The Pen and Book Files

"Blake's final work of the Bright Falls series is strong and satisfying, both as a standalone novel and as an end to a trilogy. Full of heart and well-rounded characters that you'll love even from their shortest appearance."  Now, this is how you write a fake romance. Not even this is how you write a fake romance- this is how you write forced proximity that involves mutual sexual attraction, which then leads to a romance. Yes, there is sexual tension from the beginning, but the characters don't hate each other and then turn around to begin having sex. They're both completely developed, fleshed out, with one having a sassy streak and a confidence to match it. Gosh, this is so much better than Icebreaker. Yes, Iris is a little uptight from the expectations put on her- both self-imposed and those put on her by her family- but the frustrations are dealt with in a healthier manner. Stevie, despite her uncomfortableness at being placed into close proximity with Iris...

It's been a while since Fourth Wing took BookTok by storm, catapulting itself to the top of people's TBR lists with promises of dragons, and sass, and sassy dragons. The avid chatter caught my attention, but I held off on reading the book for precisely that reason. With opinions clamoring for your focus, skewing your independent perspective with their own, it was impossible to tell if the book deserved the praise that it was being handed. So, I waited... and waited... and waited some more. I readily admit that, upon buying the book from a wholesale club, I finished Fourth Wing in two or three days. With that being said, there were a few fairly large snags in the plot which disrupted my sense of disbelief. When a character is written specifically for a trope, they can be difficult.  Xaden knows that he is unlikeable- not just from Violet's perspective, but by the quadrant as a whole- and uses it to his advantage when his life becomes entwined with the daughter of his father...