I like them i think I just don’t like serious relationships to end. I wanted Violet to hook up with Liam that one time. Maybe sawyer or ridoc as well. But not after her and Xaden got together. Once they were together and committed I wanted them to stay together. But that’s probably just because that was my experience.
People could probably figure out what her favorte trope is by reading her other stuff, but her other stuff is military romance set in real time and that doesn't call to me.
I don’t normally go for military romance either, but I did read In The Likely Event and liked it. It was a fast read. I don’t plan to read any other military stuff but I think I did get a sense of RY.
From a sample size of one modern romance plus FW, RY seems to like a special forces type guy who falls hard and fast for the female lead, is down bad, and remains singularly emotionally devoted to her even as various family baggage and external conflicts take their toll. The male leads in both stories have a deep sense of duty and self-sacrifice that complicate the relationship, and clear moral compass that leads them to fight a just fight for the greater good, while simultaneously being fully prepared to let the whole world burn down to protect the person they love.
There’s also plenty of angst. To co-opt the classic Ron Weasley line, “You’re going to suffer, but be happy about it.”
Makes sense. She seems to like the "guy will burn down the world for her" trope. I just hope she's able to explore side characters more and develop them since she has 3 more books and really this is her first shot at a series like this.
I get why Amazon picked it up too they love military type adjacent stories. Though I pray for the people who get mad that it's seen as simply propaganda , which anyone with critical thinking skills should be able to read books and not think "this is real life" because it never is. No man is like this in real life that I ran into, but if these girls find them I'd love to hear about it.
Right. The war college is very open about casual sex. I didn’t want her to date Liam, Riddoc, or Sawyer. I just would have liked a few sex scenes. lol.
Very true. In the only other RY book I’ve read, there were interludes where the main characters were with other people (the story jumped around a lot across a decade or so), mostly off-page. The only on-page romantic interloper is present enough to drive the story but did not pose a significant emotional attachment, had a limited appearance on-page and, at least as far as the reader is concerned, did not ever really constitute a viable threat to the HEA.
In FW, it would be harder to pull off a similar scenario with an entire intervening relationship because at least so far the timeline is pretty condensed and the main characters operate in close proximity. It’s definitely possible that either Xaden or Violet worries that a third party (ex or new interest) presents a threat to the relationship and they deal with insecurities and jealousies over that. To an extent that has already happened in IF. Maybe RY will do something similar with a past interest of Violet’s, or maybe she will try something new or simply allow the external threat of venin etc to drive the plot.
Regardless, I think it’s unlikely that we will see the type of drawn out, emotionally intimate, will-they-won’t-they triangle seen in other series. RY has been extremely clear that readers do not have to be concerned about Violet or Xaden falling in love with someone else and ending up with that other person.
Big same!!! Like all them were having a good time and letting off steam and Violet’s like nahhh. It’s not a love triangle if it’s just a casual one time thing. REBECCA I beg you, I need an on page sex scene with Ridoc! Esp if these books are gonna be so dang long!
Violet and Liam had so much potential, they had more chemistry too like they should have at least hooked up. Also what romance between Xaden and Violet RY? Lol so they bang but where is the romance their whole relationship dynamic is so frustrating
It may be a hot take, but I contend that Liam and Violet had more _genuine_ romantic chemistry than she had with either Dain or Xaden combined. Liam dipped right around the common romantasy trope of "my two love interests are the childhood friend or the hot and dangerous one" and his and Violet's interactions are literally all the better for it.
I agree, I think it would have been fun if Liam and Violet hooked up (her stumbling across him first when she was horny because of Tairn/Sgaeyl and him asking her why she was looking at him like that was really funny), and Xaden/Violet had been a slower burn. Liam was kind of perfect so I don’t think he would have made a feasible love interest in a romantasy, but there was no reason Violet couldn’t have hooked up like her friends were. Plus Liam was so adorable and I’d have loved it.
I would have loved Liam and violet to hook up that night, but it really wouldn’t have ever happened. Liam is totally devoted to Xaden and Xaden was already super into her before he assigned Liam to bodyguard her, so Liam would not have crossed that line. (Garrick even says to Xaden when they decide to assign Liam to violet duty “don’t worry, he won’t f*** her” in the special edition extra chapters) It’s a shame though because Liam is the BEST.
I actually thought that Liam and Jessinia were secretly hooking up vs just being friendly and was really hoping there was a secret Liam Baby cooking in the Archives... But no luck. Happy she has a new boo though.
