A “Romantacy” with Dragons: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

20 Dec

BookTok has become almost infamous for its hit list and recommendations. Some suggestions are questionable and frighteningly disturbing while others are hidden gems that deserve to have the spotlight on them. The latest in this trend of BookTok hits is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. One of the interesting things about Yarros is that this isn’t her debut in terms of writing, as her back catalog reveals she has quite a few romances under her belt. Fourth Wing is her first venture into the fantasy genre, in particular the fantasy romance genre (or “romantacy” as BookTok has begun to call it).

We are introduced to Violet Sorrengail, a twenty year old who had spent all of her life preparing to become a Scribe, only for her mother to force her to enter the Dragon Riders and follow in her footsteps, despite a medical condition that makes her more prone to injury. As she continues to face the trials laid out before her, she starts to suspect that the powers that be are hiding a terrible secret and that trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death.

The world building is unique enough to pique the reader’s interest, especially if they are new to the fantasy genre. It’s tangible enough of a world that both experienced fantasy readers and those new to the genre will find it unique.

In terms of plot, the overall plot of the novel is fine and a decent first read for anyone who’s new to reading fantasy while it’s obvious that the subplot is what is being used to advertise the book and is the source of hype all over TikTok. Character work is also another thing that may be a hit or miss to some readers. You can see what Yarros was going for in terms of certain characters and providing obstacles for Violet, but many of these fall into their tropes almost too well and if you are a well seasoned reader, you may be okay with them because this is the author’s first attempt at a fantasy, or you may roll your eyes at them. 

Things start off relatively slow at first, mainly consisting of things that introduce us to the main character and establish the world to the reader. While there are plenty of action and suspenseful moments, much of the character interaction seems to drag on for longer than usual. 

Until the dragons show up. 

That’s when things pick up and become a whole lot more interesting and the pacing improves by leaps and bounds. Tairn and Andarna are the best characters throughout this whole book and their interactions with Violet are an absolute joy to read. Even if you’re not big on romantacy, these two dragons alone make reading this book all the more enjoyable. These two characters help provide very much needed moments of humor and light hearted moments that adds so much to the tone of the series. While things still remain grim and serious, the addition of these characters help to provide much needed charm that makes reading it all the more enjoyable. Tairn and Andarna aren’t just there to be convenient side characters, they each contribute to the plot of the story and  

One writing flaw that many experienced readers will notice is Yarros’ take on characterization in fantasy, primarily with the main protagonist, Violet. When we are introduced to her, we are told of how she has been preparing to become a Scribe all of her life, only for her mother to take that away from her because of  her pride. We are told that becoming a scribe is something that Violet wanted not just for her safety, but for herself as well. However, we don’t see any anger, bitterness, resentment, or any other indication of her being upset with her mother for essentially stealing the future she wanted and prepared for. Later on, when another character offers to help her slip past the guards and get into Scribe’s Quadrant, she doesn’t react the way someone would when given the chance to get back to the role she’s wanted. There’s no internal conflict about getting the chance to escape to the Scribes, no sign of gratitude that her friend would even offer to help her out at the possible cost of his position, no longing to go back to the Scribes at all. She takes his trying to help her as a sign he thinks she’s weak. One could argue that this is a character flaw, but it seems strange that something she wanted so much that was taken from her is being offered to her and she doesn’t even argue with herself about the opportunity presented to her. She just says she can’t because of her mother and just accepts it yet again. There’s no fight to reclaim the thing she’s prepared and trained for all of her life.

There are also things all of the characters do throughout the book that are questionable even for a fantasy story. Early on in the story, one of the main characters, Xaden has Violet and her small crew moved over to his division just for the sole purpose of having direct access to her so he can supposedly take revenge for his father out on her. While suspension of disbelief is important for a story, allowing someone with military ranking to just have a direct line to someone they have a grudge or vendetta with is a huge conflict of interest and would make those familiar with this rule raise their eyebrows. As previously mentioned, this can be dismissed as something to suspend your disbelief on, one can’t help but wonder if Yarros did this simply so she could cite that her book as the much beloved trope of enemies-to-lovers. While there is nothing wrong with being proud of the tropes in your book, this particular one feels like it could have been executed much differently and in a way that would make it much more believable.

