Fourth Wing is probably the most popular novel among the so-called BookTok community, so if you’ve been secretly wondering if Rebecca Yarros’ YA best-seller is as spicy as everyone claims, we’ve got you covered.
On the surface, Fourth Wing is set in a fictional universe and centers around a military academy that accepts a sickly girl — originally intended to only serve as a scribe — as a dragon rider. Our heroine, Violet, is drafted into the Fourth Wing squad and gets entangled in a tale of danger and intrigue within Yarros’ Empyrean universe. Violet also develops a romantic interest in Fourth Wing’s squad commander, a brooding handsome dark-haired specimen called Xaden Riorson.
And yes, one need not look any further than that description to realize that Fourth Wing isn’t just an innocent tale of epic heroism tailored toward a young audience. As folks in the fantasy romance community have grown to call it, Fourth Wing includes “spice,” which equates to the book having a fair bit of steamy scenes between its main protagonists.
How spicy is Fourth Wing?
In the grand tapestry of YA romance books, Fourth Wing might be considered by many of the genre’s most avid followers to be mild in terms of spicy scenes. Indeed, on a scale of 1 to explicit, blush-inducing Sarah J. Maas sex scenes in A Court series, Rebecca Yarros’ book may fall somewhere in the middle.
Still, whether you want to dive into the series but aren’t sure about the explicit content, or want to make sure that it’s appropriate for your kid or nephew to read, it’s important to know when that palpable sexual tension between our burgeoning heroes blooms into an open romantic entanglement.
Which Fourth Wing chapters are spicy?
There are three chapters in Fourth Wing that you need to be on the lookout for, and they are Chapters 22, 30, and 32.
- Chapter 22 features a steamy kiss. Though it can be a bit too descriptive, it doesn’t lead to anything more.
- Chapter 30 is where Violet and Xaden finally hook up, and Yarros gets a little graphic with her word choices, but nothing too alarming if you’re an initiate of the genre.
- Chapter 32 includes a very romantic scene after Violet professes her true feelings to the wingleader.
Things get more intense in Fourth Wing‘s sequel. To learn the specific spicy chapters in Iron Flame, check out our previous post.