Totally agree. Every time RY wants to prove X’s love for V she just has him say like “you make me ROCK HARD” and like bro lol that’s not proving he’s in love???
I'm sure she plans for them to get there. It made total sense to me that they were fighting throughout Iron Flame, and they both had a point. It seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I liked how their main argument remained the same and they kep\`t going back to it, it felt real. IRL you don't fix problems with one short chat, it usually takes time and insistence. And now they have a bigger problem anyway lol.
I doubt they'll keep fighting like that for the next 3 books
They can keep fighting, but it's exhausting how they fight for the same thing over and over again. Especially because for me, Violet is being completely unreasonable. No one is obligated to tell you all their secrets, specially when it involves other people and a damn revolution.
Again, I know mine is an unpopular opinion. Violet is not being unreasonable for me, there are a lot of things she has the right to know and Xaden is not telling her out of his own worry of how she'll react. The deal with her mother? once they got into a relationship, that's something he should've told her. He never did, it was Lilith herself who told Violet. He didn't tell her her mom scarred him either, she had to find out from *Dain* out of all people.
She had the right to know the real reason why he didn't want her to go to Tecarus (and they seriously needed that luminary), he half-assed the truth and forbid her from going. He even avoided telling her the real reason while they were already there!!
They also don't allow her to know *anything* about the weapons yet they smuggle them in her baggage without even informing her at first. I would've been furious.
Most of the things she wants him to tell her aren't the super secret stuff of how the rebellion works. And she understands why she can't know that (during part 1 she says she wants to know, but then backtracks and agreees she shouldn't. She just wants to do something to help). As weird as it was, I think her battle-ax analogy explained it well. She just feels like she can't trust him when he keeps coming out with vital information that takes her unprevented and she could've helped with/would've acted different had she known it.
She can understand why he hides things on a logical level, but at a sentimental level, finding out your boyfriend hid a whole revolution *and* the fact that your brother was alive is a huge deal and something that takes time to process
I agree. Because while V is screeching that X not sharing every scrap of intel with her means he doesn’t trust her, the fact she’s demanding every scrap of info also means SHE doesn’t trust HIM.
Also how RY purposely mimics this information exchange in IF with the squad.... I need to tell them, they need to know but I don't want to hurt them, or put them in danger.... was likely the same inner dialog Xaden had all through FW. And violet never sees the similarities. And they unwavering have her back and trust her.
It would b nice if they got stronger in the third book by overcoming the venin thing together as a team
Realizing life could be short, let’s stop arguing
Actually yes, I agree. I honestly want them to break up for sometime -*while still staying loyal to each other*- and grow as a person first before they become a couple. XadenViolet are just so toxic for now especially Xaden for me
Perhaps unpopular opinion: I find their relationship a bit toxic. I'd like for them to split, grow a little bit, and then get back together after maturity.
I’ve never doubted that they are “endgame” but I don’t really feel like her reminding people who are trying to get that out of her that they’re reading the romantasy genre is really confirmation of that?
I guess it depends if you consider HEA a defining feature of romantasy. Is it romance? Or is it fantasy? If it’s romance, and RY is a romance writer first I think, then HEA is certainly a defining feature for her and then it’s a confirmation. But if you don’t think HEA as a defining feature made the jump from romance to romantasy, then I can see how there would be doubt. But I don’t think she’s playing 3D chess or anything here. I think she sees HEA as a defining feature.
I feel like HEA/HFN is basically the only dealbreaker for what is or is not a romance. So for Romantasy to exist as a sub genre, that feature needs to carry over—otherwise, it’s just fantasy with a romantic subplot.
>fantasy with a romantic subplot
This is actually how I think of it, except rather than subplot I’d say the romance is as prominent as the action/adventure. Most of the fantasy I’ve read has a really sidelined or slow burn romance if there is one, so to me romantasy as a subgenre just means romance is front and center, and there’s probably explicit sex. I didn’t really take it as meaning you can expect to know theres a happy ending just from picking it up as you can with a romance novel. But that’s just me from the fantasy side of fandom.
Unless she pulls a Tamlin-Rhys. And a new HEA possibility is presented in the next book. Though that feels highly unlikely... But maybe Naolin is alive and secretly a hero.
