happened

[@SorryIcantIhavebookclub]

Bought it knowing I wouldn’t like it 🙊 What is wrong with me? Glad other people didn’t get the hype as well….

[@pegah_di]

I love listening to you rant 😂 so I'm going to suggest you read "Fable" by Adrienne Young.

[@thisisarandomurl2000]

it was so bad

[@serceskywalker]

Yar*k 😂 omg I wasn’t expecting a Turkish word like this lol

[@EMEM663]

I thought that Brennan being alive was predictable because she actually brought him up a lot in my opinon, though, like you said, her thoughts of him didnt hold much substance. I enjoyed the lore and thought it was fun and felt that the book would have been better flushed out as just a fantasy. The "romance" and smash scenes were so cringe they actually made me feel like I'd never be horny again 😂 I had to start skipping them. I listened to this book through Audible in July and listened to Iron Flame last week. The side characters were so "meh" that I had completely forgotten about Sawyer, Quinn, and that one character who is BFF with Quinn whose name Ive already forgotten, apparently.

[@kayandee]

1:20:25 lmao wait what??? But weed can literally make you horny 😂 Y'know I almost bought this book, I just saw it on Amazon and the many good reviews... I'm so glad I forgot it in my cart

[@yana33612]

the world building had so many inconsistencies, the characters were so annoying and two dimensional and the romance sucks. thing is, i was enjoying this book not because it was good but it was so stupid it was entertaining. but when the romance got serious? i was so annoyed. like the book was nonsense but at least it was entertaining trash but the romance just pissed me off so bad because of how stupid it was. whatever the opposite of horny is, that was me while reading the sex scenes. the chemistry and tension were literally nonexistent and i guess that was the last straw for me

[@jumboskittles]

I was CACKLING I will watch every video you make on this 🌺

[@mrpalmer6443]

same ive developed an allergy to cringe

[@hemmydall]

Its a better listen than it is a read. They got a good narrator with emotional range, and the dialogue in the book comes out well when spoken. Its a 6 out of 10 book; I can listen to it and enjoy it while I work. I've listened to worse fantasy titles and way better ones as well.

[@kristinh.3517]

So glad I found this. I thought I was going crazy. So grateful for this video so I don’t have to finish reading this dumb dumb book. I was interested for like 8 chapters and then the cheesiness became too much to handle. Terrible world building, so many plot holes, ‘inclusive’ characters just for the sake of ‘inclusion’… barf

[@darkmatter9651]

I liked Fourth Wing. My biggest problem with it is that it's too easy to make comparisons between it and other YA fantasy giants. If Xaden had a tad bit more personality and Violet did too then maybe this would've been THE book. I am sad

[@notreal9214]

i feel like they fumbled the dragons. Could've had so many ways of doing dragon lore and stuff, and it felt so half-assed :/. At least I'm looking into developing my own dragon lore as a coping mechanism lol. btw there's this guy who theorizes that dragons (as a myth) exist because people are afraid of snakes!

[@darkmatter9651]

@@notreal9214 TRUE

[@irnasyach]

Me, a fan of ongoing litrpg that recently released its 16th book: 5 books bitch tf 😮

[@hhd5369]

giving you a view so you can get your 14 euro back

[@honestlysophie]

🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@sanderella1642]

first!!!

[@sexymushroom473]

omg cinderella is dead as pfp, such a good retelling!!

[@sanderella1642]

@@sexymushroom473thank you!!!

[@veravucic3182]

You know how to improve this book?Just imagine Vi from Arcane in place of the main character .You’re welcome.

[@redjacket2486]

vi is a lesbian icon its blasphemy to imagine her lusting after a man

[@itsjustmylife_x]

A lot of things said here seem like you struggled a bit to pay attention to the book. You also have to understand that it is not a standalone so not everything has answers and when she publishes is umm... up to her. There is a lot of planning that go into books and she could have easily written both these books over a few years. I honestly thought at first that the hype is too crazy and I won't like it but I absolutely loved it and realized that there is a reason things get hyped up... if you are in the minority of people who didn't like it, doesn't mean it was "overhyped". Maybe you just couldn't grasp the book or maybe not every single person is the same. I did however notice that you didn't understand a lot of things that went on and perhaps skipped over a few too many pages to leave a review.

[@nour2550]

Honestly good for you for liking the book fr but I’m tired of people pulling the “you just didn’t understand it” argument against real reviews. Any reader who’s familiar with fantasy will recognize that this book is objectively bad writing-wise, with a lot of plot holes. Some people can overlook that but others can’t

[@infinitecurlie]

​​@@nour2550Agreed. I'm only 40 pages in the book but just the world building is absolutely terrible and spoonfed. This reads like someone's first draft. This is the problem when talking about over hyped books (yes, this was over hyped. Op, you loved it, good for you) that people for whatever reason love, like good for them, but they cannot handle criticism and just go on the defense of obviously the reviewer didn't understand or read it. Also like....They watch videos like these when the reviewer makes it obvious that they didn't like the book. IIRC wasn't this marketed as adult fantasy? That alone sets an expectation that at least it would be ok WB wise but it's a hot mess just in the first three chapters. I've read better on Wattpad.

[@blah914]

agreed.

[@suc125]

The book is objectively not very good, therefore, it is overhyped. It is kind of fun read, but it is very trashy, especially as a romance book. It seems it is written for 14 year old girls who tape their room with boy band posters, and the book seems much more like a YA (but than you have some spice scenes). I can´t believe that is what adult women consider romantic, as it´s just about two people drooling over each other. I thought women had higher standards for a romance. I understand that sometimes you just wanna read about a hot tall guy that you wanna climb like a tree, nothing wrong with that type of book, but it should belong to junk literature and be advertised as such I mean sometimes you just wanna enjoy a McDonnald meal, it´s tasty, but it´s not comparable to something cooked in a 3 michelin stars restaurant and shouldn´t be talked like it is

[@tasneemahmed5821]

You're hilarious man