My favorite fiction of 2024

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Bookshop.org link | Amazon link

I read this entire book in one sitting. Not only is it exactly my type of book – fantasy romance with dragons and a strong woman protagonist – the author has the same rare genetic connective tissue disorder as me (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and so does Forth Wing’s main character.

The world feels like a modern reimagining of iconic fantasy classic The Dragonriders of Pern but with fewer sexual consent issues and less domestic violence (no shaking of women). There’s adventure, intrigue, and dragons who each bond to a rider and have the ability to communicate with that rider mind-to-mind.

I was surprised by how much it meant to me to read a book about a character whose body works the same way mine does. Apparently that’s something that I was craving so deeply that I wasn’t even consciously aware of it. Are there better YA Fantasy books with similar vibes? Perhaps, but this drew me in and I’m looking forward to book two.

Fair warning: this book sounds like YA, but the sex scenes are a little more on-page action than I associate with YA. There are only a couple of them, but the spice level puts on the same shelf as ACOTAR rather than The Hunger Games.