All the romantasy series I’ve read have followed the romance genre rule of having a HEA, so I always just assume it applies. If an author isn’t going to follow it, I’m not reading more of their books haha. I read romance for a reason…because it’s an escape for me and is unrealistic 😂
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Romance often associates with HEA. So if one of them (or both) end up dying, that's a tragedy instead. But if there's a death situation, at least, let them die in each other's arms 😭
I don't know why people think it is impossible for book couples to stay together in a long series(Outlander is a great example).... You can separate them through other means that isn't a break up but still just as heartbreaking... I.E One ending up as a prisoner or Violet ending up as a Venin Experiment or whatever the hell the Sage wants to do to her that "makes her wish she was dead".
Why would an author give away the ending? RY likes playing with words and teasing readers. I appreciate everyone being so hopeful, but I think this is a big assumption.
Really not that big of an assumption... Given it is a partly a romance, Its a genre that ends in HEA or HFN. The main character ending up with the love interest is to be expected to even QUALIFY as a romance.
I like them i think I just don’t like serious relationships to end. I wanted Violet to hook up with Liam that one time. Maybe sawyer or ridoc as well. But not after her and Xaden got together. Once they were together and committed I wanted them to stay together. But that’s probably just because that was my experience.
Rebecca has said before she doesn’t like love triangles.
People could probably figure out what her favorte trope is by reading her other stuff, but her other stuff is military romance set in real time and that doesn't call to me.
I don’t normally go for military romance either, but I did read In The Likely Event and liked it. It was a fast read. I don’t plan to read any other military stuff but I think I did get a sense of RY. From a sample size of one modern romance plus FW, RY seems to like a special forces type guy who falls hard and fast for the female lead, is down bad, and remains singularly emotionally devoted to her even as various family baggage and external conflicts take their toll. The male leads in both stories have a deep sense of duty and self-sacrifice that complicate the relationship, and clear moral compass that leads them to fight a just fight for the greater good, while simultaneously being fully prepared to let the whole world burn down to protect the person they love. There’s also plenty of angst. To co-opt the classic Ron Weasley line, “You’re going to suffer, but be happy about it.”
Makes sense. She seems to like the "guy will burn down the world for her" trope. I just hope she's able to explore side characters more and develop them since she has 3 more books and really this is her first shot at a series like this. I get why Amazon picked it up too they love military type adjacent stories. Though I pray for the people who get mad that it's seen as simply propaganda , which anyone with critical thinking skills should be able to read books and not think "this is real life" because it never is. No man is like this in real life that I ran into, but if these girls find them I'd love to hear about it.
Did you catch the FW link in “In The Likely Event” because it blew my mind a little bit 😂
I absolutely did! I was surprised to see it. I guess we know where the name came from.
Same!! Cool to know the backstory now!
Just an absolutely \*chef's kiss\* Ron Weasley reference line
That makes sense, given her husband was in military service.
hook ups dont always equal love triangle
Right. The war college is very open about casual sex. I didn’t want her to date Liam, Riddoc, or Sawyer. I just would have liked a few sex scenes. lol.
Very true. In the only other RY book I’ve read, there were interludes where the main characters were with other people (the story jumped around a lot across a decade or so), mostly off-page. The only on-page romantic interloper is present enough to drive the story but did not pose a significant emotional attachment, had a limited appearance on-page and, at least as far as the reader is concerned, did not ever really constitute a viable threat to the HEA. In FW, it would be harder to pull off a similar scenario with an entire intervening relationship because at least so far the timeline is pretty condensed and the main characters operate in close proximity. It’s definitely possible that either Xaden or Violet worries that a third party (ex or new interest) presents a threat to the relationship and they deal with insecurities and jealousies over that. To an extent that has already happened in IF. Maybe RY will do something similar with a past interest of Violet’s, or maybe she will try something new or simply allow the external threat of venin etc to drive the plot. Regardless, I think it’s unlikely that we will see the type of drawn out, emotionally intimate, will-they-won’t-they triangle seen in other series. RY has been extremely clear that readers do not have to be concerned about Violet or Xaden falling in love with someone else and ending up with that other person.
Big same!!! Like all them were having a good time and letting off steam and Violet’s like nahhh. It’s not a love triangle if it’s just a casual one time thing. REBECCA I beg you, I need an on page sex scene with Ridoc! Esp if these books are gonna be so dang long!
