Wow! I absolutely devoured this book! It was a little bit slow to begin with, but once the pace picked up, I found myself getting lost in this world that has been beautifully written.
I have read the authors other series where there is a crossover for this book, but you do not need to read that series first.
Medra finds herself in a world she doesn't know, inhabited by humans and the powerful race of vampires, and is thrust into a forced bond with Blake, a moody powerful vampire. Medra must also attend academy where she learns to fight, find out her powers and see if she can unlock who she is - a dragon rider.
If you like academy style vibes, touch her and die, slow burn tropes, then this is the book for you! I am so excited for book 2

This book was like the perfect book to get me out of my Fourth Wing hangover. I love an academy setting. I also loved having the addition of vampires. The world building was super easy to follow, but it was also interesting. I am the type of person that hates when people instantly fall in love because it doesn’t make sense. This book had the perfect amount of slow-burn to truly make it an enemies to lovers. There was some spice, romance, dragons, vampires. What more could you ask for?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read your book! I enjoyed it the whole time and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

I like Briar Boleyn books before but this one just wasn't the same as the others I've read by her. It just didn't stand out to me.

This Book had Everything... Even healed apart of me. A piece of me will forever live on in-between the pages of this book & a piece of my heart will forever call BloodWing Academy Home!!! This was such an emotional book for me. This showed me why I love to read & where it all started. This was like a big hug. So cozy. This book is beautifully written & detailed. You can picture everything in your head all the down to the tinest details & textures. You feel like your there right along side the characters. The banter laughter, sorrows you feel them all. You get to see & experience the characters self discoveries & acceptances. Trials & Tribulations , Suspenseful,Romantasy Mixed With Amazing Mysterious Vibes. Whimsical & Magical...Dragons, Vampires Oh My!!!

I was very excited for this book and I was thrilled by the story.

To keep it short and spoiler free I just want to say how much the author put into the story and how hooked I was from start to finish. The cover is absolutely beautiful and I would suggest this book to everyone!

This book is so underrated!!

4.5 ⭐ rounded up for the VERY unexpected and incredible cliffhanger ending 🙌
🌶️🌶️ (Lots of angst, 1 intense 3rd base rendezvous + voyeurism 😬)

I was worried about this after seeing some DNF reviews but things are not what they seem in the first 10-20% of this book so DO NOT STOP READING! The story follows Medra, a fiery ginger, who finds herself in a strange world where dragons once lived and is now ruled by ruthless, classist vampires. She is betrothed to a prominent vampire early on and is enrolled in the same high-stakes academy he attends. I'll let the tropes speak for themselves but man this book has it all and not in a way that feels forced. Only qualm was the length of the book 🫠 (+700 pages).

What to expect:

🐉Dragons
👥 Dual POV
⚔️ Badass FMC
❤️ Found family
✨📚 Magical academy
🥺 Emotional damage
🌶️🌶️ Spice
💕 Enemies to lovers
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ representation

<b> The first taste of her blood hit me like a drug. Sweet and rich and powerful. She was everything I’d been craving. More.</b>

3.5 ⭐️
From the prologue I was instantly hooked. The world building and character introductions in Book 1 had my full attention. But by the end of Book 1 I was questioning if we’d ever get a Blake POV chapter?

The middle of the book (basically Book 2-4) was a bit lackluster for me. There was both a lot going on and nothing going on at the same time. And while I was always excited to start reading again, it was easy to put down in this section.

The end perfectly sets us up for the second installment and I’m genuinely excited to read it! I hope we get more interactions between the main characters in that one!

<b>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review! </b>

Before anything else: this cover looks very AI. The wings, the paws, the neck, the scales, the way the title blends with the background.

Medra is isekai'd after violently dying and finds herself in a new world where vampires are the top bosses. She's found by the dark and blonde prince of the vampires who tells her she has the mark of a rider, and thus, he takes her to the king of the vampires (aka his uncle). Scary uncle Viktor binds them using magic, and then the prince and the prisoner go to... college?

