Really bad writing quality, I can’t believe the ratings are so high on goodreads. I’m just expressing my opinion, so unless you also didn’t like it I’d not keep reading this post, because I hate when people talk shit about my favorite book lol… Anyways, the main character, Violet is the most annoying insufferable whiny girl I’ve everrrrr read about. The “chosen” trope was honestly very overused, Violet apparently has a bone Illness but Rebeca never mentioned it on the book. So her fans and her thinks that I have a crystal ball to guess?! I just thought she was very ANNOYING. She could at least actually train and improve instead of waiting for her 7ft boyfriend to save her or poisoning her enemies please. Also the thunder thing while they have love is very cringy sorry, I hated it. The world building is horrible and the plot is messy. I wanted to know more about the school system but the author just skipped through it. The best part of the book is for sure the dragons. The characters are very basic with no personality or depth…they felt like exactly what they are (fictional). I like books that makes me feel like I personally know the characters. That’s more of a rant than a review. And apparently the second book is even worst according to some of my friends… And the author is very problematic, honestly Sarah just Maas 2. But to call her Sarah j Maas is actually an insult to Sarah because I actually like almost all of her books…
I think far too many people are taking this book too seriously. It just ain’t that serious, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. There are so many things that people enjoy that might not technically be good quality, but that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t enjoy them.
I’ve also seen a lot of people hating on the book when it wasn’t something they were into anyway. You like fantasy and dragons? Cool! But there is a huge difference between Fourth Wing and Game of Thrones. Just because it’s not game of thrones does not therefore mean it’s bad (just an example). Just because something is popular doesn’t mean you’re going to love it.
And, just because something is written simply, does not mean that it has bad writing. This goes for lots of things, like pop music for example. People associate pop music being bad because it’s perceived as simple. Simple allows for quicker reading pace, it allows more people to get into the book community as its easier to read. But those things do not mean it’s bad. And to tie in what I said about pop music, I think another reason people are widely hating on Fourth Wing is because it’s mostly popular with women. And what women love must therefore be bad, right?
I am by no means saying this book is a masterpiece, but art is art, and art is subjective. There are lots of bad things to say about this book, but there are many books where people have lots of bad things to say about, but that doesn’t mean that overall it’s a bad book.
In saying all this, I’ve been reading Iron Flame, and it’s drastically much worse. I think it’s honestly come down to trying to drag out the story and lumping in world building in the beginning. I’m still enjoying it, but not in the same way as I did the first book. It should have had much more cut out from the beginning, I’m at 400 pages and yet the book feels more like thats where the halfway point should have been.
Am a woman. I very much do not like Fourth Wing. I have a creative writing degree and while my opinion is obviously not the be-all-end-all, it is pretty easy to call this bad from a craft standpoint.
But that doesn’t mean people can’t enjoy it anyway. Plenty of people like Twilight and ACOTAR and other things that are pretty bad from a craft standpoint. That’s okay. They’re allowed. I’m also allowed to call it bad in my personal and professional opinion (I’m an editor and have been for nearly 10 years).
You’re right in that simple and easily accessible content is not necessarily or inherently bad, but there are much better examples of simple and easily accessible than FW.
It’s okay to like something and also okay to dislike something. I’m not calling anyone a moron for liking FW. Not everything has to or can be amazing from a craft standpoint.
Personally, there are lots of things I like that are not categorically “good” from their respective craft’s standpoint. But that does not and should not stop people in said craft from being critical of it.
This makes absolutely 0 sense. All the hate I’ve seen for this book is coming from women. No one looks at a book and goes “Oh… women like that? Must be bad then.”
Not everything is about oppression. Sometimes bad books are just bad.
I replied to the original comment but can confirm, I am a woman and I don’t like FW.
Agreed, sometimes books are just bad.