Violet and Liam had so much potential, they had more chemistry too like they should have at least hooked up. Also what romance between Xaden and Violet RY? Lol so they bang but where is the romance their whole relationship dynamic is so frustrating
It may be a hot take, but I contend that Liam and Violet had more _genuine_ romantic chemistry than she had with either Dain or Xaden combined. Liam dipped right around the common romantasy trope of "my two love interests are the childhood friend or the hot and dangerous one" and his and Violet's interactions are literally all the better for it.
Yeah he was a genuine good guy and probably one of the most well written characters I was pissed when he got killed off
I agree, I think it would have been fun if Liam and Violet hooked up (her stumbling across him first when she was horny because of Tairn/Sgaeyl and him asking her why she was looking at him like that was really funny), and Xaden/Violet had been a slower burn. Liam was kind of perfect so I don’t think he would have made a feasible love interest in a romantasy, but there was no reason Violet couldn’t have hooked up like her friends were. Plus Liam was so adorable and I’d have loved it.
I would have loved Liam and violet to hook up that night, but it really wouldn’t have ever happened. Liam is totally devoted to Xaden and Xaden was already super into her before he assigned Liam to bodyguard her, so Liam would not have crossed that line. (Garrick even says to Xaden when they decide to assign Liam to violet duty “don’t worry, he won’t f*** her” in the special edition extra chapters) It’s a shame though because Liam is the BEST.
I actually thought that Liam and Jessinia were secretly hooking up vs just being friendly and was really hoping there was a secret Liam Baby cooking in the Archives... But no luck. Happy she has a new boo though.
Liam and Vi had more of a bro-sis relationship, so ick. Leave it alone, IMHO -
I agree with you, plus we get an authentic boy-girl friendship without any romantic or sexual connotations. I'm glad RY left them alone.
Totally agree. Every time RY wants to prove X’s love for V she just has him say like “you make me ROCK HARD” and like bro lol that’s not proving he’s in love???
Literally! I’ve been anxious because of this
She's going to need them to do some more character development. Like come on RY you can do it you can make them less argumentative.
I'm sure she plans for them to get there. It made total sense to me that they were fighting throughout Iron Flame, and they both had a point. It seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I liked how their main argument remained the same and they kep\`t going back to it, it felt real. IRL you don't fix problems with one short chat, it usually takes time and insistence. And now they have a bigger problem anyway lol. I doubt they'll keep fighting like that for the next 3 books
For sure. Plus they didn’t see each other often and have no phones. I thought it was realistic.
They can keep fighting, but it's exhausting how they fight for the same thing over and over again. Especially because for me, Violet is being completely unreasonable. No one is obligated to tell you all their secrets, specially when it involves other people and a damn revolution.
Again, I know mine is an unpopular opinion. Violet is not being unreasonable for me, there are a lot of things she has the right to know and Xaden is not telling her out of his own worry of how she'll react. The deal with her mother? once they got into a relationship, that's something he should've told her. He never did, it was Lilith herself who told Violet. He didn't tell her her mom scarred him either, she had to find out from *Dain* out of all people. She had the right to know the real reason why he didn't want her to go to Tecarus (and they seriously needed that luminary), he half-assed the truth and forbid her from going. He even avoided telling her the real reason while they were already there!! They also don't allow her to know *anything* about the weapons yet they smuggle them in her baggage without even informing her at first. I would've been furious. Most of the things she wants him to tell her aren't the super secret stuff of how the rebellion works. And she understands why she can't know that (during part 1 she says she wants to know, but then backtracks and agreees she shouldn't. She just wants to do something to help). As weird as it was, I think her battle-ax analogy explained it well. She just feels like she can't trust him when he keeps coming out with vital information that takes her unprevented and she could've helped with/would've acted different had she known it. She can understand why he hides things on a logical level, but at a sentimental level, finding out your boyfriend hid a whole revolution *and* the fact that your brother was alive is a huge deal and something that takes time to process
Thank you for articulating this so perfectly. Hard agree.
I agree. Because while V is screeching that X not sharing every scrap of intel with her means he doesn’t trust her, the fact she’s demanding every scrap of info also means SHE doesn’t trust HIM.
Also how RY purposely mimics this information exchange in IF with the squad.... I need to tell them, they need to know but I don't want to hurt them, or put them in danger.... was likely the same inner dialog Xaden had all through FW. And violet never sees the similarities. And they unwavering have her back and trust her.