I really didn't like this book. Medra is strong. She speaks her mind, and she is aware the world is unfair. The MMC, Blake Drakharrow, is a brooding and hateful vampire, but we get his POV, where the author tries to show us that he has soft sides. The two supposedly have a lot of tension, but that's very tell (they repeat it. All. The. Time.) and not a lot of show. A lot of the dialogue was so unnatural that I completely lost any crumb of immersion. MINOR SPOILER WARNING: One of the worst examples I can think of this is when Medra's bff says something like "you might wonder why we haven't told you about this before, it is because we didn't think about it", then proceed to tell how she's been asking around about said thing because of Medra.

More positive (depending on your tastes): it's very formulatic and predictable. The tropes are troping, and it's entertaining enough. It's like a more trashy Fourth Wing, kinda like CoHo fantasy. The language and flow are easy enough to make it a quicker read.

1.5 ⭐️

On Wings of Blood (Bloodwing Academy 1) by Briar Boleyn
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

-dark academia
-vampires and fae
-dramione vibes
-dual POVs
-Hogwarts/Fourth Wing vibes
-dragon rider with no dragon
-deadly competition
-enemies to lovers
-forced betrothal
-he falls first

The beginning of this book threw me for a loop and I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on or who anyone was but I couldn’t stop reading. About 20% in, after some reservations, I was pretty invested. It definitely gives a darker (and bloodier) Hogwarts vibe.

Medra Pendragon is our feisty fae FMC who finds herself in this new world, captured because of her rare qualities and blood making her the last dragon rider, forced into a life and betrothal she didn’t ask for.

Blake Drakharrow is perfect for our Draco Malfoy lovers, he’s a bully, head of the house, the enemy, a vampire, and also her betrothed. Things get tense when his other consort makes Medra’s life difficult, and the drama and politics of the school turns deadly.

“𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨...𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙩.“

Meanwhile, Medra is struggling to find a way to freedom, to stay alive in a school of vampires, and to understand why she is so important if the dragons no longer exist.

I think book 2 is gonna be a wild ride judging by that ending and I’ll definitely be picking it up when it comes out.

Thank you @netgalley and @briarboleynauthor for the ARC.

On Wings of Blood is available now on KU.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“You could never hate me as much as you want me.”

Um, did this book just become my new personality?!

Welcome to Bloodwing Academy, the best school in Sangratha, where highbloods and blightborns alike gain their education - if they can survive. Hogwarts meets Zodiac Academy in this brutal and sizzling opener for the Bloodwing Academy series, I for one am absolutely dying for book two!

The story follows Medra, a half-fae princess from another world, who has landed into an unknown land ruled by ruthless vampires who believe her to be the first dragon rider to exist in centuries. She is bound into a forced triad betrothal to Prince Blake Drakharrow - think bloodthirsty extra-sexy Draco Malfoy! - and his existing consort (and ultimate jealous bitch) Regan. Packed off to Bloodwing with her new betrothed, Medra has to fight to survive in the harsh corridors of the academy, literally facing life and death in between her textbooks and classes.

I absolutely loved this book, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. I devoured Zodiac Academy back in the summer and have had a lil silly/sexy hole in my heart ever since that I’ve not been able to fill - until now. This book has everything - enemies to lovers, a badass FMC, bully romance, blood magic, secret passageways and best of all LOST DRAGONS THAT ARE NEVER COMING BACK *wink wink*

I loved the characters and really liked the realism of Blake, despite being a highblood vampire prince, still being a dumb man about pretty much everything he does or says to Medra. I also really appreciate an author who isn’t afraid to hurt our feelings! Without giving anything away, I think it adds much more to a story to kill off characters and to take off the plot armour that is rife in a lot of fantasy/romantasy books. Plus, this book actually has some decent gruesome-ness, these are vampires and they’re sexy yeah, but Boleyn hasn’t held back from keeping them scary and cruel.

This book is a lot of fun, would highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Briar Boleyn for giving me the privilege of reading this book!

