By Megan Thomas
I was sceptical of this #bookstagram phenomenon, least because of the word “romantasy” (which describes fantasy novels which contain romance and specifically, detailed sex). Sounds a bit like an illness… Anyway, I saw it described as “Hunger Games meets Fifty Shades” and while I loved the former, the second was the first and only book EVER that I’ve not finished (I don’t do that). So while it wasn’t from a place of judgement, I thought it probably wasn’t for me.
Reader, I loved it so much.
I believe everyone should read whatever they want for whatever reason they want. Full stop. I don’t think any one reason is more noble than another, they’re all just reasons. Generally speaking, I love reading literary fiction that intellectually stimulates me and speaks philosophically about the human condition, even if this means there’s no plot. But this can sometimes mean spending ages reading books I don’t enjoy for the sake of being able to talk about it from an academic perspective, or even just for my ego. Other times, it’s really short books so that I can complete my Goodreads challenge on time. Then there are series like Harry Potter, which elicit pure joy and escapism, perhaps at the sacrifice of literary merit… as has turned out to be my feeling towards Fourth Wing.
I was so engaged with the fast-paced storyline. Rebecca Yarros has built an exciting, action-packed world of dragons, war, steaming sexual tension, magic and sex, which had me reading like a teenager reading under the covers by torchlight. I was relieved to read it over the Christmas break, or else work days would have been difficult.
I tore through the first two books over a few days, and am eagerly awaiting the third installment, published later this month. I’m also deep in a TikTok algorithm that’s serving me AI-generated scenes of the entire book, and am engaged in multiple discussions with friends who have found themselves equally obsessed. Am I 13? What a thrill.
What are your thoughts?
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