Hey there, human! The little bit of news I’m about to share with you was actually written and shared in my newsletter last month. Therefore, the line that says “…before I dive into writing the next Hellfire novel…” is incorrect. I’ve since begun writing it.
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OMG, I finally listened to the audiobook of Fourth Wing…
Before I dive into writing the next Hellfire novel, I wanted to do a little fantasy pleasure reading. So, now I’m emotionally wrecked at the hands of a fellow author and will be suffering from a stage 4 book hangover thanks to that massive cliffhanger until Iron Flame releases on November 7th. I neeeeeeeeeeed to know what happens next. Have you read Fourth Wing yet? Are you obsessing about it every minute of the day, too????
Sigh…. Aaaaaaaanyway…
In light of the unplanned romantasy read, I decided to go ahead and share that passion project prologue I mentioned in my last blog post. However, I do want to clarify one thing. I’d referred to that standalone romantasy novel as Blood Monarchs but that’s more than likely not correct. That’s a working title only. I’m hovering somewhere around 79.2% certain I will change it before the time comes to hit the publish button. Between you, me, and the NSA, I’m on the fourth or fifth working title as is so it’ll probably change a few times before the book is published.
Eryas awaits…
Read the Blood Monarchs Prologue Here
FOURTH WING SPOILERS: Now, my thoughts on Fourth Wing are packed with spoilers so I’m dropping the spoiler warning below and then my thoughts are after that. If you don’t want the book spoiled, don’t read on from here.
Celebrating Human Artists: Going forward, I’m going to try to include something created by a human artist in each blog post. Today’s piece is a digital painting of Violet Sorrengail, the main character in Fourth Wing. It’s a gorgeous piece! The artist is a freelance illustrator named Fernanda Fernandez. She’s based in Brazil and she does jaw-dropping work. Her portfolio is simply stunning and truly the spotlights the different kind of passion you can see in a creation from a human artist. If you’re in the market for a piece of artwork to add to your collection or you’re looking for commercial purposes, please always choose a human artist.
I finished Fourth Wing at about 2 o’clock in the morning. I literally woke up thinking about this book. A 21-hour audiobook and it felt too short.
OH MY FUCKING GAWD.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Okay, so first, I thought I was going to end up skipping this book entirely because it took me FOUR tries to get into it. Now, to be fair, I knew NOTHING about the story. I didn’t read the blurb and I’ve avoided spoilers by keeping my TikTok on mute when viewing FW videos. Lol So, I literally had no idea what to expect going in. As a result, the start of the book felt suuuuuper-slow to me. My work/writing schedule means I rely on audiobooks for time management purposes. Chapter one is fifty-three minutes long. Out of the twenty-one-hour audiobook, it took me until about the third hour before I was really invested in the story. That being said, the story takes OFF from there and just doesn’t let up. By chapter eight, the death toll is already up over sixty people and they’re only in training. Lol And with a death toll like that, you better believe some of them are characters you love. And some of the deaths are stop-your-breath shocking. I yelled at an empty house several times while working and listening to the audio yesterday. Lol
Celebrating Human Artists: “Violet Sorrengail | Fourth Wing” by Fernanda Fernandez
It’s a unique fantasy world. They speak like we do, they have indoor plumbing, but they also ride dragons, are at war with a neighboring country that has griffins, and there is lots of magic. The FMC is genuinely funny. She’s snarky without it feeling like the author was trying too hard (sometimes that just translates into a bitchy, unlikeable character).
Ugh! And the DRAMA! There is straight up murder, romance and lusty feels, betrayal all over the place, lies and deceit, and friends you make just long enough to watch them die. Like a really good soap opera with DRAGONS. Lol I won’t say anything else. Read the book. It’s soooooooooooooooo good.