🩸Bully Romance
🩸Vampires
🩸Magic Academy
🩸Draco Malfoy MMC Energy
🩸Steamy Enemies to Lovers
🩸Sassy FMC
🩸Found Family
🩸Dragons

🌶️🌶️/5

Bloodwing Academy is basically Hogwarts x Basgiath War College with vampires 🦇🩸

And I’m here for it.

It was obvious what the points of inspiration are but I think Boleyn’s complete openness regarding the inspiration only made it better, also peak marketing, I’m a huge fan of both series. I’m not really a Bully Romance girlie but I’m absolutely a Draco Malfoy girlie (contradicting I know), this alone got me interested in the book, add vampires AND dragons? The fuck was I supposed to do? Read it, obviously.

Did I mention that these gorgeous vampire men came tattooed? (full back and neck tattoos - yummy). Honestly it’s like Boleyn knows my fantasies.

We all know that I’m basically a vampire’s thrall at this point. So it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that I had a great time with this book. The atmosphere of this book was perfection, it definitely had the ‘dark academia’ feel and Boleyn’s writing was rich enough to carry the weight of vampiric characters. I found the characterisation of the younger highbloods (vampires) extremely fitting. They were pretentious, snobby, entitled brats which I thought was accurate to say the least, hell they were downright childish most of the time.

The book started a little slow for me but once I hit the 30% (namely Blake’s first Chapter) but speeds up after that, it took me no time at all once I got to that point.

Medra is a fierce, warrior woman, is confident and has a moral compass. Blake is a mean, possessive (she’s mine), broody type and he has some good character development.

Everyone is horny. Well nearly everyone.

I don’t know I had a great time and will be looking forward to reading the sequel!

thank you netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review !

i was excited to start this book and my god, i was not disappointed!

on wings of blood by briar boleyn starts with medra pendragon, a half fae, who finds herself being forced into an academic institution called bloodwing academy after realising she’s in an entirely new realm called sangratha. she’s captured when she arrives where she discovers she’s in the world of highblood vampires whose politics and need for power has unwillingly betrothed her to blake drakharrow. she must navigate the world she’s in through the academy, discover their secrets and history to survive while fighting the pull she has to blake.

this book was insanely good with its romance and fast-paced action. it’s got vampires, it’s got enemies to lovers with a slow burn, dark academic vibes, deadly games and such an interesting world and lore behind it.

medra is a badass heroine in this book who is fierce, independent and refused to let herself break in this new world she’s stumbled across. she’s tested by the highbloods at every turn. however she finds friendship with florence and naveen who come together to support each other and i think their found-family bond is so beautiful.

blake is handsome, yet cold, arrogant and brutal but he gradually shows his protectiveness and rebellious side against the institution and rules he grew up with. his family name almost haunts him as he is controlled by his uncle to remain the strongest family and to keep in line to avoid consequence. he is more than what meets the eye and makes a complicated and layered character.

the romance is developed so well. their push and pull throughout the series is delicious, filled of tension and angst and hatred. they challenge and annoy another, break rules where they shouldn’t and yet they cannot escape the tether that is connecting them. it’s excellently written.

honestly i just enjoyed it so much - it was easy to understand the world, the politics and magical systems introduced. it’s fast-paced and everything flows so well especially with the romance. i cannot wait for the follow up to see where medra and blake’s relationship will go after THAT ending. i don’t think i can wait to be honest, i am already yearning for the next one !

Holy goodness! 🥴 That was a RIDE from START to FINISH! and that ending?!?!!! Um yeah...imma need the next book ASAP!
This book is Harry Potter meets Fourth Wing and throw some vampires in there cause WHY NOT! The dark academia, the drama, the tension the everything! Beautiful! The world building was so flawless I can't! And Mr Blake??? Helllooooo👀👀👀 needless to say I LOVED it and I need book 2 ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’d give this book a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. It’s pretty much a mashup of some popular romantasy books which I really enjoyed but this book in particular was very character and world building driven which I tend to struggle with. I think the biggest downfall was that I felt like there wasn’t enough plot so it got a little boring in my opinion. I do like the inspired bits from different series but it still was unique and didn’t feel like a knock off of other stories. I look forward to reading the next one.

