Fans of the Empyrean Series Think Rebecca Yarros’s Books Are Mormon-Coded
Rebecca Yarros might not be Mormon, but some of her writing gives off that vibe.
Published Jan. 22 2025, 4:24 p.m. ET
There is a lot of Rebecca Yarros in her Empyrean series. The author is very public about the fact that she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is marked by overly flexible joints and stretchy, fragile skin.
The protagonist in the series is a young girl by the name of Violet Sorrengail, who lives with a disability that sounds a lot like Rebecca's. Although it's not called EDS in the book, Rebecca has said that's exactly what Violet has. It's this kind of representation that has drawn fans to the Fourth Wing author's stories. Some fans think Rebecca is weaving something else into her novels, like her religious beliefs. Is Rebecca Yarros Mormon? Here's what we know.
Is Rebecca Yarros Mormon? It doesn't seem likely.
Rebecca has spoken about her childhood in numerous interviews, like this one in Elle from January 2025. In it, she references being an Army brat who moved around often as a child. She described books as her "safe space" and revealed that by the age of 12, she was reading historical romance novels by Jude Deveraux and "all the things I probably shouldn’t have been." This would likely not fly in a Mormon household.
While reading fantasy novels, Rebecca noticed they were severely lacking in one thing: a powerful heroine. "I wanted to tell a story about a girl who should not succeed, and who should not be able to endure an overly brutal environment," Rebecca told The New York Times. No offense to the Mormon Church, but it's not usually the kind of environment that would encourage a woman to write about a powerful girl, real or otherwise. That's not really their thing.
If this were a trial, our third piece of evidence would involve how Rebecca met her husband. She was going to school at the University of Colorado when the soon-to-be author met Jason Yarros at a karaoke bar. You don't see a ton of Mormons hanging out at a bar, much less singing an off-key version of "Sweet Caroline," for example. So, why do some fans think she might be a Mormon? It's all in the work.
Rebecca Yarros might not be Mormon, but some of her writing gives off that vibe.
A TikToker by the name of Hayley Rawle is a former Mormon who read Fourth Wing as well as Iron Flame and recognized a bit of her upbringing in the writing. In one video, she says the first clue was how Rebecca writes about physical intimacy. Hayley brings up a review of the first book that says it "reads like a middle school kid who just learned about sex and got permission to use swear words." This very much amused Hayley who said she could relate.
When discussing the dragon scale armor that Violet wears in the book for protection, Hayley likened it to the Mormon undergarments Mormons wear. "They are said to give not only spiritual but physical protection from harm," explains Hayley.
Her third Mormon-coded tidbit is about the bond between dragon rider and dragon. Only after this occurs does the rider learn the real name of the dragon. It stays between the two of them. In the Mormon church, everyone is given a special name at the temple that only a husband and wife can reveal to each other. She makes a compelling argument, but it sounds like it might just be a coincidence.