Then there’s the chemistry between Violet and Xaden. With fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope there’s supposed to be some kind of teasing or banter or subtext for them falling for each other, but with Fourth Wing, the chemistry between the two characters is sort of lacking and they don’t speak to each other as much as Violet speaks with Dain. Yes, we know that she’s attracted to Xaden, which itself is fine, but it isn’t until after the dragons show up that we see any more interaction between Xaden and Violet. The build up to their romance feels rushed, but is also fun to read once it actually gets going. 

Overall, while Fourth Wing does have its share of flaws, it is an enjoyable, escapist read and a good beginner book for those looking to dip their toes into the romantasy genre or for those looking to get into fantasy with grumpy and sweet dragons.

Written by:
Lauren Lapinski
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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What is a finding aid, and how can I use one?

13 Dec
Portrait of Mr. Hatfield, first HPL Librarian. Created by Enid Bell-11/7/36

If you’re doing historical research on a subject, you may have stumbled upon a finding aid before. It’s essentially a table of contents for an archival collection, allowing researchers to check quickly to see if a repository has the thing they’re looking for. In the now decade-plus time I’ve spent in the archival field, I’ve written my fair share of finding aids, and I’ve probably used even more written by other people. Let’s break down how to read one and how they work.

Collection Information
On the first page (or second page, if the finding aid has a separate title page) you’ll find some basic collection information. This will include things like the inclusive and bulk dates, the extent of the collection in linear feet, and the physical condition of the collection. The inclusive dates are the entire date range the collection’s materials encompass, and the bulk dates are where the majority of the materials fall between. Linear feet is actually measured in box width on shelves, not in the papers being spread out – a collection that’s 1 linear foot is usually just in one Hollinger box, a specialized acid-free storage box used for archival papers.  Condition will generally be listed on a scale between ‘excellent’ and ‘poor,’ with ‘poor’ often being a shorthand for ‘falling apart.’ Be extra gentle when working with collections rated below ‘fair’ condition! 

Historical Notes, Scope and Content, and Custodial History
After the basic information, you’ll likely see some historical notes regarding the collection you’re looking at. Biographical notes describe the lives of the important people the collection pertains to. In the most recent finding aid I did for the library, the two most important figures were our first and second head librarians, Thomas Hatfield and his wife Nina Hatfield, so I wrote a brief biographical sketch for each. I then filled in some historical notes on the library itself. Scope and content just describes the extent of the collection – the last finding aid I worked on was contained within 8 Hollinger boxes, which means the scope and content is listed as “eight boxes of materials pertaining to the history of Hoboken Public Library and the City of Hoboken, New Jersey.” 

You’ll often see related materials listed here, as well. This is a list of collections and other items that are connected or similar to the collection you’re looking at currently, which can help with research. There may also be access conditions or restrictions, because sometimes collections cannot be accessed by the public for various reasons, including privacy, sensitivity, or fragility of the records. This will also usually tell you who to contact if you’re interested in accessing the collection for research. 

Preferred Citations and Subject Headings
Finally, you’ll come to the preferred citations and subject headings. The preferred citation just lists how you’d cite the collection in a research paper, which is incredibly useful if you’re a student or an academic. Unfortunately, we generally don’t explain how to format those citations, but there are plenty of resources elsewhere to help you do that correctly. If you’re a history student or working historian, you may be using Turabian.

The subject headings are a shorthand way to see what subjects are featured within the collection, and they’re often taken from a controlled list. The Library of Congress has one such list. These help when you’re searching a database for specific subjects. 

Box Contents
This is probably why you’re here! Now you’ve found the meat of the finding aid – the actual listed contents of the collection, box by box, folder by folder. Here you’ll be able to check to see if anything might be relevant to your research, and if it is, you can request to view it! If the archive isn’t within traveling distance for you, sometimes archivists are willing to scan the items for you to see them if they haven’t already been digitized. 

For the finding aid I did most recently, there were eight boxes, and each box had many folders in it, so the actual box contents listing ended up being 18 pages long! Luckily, it’s searchable, so if you’re looking for something specific, it’s not so hard to figure out what box it’s in!  That’s the basic gist of how to use a finding aid! If you have further questions, the archivist on hand will always be happy to help you out. A good archivist will want you to be able to access the materials for research, after all! 

(Want to see the finding aid I used to write this blog post? See Below!)

I would really love it if you used our collections to do your own research!

Written by: 
Steph Diorio
HPL Archivist/Local History Librarian at HPL

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