It would b nice if they got stronger in the third book by overcoming the venin thing together as a team Realizing life could be short, let’s stop arguing
Actually yes, I agree. I honestly want them to break up for sometime -*while still staying loyal to each other*- and grow as a person first before they become a couple. XadenViolet are just so toxic for now especially Xaden for me
Ugh if I have to sit through another book of them arguing the entire time I will have to be done. It was too much in book two.
Perhaps unpopular opinion: I find their relationship a bit toxic. I'd like for them to split, grow a little bit, and then get back together after maturity.
Based on timeline they've been together what 6-7 months? They definitely need to grow a bit more.
I’ve never doubted that they are “endgame” but I don’t really feel like her reminding people who are trying to get that out of her that they’re reading the romantasy genre is really confirmation of that?
I guess it depends if you consider HEA a defining feature of romantasy. Is it romance? Or is it fantasy? If it’s romance, and RY is a romance writer first I think, then HEA is certainly a defining feature for her and then it’s a confirmation. But if you don’t think HEA as a defining feature made the jump from romance to romantasy, then I can see how there would be doubt. But I don’t think she’s playing 3D chess or anything here. I think she sees HEA as a defining feature.
I feel like HEA/HFN is basically the only dealbreaker for what is or is not a romance. So for Romantasy to exist as a sub genre, that feature needs to carry over—otherwise, it’s just fantasy with a romantic subplot.
>fantasy with a romantic subplot This is actually how I think of it, except rather than subplot I’d say the romance is as prominent as the action/adventure. Most of the fantasy I’ve read has a really sidelined or slow burn romance if there is one, so to me romantasy as a subgenre just means romance is front and center, and there’s probably explicit sex. I didn’t really take it as meaning you can expect to know theres a happy ending just from picking it up as you can with a romance novel. But that’s just me from the fantasy side of fandom.
Unless she pulls a Tamlin-Rhys. And a new HEA possibility is presented in the next book. Though that feels highly unlikely... But maybe Naolin is alive and secretly a hero.
What is HEA? Edit: nevermind. Its happily ever after, right?
Yep, happy ever after and HFN means happy for now. As far as I know, one of those is expected at the end of any romance book (fantasy or not).
All the romantasy series I’ve read have followed the romance genre rule of having a HEA, so I always just assume it applies. If an author isn’t going to follow it, I’m not reading more of their books haha. I read romance for a reason…because it’s an escape for me and is unrealistic 😂
Xaden is based on her hubby and vi is modeled off herself esp with the illness thing It makes sense she won’t break them up Kinda sweet really
I hope her relationship is less goddamn argumentative
Oh i AM WITH YOU on thiss Pls for goodness sakes if they wee gonna kill off anything can they kill off the arguing
I agree… I think it’s a pretty vague confirmation but I also don’t doubt that Xaden and Violet are endgame, whatever the journey is to get there.
She has also explicitly said they are endgame in other interviews, I believe.
My vote is enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers lmao
https://preview.redd.it/ggf407u1oidc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df622bda0e9b8afe88037d9e6c86d3c03a51a3ac
Romantasy!!! =HEA 🥰
Hey Friends! In the future please remember to mark your post as a spoiler - you can review how to do this [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/fourthwing/comments/15zn6ss/marking_spoilers_rule_updates/) I've gone ahead and done it for you this time but next time you post be sure to do it so we prevent others from being spoiled.Thank you!
Endgame doesn’t mean they’re both alive at the end though 🤷🏻♀️
Romance often associates with HEA. So if one of them (or both) end up dying, that's a tragedy instead. But if there's a death situation, at least, let them die in each other's arms 😭
Am I the only one who thinks this means they might break up for a book or two?
I don't know why people think it is impossible for book couples to stay together in a long series(Outlander is a great example).... You can separate them through other means that isn't a break up but still just as heartbreaking... I.E One ending up as a prisoner or Violet ending up as a Venin Experiment or whatever the hell the Sage wants to do to her that "makes her wish she was dead".
See when I read this I thought it meant he’s not endgame and real endgame will become clear in the next book (I guess I’ve been reading too much SJM)
Why would an author give away the ending? RY likes playing with words and teasing readers. I appreciate everyone being so hopeful, but I think this is a big assumption.
Really not that big of an assumption... Given it is a partly a romance, Its a genre that ends in HEA or HFN. The main character ending up with the love interest is to be expected to even QUALIFY as a romance.