Fourth wing X Serpent and the wings of the night


I loved this book. An easy read with great plot. I’ve enjoyed the authors other books but this has definitely been my favourite so far!

The first 20% of the book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be modern or old. It was so hard to get into the world because it kept jumping back and forth with vampire folklore but then adding the weird school element that felt very childish instead of what I assume the author wanted which was something like fourth wing. If you wanted to be modern then be modern. You can’t have it both ways

Next problem. The MFC has been in this school for 2 DAYS and so much has happened and not happened all at the same time. She’s already talking about her feelings and how she hates the MMC but girl it’s literally been two days. How are you having all these epiphanies? I HATE insta love or what ever you wanna call this dumpster fire.

Moving on, Blake is supposed to be this big bad guy, but he comes off as a sad teenager. Even in the description of the book it says he’s a bully to our main female character, but even at literally 50% in and nothing has happened. There has been no bullying. There has been no drama or proper interaction between the two characters at all really.

Now for some final thoughts because I feel like I could keep rambling about what I did not like in this book. Too much was happening all at the same time. the author wanted to take every single book trope known to man and shove it in there, and it did not work well at all. It just made the book feel very childlike and jumbled.

I would definitely definitely skip this one and run far far away

Briar Boleyn’s On Wings of Blood is an absolute triumph for fans of dark fantasy and slow-burn romance, especially for those already captivated by her Blood of a Fae series. After Medra defeats her grandfather, expecting her life to end, she instead finds herself waking in a world completely foreign to her own. Here, she’s immediately seized by Blake, a brooding Highblood prince, and whisked off to the Black Keep. Medra’s distinct appearance—fiery red hair and pointed ears—marks her as an outsider, and her resemblance to the long-lost dragonriders spares her life...but at a cost. Bound to Blake against her will as part of a political maneuver, Medra is thrust into a power struggle within an elite academy where vampires and other mythical beings roam.

The academy’s high society is ruthless, with a rigid hierarchy, Medra finds herself forced to navigate, all while struggling to master her own budding powers. Boleyn crafts a world brimming with magical intrigue, danger, and intense romantic tension. Medra’s bond with Blake simmers with a love-hate energy that’s electrifying. Their connection is a beautifully orchestrated slow-burn, full of palpable tension and undeniable chemistry. Medra and Blake are bound by a complex mix of obligation, distrust, and magnetic desire, creating a deliciously frustrating dynamic that makes their romance utterly addictive.

This novel is rich with fantastical elements, from the political machinations of powerful families to the thrilling presence of vampires, dragons, and an ancient legacy. Boleyn delivers a story that keeps you on edge, with its mix of high stakes, magical intrigue, and romance. For anyone who enjoys an immersive, darkly magical world with characters who clash and connect in the most compelling ways, On Wings of Blood is a must-read!

You will like this book if:
You wish Hogwarts was a more collegiate setting with a bit of spice
You wish Draco had more spotlight & got the girl
You like vampires, fae & dragons
You love when a fictional man says ”MINE!” Or “Touch her and die!”
You love found family, arranged marriage & fated mate tropes
You love a strong female lead that doesn’t take crap from anyone.

Now this is a spin off of Briar’s Blood of a Fae series, so I highly recommend reading that 4 book series first (starting with Queen of Roses) or you will miss Medra’s background and be confused about where she came from, who & what she is and there are small spoilers for the ending of Knight of the Goddess. Overall Briar has done it again and created another astounding world with new and old characters you will enjoy(or hate). I can’t wait to see where this series leads!

I was very excited for this book and I was not at all disappointed.

To keep it short and sweet and of course spoiler free I just want to say how much the author put time and thought into the well written story and how hooked I was from start to finish. The cover is absolutely beautiful and I would recommend anyone to give this book a go.